Cheltenham November Meeting Horses To Follow: Divine Diva Can Take On The Favourite
The Cheltenham November Meeting is always eagerly anticipated, with three glorious days of racing taking place at Prestbury Park. It’s always an informative fixture with a view to the spring, so there will undoubtedly be plenty of Cheltenham Festival clues.
Here, I focus on several horses to follow across all three days. Some runners will be with a view to this weekend while others will be very much on the radar for the spring. With that in mind, let’s get stuck into the opening day and a couple of runners to get started.
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Friday, 1.10pm – HIGH FIBRE
Reportedly the aim for this horse since he finished fourth in the Cesarewitch Handicap at Newmarket, High Fibre can go close as he returns over hurdles. Up 8lbs for his most recent hurdles success at Market Rasen in July, the step up in trip should suit and I’d be hopeful of a big run in Friday’s opening race.
Currently priced at 9/2, I’m expecting a big run and James Owen is in fine form – with the yard operating at a 29% strike rate across the board. Furthermore, conditional jockey Toby McCain-Mitchell has won on two of his last four rides and he’s already notched five successes this jumps season.
Cheltenham 13:10
AIS Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle (Challenger Stayers' Hurdle Series Qualifier)
- 3yo+, 20 Runners
- Jumps,Turf , 2m 5f , GOOD, Good to soft in places (GoingStick: 6.3) (Watering) (Rail Movements: 1.10, 2.55 & 3.30 +32yds, 1.45 +42yds and 2.20 & 4.00 +21yds)
- Winner £10,892, 2nd £5,018, 3rd £2,508, 4th £1,256
Odds Comparison
Racecard
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- Sort By Number
- Sort By Odds
- Sort By RP Rating
- Sort By Topspeed
• 1 (5) = Horse number with the draw number in brackets.
• Number alongside the horse name is the days since the horse last ran.
• Numbers/letters under the jockey silk is the horse form with the most recent figure on the right. Numbers = finishing position (0 = finished outside the top 10), P = pulled up, F = fell, U = Unseated, B = brought down, R = refused, C = carried out, D = disqualified, HR = hit rails, L = left at start, O = ran out, S = slipped up, V = void race. A dash between figures indicates a year between the runs and a slash indicates a new season.
• % alongside jockey/trainer names = strike rate in last 30 days.
• Key to pointers: C = Course winner, D = Distance winner, CD = Course & Distance winner, BF = Beaten Favourite last time out, WS = Has had wind surgery since last run, LT = Longest Travellers, b = Wearing blinkers, b1 = Wearing blinkers for the first time, h = Wearing a hood, h1 = Wearing a hood for the first time, t = Wearing a tongue strap, t1 = Wearing a tongue strap for the first time, v = Wearing a visor, v1 = Wearing a visor for the first time, p = Wearing cheek pieces. OR = Official Rating. RPR = Racing Post Rating. Topspeed is a figure calculated using race times and the going to show how fast the horse can run.
Friday, 3.30pm – DIVINE DIVA
I was a little surprised to see Harry Skelton choose Divine Diva over Hitintheheadlines but reports from Alcester have been glowing about the mare. She was arguably value for more than the winning margin over Princess Day at Chepstow in October and the form looks solid enough, with the third running well at Newbury earlier this month.
Ferocimo, the Nigel & Willy-Twiston Davies trained favourite, has a decent reputation but this is a big step up from a Fontwell maiden hurdle. With the Skelton yard looking ominously strong in the novice department, I’m happy to take the jolly on and the 3/1 looks like a fair price to my eye.
Cheltenham 15:30
Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle (Grade 2) (Registered As The Hyde) (GBB Race)
- 4yo+, 10 Runners
- Jumps,Turf , 2m 5f , GOOD, Good to soft in places (GoingStick: 6.3) (Watering) (Rail Movements: 1.10, 2.55 & 3.30 +32yds, 1.45 +42yds and 2.20 & 4.00 +21yds)
- Winner £47,552, 2nd £17,808, 3rd £8,896, 4th £4,440
Odds Comparison
Racecard
Stats Filter
- Sort By Number
- Sort By Odds
- Sort By RP Rating
- Sort By Topspeed
• 1 (5) = Horse number with the draw number in brackets.
• Number alongside the horse name is the days since the horse last ran.
• Numbers/letters under the jockey silk is the horse form with the most recent figure on the right. Numbers = finishing position (0 = finished outside the top 10), P = pulled up, F = fell, U = Unseated, B = brought down, R = refused, C = carried out, D = disqualified, HR = hit rails, L = left at start, O = ran out, S = slipped up, V = void race. A dash between figures indicates a year between the runs and a slash indicates a new season.
• % alongside jockey/trainer names = strike rate in last 30 days.
• Key to pointers: C = Course winner, D = Distance winner, CD = Course & Distance winner, BF = Beaten Favourite last time out, WS = Has had wind surgery since last run, LT = Longest Travellers, b = Wearing blinkers, b1 = Wearing blinkers for the first time, h = Wearing a hood, h1 = Wearing a hood for the first time, t = Wearing a tongue strap, t1 = Wearing a tongue strap for the first time, v = Wearing a visor, v1 = Wearing a visor for the first time, p = Wearing cheek pieces. OR = Official Rating. RPR = Racing Post Rating. Topspeed is a figure calculated using race times and the going to show how fast the horse can run.