Fakir looks value bet in wide open feature

FAKIR D’OUDAIRIES could be the value call in a fascinating renewal of the Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham.

The two mile fivefurlong contest looks the most wide open of the five championship races at this year’s festival, with as many as seven horses single figure odds.

Few begrudged the Willie Mullins-trained Min his day in the sun last year, but he was pulled up on his latest outing and even the form of his third win at Punchestown on his previous start is questionable.

He is joined by two high-class stablemates in Allaho and Melon, but the former has yet to prove himself as a Grade One horse in open company, while Melon is certainly admirable as a four-time festival runner-up but finds victories hard to come by.

Last year’s runner-up Saint Calvados, Imperial Aura and Mister Fisher all merit consideration, but narrow preference is for Joseph O’brien’s Fakir D’oudairies.

The six-year-old is out to make it third time lucky at the festival, having previously finished fourth against his elders in the 2019 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and runner-up in last year’s Arkle.

The form of O’brien’s string has improved significantly since the turn of the year, and Fakir D’oudairies ran easily his best race of the season so far when runner-up to Chacun Pour Soi back over a shorter distance at last month’s Dublin Racing Festival.

The intermediate distance of the Ryanair should see him in an even better light and he looks a good bet to be placed at the very least.