ITV Racing Tips – A Couple Of Picks As Cheltenham Returns

I do think many of us in racing decry the sport too often, so here is a positive for a change. The timing of the changing of the seasons is nigh on perfect, as no sooner am I yearning for a break from the jumps does Punchestown mercifully end and the flat kicks off. Then, when I have had my fill of regally bred stars being whisked off to stud after three starts, it's time for the jumpers to come back from their summer holidays once more!

Cheltenham really is the place where jumps racing feels most alive and so this meeting is always one I relish coming around as the season starting proper (sorry Chepstow) and although it's wise to do more studying than punting in most of the races, given nearly every set of connections will have one eye on future targets, there are still opportunities for value if you know where to look and I am hopeful I've found a couple of cracking Cheltenham Tips for this ITV Racing preview..

13:50 Cheltenham

At the time of writing, King Of Kingsfield remains in the field and he is a horse I have always liked and was saddened to see reduced to purely being a pacemaker last season, admittedly for the very good Brighterdaysahead. He would be of interest were the ground to stay good but Gordon Elliott has confirmed he will be put away for spring should things turn soft and with rain likely, I am going to assume he'll be pulled out and Country Mile will be sole market leader for the Skeltons.

He is a horse I think looks artificially short in here, presumably with most thinking he needed the run last time when beaten by the re-opposing Alnilam. Olly Murphy's charge has man of the moment Sean Bowen on board, which is definitely worth a few pounds at the moment with him riding out of his skin. Were I an odds compiler, they would be much closer together in the betting and with 9/2 widely available, the Olly Murphy runner would be the obvious play if this were a two horse race, but it certainly is not.

I am not totally dismissing the trainer who has won the last two renewals of this race Gavin Cromwell and his representative Addragoole, but there is another Irish raider who looks the play with our without stablemate King Of Kingsfield and that is RELIEVED OF DUTIES for Robcour and Gordon Elliott. He always looked confused by the smallness of hurdles as obstacles and it was no surprise to see him improve hand over fist for fences in a beginners' chase last time out at Fairyhouse.

We know frontrunners love a chase around Cheltenham and with or without his shorter priced stablemate in the field I expect him to be handy here. Danny Gilligan is a more than able deputy but it would of course be no bad thing if Jack Kennedy were freed up to ride him with a late King Of Kingsfield NR notification, and although over hurdles he'd have been no match for the home team duo mentioned earlier, I think over fences he could improve past the rest of this field.

15:35 Cheltenham

This is a smashing race with some names that'll be well known to most jumps racing aficionados, and when scanning the racecard the first thing that jumped of the page was the still only seven year old Matata. I was absolutely bewildered to see he is such a whippersnapper, as I thought he was of the same age as some of the other old boys in here like Unexpected Party, Third Time Lucki and Calico.

I had been planning to cleverly weave this paragraph through dismissing those old charges as tried and tested, at their ceiling or even on the downgrade, but with Matata his best is surely yet to come and it did make me hesitate in my confidence in my selection. He is probably the horse I fear second most, despite Calico heading the market due to his victory in this race last year. With the forecasts showing rain is coming, I am against him and that's always a good start in a race when you think the favourite is opposable.

Oddly, the chief threat I see to my selection - who I'll reveal in just a few more words, dear reader - is 10/1 poke Brookie. Still only eight, I can see Sam Twiston-Davies firing him out and attempting to go wire to wire. He has a fantastic record fresh and Anthony Honeyball will probably have him cherry ripe for this given his propensity to running his best races first time out. The reason he's not my pick, however, is that he could well be taken on for the lead with plenty in here loving to get on with things, which could be his undoing.

Darragh O'Keefe is in for a huge season now number one at Henry De Bromhead's with Rachael Blackmore's retirement, and he could announce himself to Prestbury Park with a win here on board the youngster in the field JASKO DES DAMES. This race is nowhere near as hot as his last run here in the Grand Annual, when he ran with credit for fifth off a 5lb lower mark, and his reappearance was full of promise at Listowel last time out. O'Keefe will be happy stalking or racing prominently with this lad and he has the most upside in the field.

I expect him to go off clear favourite and win.