Cheltenham 4.15
CHELTENHAM 4.15 - Johnny Henderson Grand Annual - 2 miles - 19 run - Good to Soft
The Grand Annual Chase, run over a distance of just over 2 miles, is the shortest of the handicap chases run at The Festival and has been moved from Day 4 (where it was the finale for many years) to Day 2. That means, of course, that it is run on the sharper Old Course and that may suit those who like to run prominently rather more than has been the case over the years on the New Course.
The top of the market is dominated by Joseph O’Brien and there has been plenty of money for Embittered during the last week. Highly regarded by connections at the start of the season, things haven’t yet quite gone to plan over fences for this 7 year-old who finished 3rd in last year’s County Hurdle and he is still a maiden. He has, however, been running in some hot races and, after finishing runner-up behind the ill-fated Easywork and Andy Dufresne in his first 2 outings, he has run with credit in a couple of grade 1 novice events behind Franco De Port and Energumene. Novices have a decent record in this race and it’s easy to see the appeal given his hurdle rating is 3lbs higher than he races off here, especially with the excellent Rachael Blackmore in the saddle.
Also prominent in the betting is Entoucas, again trained by O’Brien, and he represents an owner who has a good record in this race. He is another maiden who finished 2nd in his first 3 races and was just run out of the frame at The Dublin Racing Festival last time. There may be improvement to come but I think there’s better value available in the race.
One of the horses at a better value price, in my opinion, is the third O’Brien entry and that is US AND THEM. Horses with previous Festival experience tend to go well in this race and this horse has finished 2nd in an Arkle and came 3rd in this contest 12 months ago. He is 1lb lower this year and looks to have been campaigned with a repeat tilt at this prize in mind. He has, reportedly, been suffering with ulcers and, if now back to 100% fitness, his prominent running-style could be a factor here. The issue with him can sometimes be his jumping and he needs to get into a good rhythm early. If he does, he looks decent value to run into one of the enhanced places at least.
Last year’s winner Chosen Mate has been well backed in the last 24 hours and is another horse who looks to have been plotted up for this. His mark is 9lbs higher than last year but connections have booked the highly-regarded Jordan Gainford to take off 7lbs as the horse looks to become just the third horse to win the race twice. He won easily last year and is one for the short-list once more.
3 of these met in a race here back in December and the first two home that day, Sky Pirate and Ibleo, have both had good seasons. The latter, in particular, looks progressive but I fear that with both of these the way they have been campaigned this season has meant that they have ‘blown’ their marks somewhat and of more interest may be the horse who actually fell in that December race. That horse is Zanza and he was going well when coming to grief 3 from home that day. As a result of subsequent runs of Sky Pirate and Ibleo, and Zanza himself not running since, he is now 17lbs and 18lbs better off with the other two from that race here. He struggled in The County Hurdle at last year’s Festival but did run well prior to that, at this venue, in The Greatwood Hurdle. The drying ground will be in his favour.
The trends guys will tell you that you need a horse aged 9 or younger to win a handicap chase at The Festival but, as we saw with the brilliant Vintage Clouds yesterday in The Ultima, age is not necessarily a barrier if everything else is aligned. With that in mind, at a similarly big price to yesterday’s big handicap winner, BUN DORAN could run well here. Now a 10 year-old, he has past Festival form in the book having run at this meeting 3 times in the past. He came 6th in the now defunct novice chase in 2017 before finishing 2nd in this race 2 years ago, whilst last season he finished 3rd in The Champion Chase over this course and distance. His overall record at Cheltenham, on both tracks, is good and he does boast a win over this course-and-distance back in 2018. He is only 2lbs higher than when finishing 2nd in this contest in 2019 and, whilst he has not fired this season, he has been running in higher graded races than this so this is a step down in class. He looks well-handicapped on some of his older form and he is sure to have been well prepared for this. He could easily run into one of the enhanced places at a nice price.
At the top of the weights, Duc Des Genievres is another with some back class, having won The Arkle here in 2019 (the last time he actually won a race), and he is another who could run well at a big price with Lorcan Williams, who rides him at home, taking off 3lbs. Paul Nicholls has a good record in the race too.
For a third dart at this competitive race, I was torn between two horses who are very likely to be up with the pace from early on. The first is Moonlighter who hails from the shrewd Nick Williams yard who are not averse to finding ways to win handicaps at this meeting. This horse started off the season with a fantastic run in The Haldon Gold Cup at Exeter where he finished 2nd behind Champion Chase candidate Greanateen, despite jumping left throughout. He, again, jumped left when winning last time out at Sandown and should be suited to a return to this left-handed track. He was given a bold front-running ride by David Bass last time and, with that jockey booked once more, he is likely to attempt a repeat of those tactics here. He will need a career-best, and his jumping can sometimes let him down, but he is only up 3lbs for that last win and is a nice each-way price here. He will be my ‘shrapnel’ bet here in the hope he jumps well and gets another Bass master-class from the front end.
The final vote, however, goes to ON THE SLOPES. He was a progressive novice last season who rounded off his campaign with a win in one of the ‘compensation’ races run at Kempton on the Saturday after The Festival. Raised 7lbs for that, this season didn’t start off as well and, after his second run, he was given wind surgery. A spin in a ‘jumpers bumper’ last month should have blown away the cobwebs and he returns here down 3lbs from the start of the season. If he returns to the form of last season, which included an excellent 3rd place finish on Trials Day behind a pair of subsequent Festival winners, he could be on a decent mark and the likely good-to-soft going looks just about perfect for him. The fact that he ran in 2 early-season contests over this course suggests that connections were planning a charge at this race from early on?
This race looks wide open and the play here is to go with 3 at decent each-way odds who have a good chance of hitting one of the enhanced places at least:-
Trackers – Us And Them/ Bun Doran/ On The Slopes (bit of ‘shrapnel’ on Moonlighter) –
(3 points advised in total and playing for the generous enhanced place offers)