HAPPY CAMPER
My Tent Or Yours can roll back years
THE talk at Cheltenham is all revolving around the wet weather and it certainly adds real intrigue to the week.
I won’t have experienced a Festival this wet before and we won’t be seeing the tight finishes we’ve become accustomed to over the years.
The bookmakers will have factored the weather into their distances market, but you would want to have a good look at going long on it. We’re going to see some bankers get beaten with plenty of long-priced winners.
You obviously need a huge amount of luck to win at Cheltenham and I’ll be treating this week the same as if it was a Cheltenham October meeting.
You can’t let the hype get to you and you need to ride the race, not the occasion.
MY TENT OR YOURS (3.30) would be one of the most popular winners of the week, when he lines up for the Unibet Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy, although it’s going to be a big ask to finish in front of Buveur D’Air.
Astonishing
He has been second in the Champion Hurdle an astonishing three times and was also second in the Supreme. He is a horse I’ve grown to really like – mind you, I’ve never won on him!
He’s 11 now so he’s not getting any faster but he did beat The New One on soft ground at Cheltenham in December and the heavy ground might well blunt the speed of his rivals so I would be encouraged on that front.
I can’t see past Buveur D’Air, who goes through this ground and is so consistent, but I wouldn’t put anyone off backing My Tent Or Yours eachway at 25-1. However, Buveur looks to be the banker of the programme.
My best hope of the week is in the Racing Post Arkle Challenge Trophy Novices’ Chase.
I couldn’t be happier with how things have gone for SAINT CALVADOS (2.10) this season. He hasn’t put a foot wrong in any of his three starts, progressing as we’d hoped with each run.
Spectacle
His wins have come on heavy and soft. His two main rivals, Footpad and Petit Mouchoir, have form on all ground, but given my lad’s inexperience I’m hoping the heavy conditions might level the playing field.
It might be a small turn-out but it could be a lot more of a spectacle than 12 months ago when Altior beat eight rivals very easily. It only takes two to make a horse race and you could make a case for Brain Power, too, so it could be a thriller.
My other ride is O O SEVEN (2.50), who is another with very strong place claims and runs in the Ultima Handicap Chase.
I rode him in the RSA Chase last year when he finished a good fifth to Might Bite and he was then fourth in the Topham. Looking at his form, the ground should be OK, and he certainly goes there with a chance.