MILAN LOOKS A HONEY MONSTER
He’ll love the ground
ACEY MILAN (5.30) has to have a great chance in the Weatherbys Champion Bumper – my best hope of a winner on day two of the Festival.
I’ve won on him twice, including at Cheltenham on heavy ground in January, and he’s a horse with a great attitude and a lovely way about him.
He’s a proven bumper horse with two Listed wins to his name, and his three wins have all come on very soft ground.
He’s very, very straightforward and I really couldn’t be happier going into the race. I can see him running a very, very big race.
I would also love to ride a first Festival winner for Anthony Honeyball. Anthony is a trainer really going places and is destined for the top.
What really impresses me about him is the way he can keep a horse on the go all season and maintain its form. You will see a lot of his horses starting their seasons in November and continuing to perform at a consistent, if not better, level as the season progresses. KNIGHT DESTROYER (4.50) will really like the ground and is another I am happy with going into the Boodles Fred Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle.
He was overturned at long odds-on at Market Rasen on his penultimate start. He kept jumping left on what is a very tight right-handed track and it just didn’t happen for him.
Cheltenham will suit him a whole lot better and he was subsequently third to Apple’s Shakira at the course in December. He has been going very well at home and has a great each-way chance.
I have never ridden LE BREUIL (2.50), who runs in the Coral Cup Handicap Hurdle. It’s one of the most competitive handicaps of the Festival, if not the most, but he looks a very progressive sort and the type of horse that runs well in the Coral Cup.
The feature race of the day is the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase and Altior had been touted as one of the bankers, although he has suffered a scare after being found lame.
What I would say is that he lines up, he will be ready to run his race as Nicky Henderson wouldn’t risk him if was anything but 100%.
I think he’ll win but Politologue could run into a place at a nice price. Altior put him in his place fair and square at Newbury last month, but don’t forget he’s a Tingle Creek winner and has winning form on soft ground and he looks overpriced to me at around 12-1.