Cheltenham Festival 2024: Brighterdaysahead Earns Performance Of The Week
We’re now less than a month away from the 2024 Cheltenham Festival and anticipation is growing ahead of the biggest week of the year for jumps racing.
The entries are flying in, the scratchings are starting and the exchange is starting to become very informative. Yet here we are four weeks out and it’s proving rather difficult to piece the Festival puzzle together. How many winners will Willie Mullins have? Will Nicky Henderson end the week with more winners than Paul Nicholls? Which handicap will Sa Majeste run in?
I certainly have more questions than answers at this moment in time. The Preview Nights are fast approaching and we may learn more in the coming weeks – but for now, it remains a bit of a minefield and the Festival picture should be much clearer come the end of February.
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FIRE FLYER and SECRET SQUIRREL pulled 20 lengths clear of the field at Taunton on Tuesday and I’d be keeping both onside going forward. The winner has form behind GIDLEIGH PARK while the runner up gave JERIKO DU REPONET a scare in a Grade 2 at Doncaster. Both have scope for a nice handicap off their current marks.
It was great to see GOLDEN ACE back up her hurdles debut with another success at Taunton and she was given a RPR of 130 for the run. The Jeremy Scott mare was nine lengths adrift of DYSART ENOS in the Grade 2 Aintree bumper last season but has improved for a fence and a tweak of her wind over the summer. She’s a dark horse.
If you have backed SIR GINO for the Triumph Hurdle, you’ll have been happy to see ROYAL WAY frank the form at Ludlow on Wednesday.
It was a weak enough race but he was giving weight to the field and it was a decent performance. He won’t be running at the Festival but Royal Way looks to be improving for his racing.
All eyes were on CORBETTS CROSS at Fairyhouse but punters were left disappointed after a collision with RUN WILD FRED saw both horses out of the race. Fortunately, it sounds like he is physically fine after his tumble but Emmet Mullins has said they’ll take their time and there is now a small question mark over his participation at Cheltenham.
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Ben Pauling has a nice one in HANDSTANDS and man of the moment Harry Cobden gave his mount an absolute peach of a ride to get the better of Grade 1 Formby Novices Hurdle winner JANGO BAIE.
I saw someone suggest that Handstands is a serious Festival contender but it’d have to be a poor renewal of the Baring Bingham for him to win.
MASACCIO ran a nice race in the Challow Novices Hurdle but he appreciated the return to calmer waters at Kempton on Friday, winning comfortably to enhance his spring claims. It sounds like Alan King is looking at Aintree over Cheltenham and he’ll be tried at Grade 1 level again in the Sefton Novices Hurdle.
The Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero yard won the Martin Pipe with IROKO last year and MAKING HEADWAY is another candidate for that race.
He has the right sort of profile for the race and connections suggested that he would head that way in the spring. He’ll go to the Festival with a live chance, all being well.
I wouldn’t go as far as saying SHISHKIN (pictured) travelled with gusto but he certainly proved his class over three miles when winning the Grade 2 Denman Chase.
Nico de Boinville had to keep his horse honest but there is no doubting he is a talented animal and he’ll play some sort of role in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Meanwhile, EDWARDSTONE was sensational in the Grade 2 Game Spirit Chase and he could be ‘best of the rest’ behind EL FABIOLO and JONBON in the Champion Chase. The change in tactics worked a treat and I’d like to see Tom Cannon send his mount on in a bid to go from the front. His jumping was immaculate and that could put his rivals under pressure.
IBERICO LORD was much the best in the Betfair Hurdle, travelling strongly under a confident Nico de Boinville. The result was never really in doubt, despite a resilient effort from L’EAU DU SUD. Nobody rides Newbury better than De Boinville and you’d say Iberico Lord may well have further scope in his mark.
He looks like a proper Graded animal to me.
I’d say MAKIN’YOURMINDUP is a fair beast but I’m not sure if he’ll run at Cheltenham next month. He looks one to improve for age and connections may take a slower approach with him rather than throw him in at the Festival. Also, Paul Nicholls has GINNY’S DESTINY and STAY AWAY FAY and he’s certainly behind them in the Ditcheat pecking order.
At Naas, EAGLE FANG won the ‘Fred Winter Trial’ – four of the last five Boodles winners have ran in this race before heading to Cheltenham. I’m not sure if we saw a Festival winner on Saturday though but punters may latch onto the victor simply because of the record of the race with a view to March.
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Paul Townend was always confident on ALLEGORIE DE VASSY and she picked up the pieces after the front two went hard in the middle part of the race. Willie Mullins was happy after the race but I got the vibe that he thought the race fell apart.
She’s a Mares Chase contender if she turns up on top form but she’s inconsistent. Very inconsistent.
ITS ON THE LINE was given a scare by the fast finishing BILLAWAY in the Hunters Chase at Naas but you’d love the attitude of the winner. When the runner up began to close, the winner found more to ensure that he stayed in front. He looked out on his feet at one point though and that was a hard race for both ahead of Cheltenham in four weeks time.
I thought BRIGHTERDAYSAHEAD was excellent at Navan and it was great to see her extend her record to five wins from five runs under rules. Her stablemate MEL MONROE has some decent form behind the likes of ENCANTO BRUNO, CROKE PARK and JETARA but she was no match for the Gigginstown mare.
Meanwhile, HIDDENVALLEY LAKE proved too strong in the Grade 2 Boyne Hurdle but he is currently not entered for any race at the 2024 Cheltenham Festival. Connections don’t really need to bother supplementing him for the Stayers Hurdle given their strength in that division so it’ll be interesting to see where he goes next.
CREBILLY, TAHMURAS and TRELAWNE are three nice types and I’ll be keeping a close eye on all three with a view to a Cheltenham handicap. The winner was a tad fortune with runner up Tahmuras throwing the race away but I thought this looked a decent enough race.
There are some nice form lines amongst the trio and it’s a race to follow for sure.
Last but certainly not least, we have TEESHAN. If he was mine, he’d be skipping Cheltenham but he isn’t and I’d expect connections to go for the Champion Bumper. They went that way with CAPTAIN TEAGUE last season and he ran a huge race – I’d like to think Teeshan has the class to overcome his inexperience and he could feature at the business end as well.
PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK
BRIGHTERDAYSAHEAD takes it for me. I had her as third choice behind JADE DE GRUGY and DYSART ENOS coming into the weekend but she’s made me have a rethink after the manner of her success at Navan on Sunday.
While I’m not totally convinced she wants a drop in trip, she is classy and that class may well see her through. Gordon Elliott has a nice one on his hands; she’s well bred, she’s got the scope to go chasing and she is unbeaten in bumpers and over hurdles.
For me, this was her best performance yet. She jumped much better this weekend than she did the last day and that was the main reservation I had regarding her chances of winning at the Festival. She’s currently vying for Mares Novices Hurdle favouritism and deservedly so.