Starchitect to strike for Pipe
Better ground expected to prove deciding factor Cue Card unlikely to run in King George
It is 10 years since David Pipe won Cheltenham’s Caspian Caviar Gold Cup with Tamarinbleu, and I believe the west-country trainer can win it for a second time today with the Paul and Clare Rooneyowned Starchitect.
The six-year-old, who never runs a bad race at the track, might well have won the Betvictor Gold Cup there last month had he been more fluent over the last two fences. They were hardly mistakes, but they handed the advantage to Nigel Twiston-davies’s Splash Of Ginge, who beat him by a neck.
The Pipe gelding might find jumping a little easier out of today’s better ground, which is not expected to suit Splash Of Ginge as well as the heavy ground they raced on in the Betvictor.
There are a few others in today’s race that ran well in that contest. Le Prezien, who has yet to win over this far, was third, beaten less than three lengths, while Ballyalton, who would have hated the heavy ground, was fourth. However, his claims are tempered by the fact that the last 10-year-old to win this race was the David Mould-ridden Garnishee in 1974.
Clan Des Obeaux is likely to be sent off favourite with the in-form Harry Cobden on board. He was only beaten a length by Whisper on his seasonal debut before running out a convincing winner in the heavy at Haydock. Shrugging off top weight will not be easy, though.
Twiston-davies will also have high hopes for Foxtail Hill, but one imagines the race he would most dearly love to win this afternoon is the Unibet International Hurdle with The New One.
The nine-year-old has won the race three times in the past four years but this looks a hot renewal. My Tent Or Yours is a terrific yardstick and it would be a brave man to bet against him, getting all the weight concessions. However, Willie Mullins sends over Melon and he looks the one to beat.
Colin Tizzard saddled a double at Cheltenham yesterday with Sizing Tennessee and Robinsfirth, and has high hopes for Sizing Tennessee in particular, saying: “We never thought he had an issue with his jumping until he fell this year. The horse lost his nerve a bit after his first fall and was a bit guessy today.
“He has got a big, powerful engine. He has got that big, long stride and he will be good on spring ground.
“We will probably run him a couple more times [before the Cheltenham Festival] and he could be an RSA horse or a National Hunt Chase horse – those are the two races you would look at.”
Tizzard also announced that he expects Cue Card will miss the King George. “We’ll mind him,” said the trainer. “The King George looks red hot and he had a hard race at Haydock. He’ll have three more runs then I’ll have him as my hunter!”