The Betway ambassador picks out six horses who have caught her eye ahead of this weekend’s racing in Ireland.
It’s getting closer now and all focus is on Cheltenham, as it always is at this time of the year. The excitement from racing rans for the Cheltenham Festival is like nothing else in racing; it’s a great sporting occasion and it’s a great way to attract new fans to the sport.
There’s an eight-race card at Navan on Saturday where El Fabiolo 4/6 is the highlight. He was clearly well fancied at the Dublin Racing Festival, as he was very well backed but he tipped up. Running this weekend might mean that he’ll skip Cheltenham and likely head to Aintree and/or Punchestown, but he’s a bit of a forgotten horse and I hope he gets back to winning ways.
Ross has a runner in a competitive looking handicap hurdle in Driveonwill 9/2 . He showed improvement on his last run but there are a few unexposed horses in the race who are rated much higher, so we’ll see how we get on off his low racing weight.
There have been lots of mentions during Cheltenham previews for No Flies On Him 5/1 , but he runs in the Listed Handicap Chase here. He’s got to show improvement to win this, but he looked like he could be anything over hurdles and it might not be the deepest listed race.
There isn’t much that stands out at Leopardstown on Sunday, but I do think two of Willie’s in the Listed Handicap Chase have a race in them. Adamantly Chosen is the mount of Paul Townend and he’s caught my eye a few times this season. His novice form was very good, so it wouldn’t be a shock if he won, nor would it be for Ha d’Or. He’s yet to really do it over fences, but there have been glimmers of promise in his career and he’s the type to pop up in a handicap at some point.
Looking ahead at the Cheltenham betting, I hope Gold Tweet, the French horse, runs in the Ultima. I remember the day he sluiced up in the Cleeve Hurdle at Cheltenham and thinking he was useful. While he’s not high enough handicapped off 151, he’s got some very solid form and is a proper stayer. If the rain comes, I’d expect the money to come for him too!