Bristol Novices' Hurdle Tips: Reach For The Sky

One of the feature races on Saturday at Cheltenham is the Bristol Novices' Hurdle, a Grade 2 over three miles which has often been seen as a key trial for the Albert Bartlett in March. It's a longshot that the Festival winner is in the field today, but Billy Grimshaw likes the claims of the undoubted story horse of the race...

Let's not beat around the bush here; this is a poor Grade 2. The top rated horse in here is just 138, but the horse in question is one of the potential stories of the season in SKYJACK HIJACK and I'm siding with him to make it seven wins on the spin on his biggest day yet. Often times we see horses who come from lowly summer handicaps and rack up a winning sequence be disrespected when they attempt to gatecrash the top table with perhaps sexier connections or even breeding, and that is only amplified when the horse in question does all his winning off the front end.

They are decried as one dimensional and their victories are explained away by simply claiming the horse gets to the front and the rest of the field is so poor in behind that nothing has the gears to reel him in. By 15:30 on Saturday we'll likely know if they have been correct about Skyjack Hijack on his remarkable run so far, but I'm willing to stick my neck out and say this is an above average animal who has been unlocked by connections in recent times. He has probably not been beating much, but you'll be hard pressed to find a more rapid jumper of a hurdle anywhere. He really pings his obstacles and with Cheltenham favouring those off the front end, I think he could have this substandard field in trouble early on and not be stopping.

My main concern is his stamina as I'm not sure if his best trip will eventually be this one or two and a half miles, but they're rolling the big dice coming here in the hopes that he emerges as a bona-fide Albert Bartlett contender for March. I hope they are rewarded and it's clear plenty of others do considering the weight of support he's had in the market as antepost favourite.

The chief threat according to the odds compilers - and indeed in my eyes - is Kim Bailey's lightly raced Clondaw General, who got off the mark with minimal fuss at Worcester a couple of months ago in a run of the mill novice hurdle. I don't think he beat anything special there, but the manner in which he kicked on when asked by pilot Jonny Burke after the last was taking and while my worry for Skyjack Hijack is stamina, I'd be very confident this lad will stay this trip and then some. He looks a big staying chaser in the making for the Bailey team, and although I don't doubt he is destined for better things I think chasing one as nimble as Skyjack Hijack could be a step too far this early in his career.

It is interesting David Cottin sends Jet Blue across from France for his yard debut in this, although perhaps he just had an eagle eye for a sub standard Grade 2 and thought to pass up on the chance would be daft. This horse had some useful autumn form at Auteuil but in both races there they dawdled before a sprint finish, as is often the way in France. With the pace setter in here, he won't be able to do that and going a decent clip while trying three miles for the first time means he is one best watched.

Western Knight is unbeaten so far for Joe Tizzard but is another I'd have stamina concerns about in here, while Aboutdamntime did interest me for the Greenall Guerriero combination considering his Carlisle form has been franked (third has come out and won well since) however none make as much appeal as the favourite and for both my betting bank balance and the narrative around the horse, I hope Skyjack Hijack can make it a magnificent seven at Prestbury Park.