The Road To Cheltenham 2023

Weā€™ll heā€™s gone over twice and done it tbf. Given how hard he pulled in the ballymore last year he got up the hill well.

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Iā€™d be keeping a very close eye on jazzy matty for the Fred winter. He was beaten six lengths on debut by that jp horse who then finished a very good third in the Fairyhouse grade one.

Jazzy Matty was absolutely murdered three out and pulled hard enough. He was switched in and out too but still got up the navan home straight to be beaten 6 lengths.

Now that jp horse had a lot of flat experience. Iā€™d be amazed if jazzy wasnā€™t able to turn tables with him.

Heā€™s by a sire who I really like in doctor Dino. His horses tend to improve with age.

Heā€™d one run in France where he was absolutely murdered as well and was well beaten but Iā€™d say theyā€™d have paid a lot for him. A maiden win on Wednesday would have him qualified.

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I thought it was very unusual Denis o regan got the ride on hollow games in the grade one. Noel Moran has been having a fairly miserable time of it on the horses front and I can imagine having a Cheltenham winner is high on Gordonā€™s wish list. This fella is definitely a better chaser than hurdler and his best hurdle run came in the Martin pipe. On a week when Gordonā€™s horses didnā€™t quite fire. Iā€™m going to take a guess hollow games will be a monumental gamble for the plate on the Thursday. I assume you only need three chase starts and Gordon has won it with novices before too.

Hollow Games was always a 3 mile chaser in the making. I nearly fell off my seat when he won over 2 and a bit the first day so cosy. I donā€™t know what their plans for him are but they should be all shot if he isnā€™t over the mid trip at the least the next day.

Heā€™s a fine jumper. Makes a trip less off an issue.

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Itā€™s funny the way the markets are working nowadays. Saint roi was well ahead of appreciate it in the champion hurdle and heā€™s won a grade one over two miles over fences. Thereā€™s also zero chance of him going out in trip. 14/1 for the arkle.

Appreciate it with his injury worries and only a beginners to his name is 6/1 for the arkle.

Sheā€™s qualified for the Fred winter now. 14s generally. Form keeps getting booasted.

Was watching a few of the Christmas races again this morning.

Ashroe Diamond looks a very good bet for the Mares Novice Hurdle. Her finishing effort behind Facile Vega was very eyecatching.

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Owner is a shrewd bollocks too racing her against the boys so that she goes under the radar a small bit.

Sheā€™s clearly been lined up for mares handicap at the Sunday of the Dublin racing festival. I think itā€™s ran in memory of paddy Mullins and Iā€™m not sure willies won it either. Concertista was beaten in it.

Just checked. Itā€™s worth a 100k and 4 renewals and willie hasnā€™t won it. Sheā€™ll have her mark now anyway.

Eric bloodaxe ran a huge race in the pertemps despite being beaten 16 odd lengths by Gordonā€™s other horse. They went really hard early doors and Eric bloodaxe was right in the thick of it unlike the winner who was held up. Thereā€™ll be at least a 20 pound swing come march in the weights but if Eric b had been ridden differently heā€™d have finished much closer to the winner. Heā€™s 16s for the pertemps and the winner is 4/1. I know which one Iā€™d rather be onā€¦

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The form of his first run in Ireland keeps getting franked with the 3rd winning nicely in leopardstown while the first won over in Chepstow. Gordon can get treated more harshly than others but itā€™s hard to see how they give him a mark higher than 130 and that could be enough.

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Iā€™d also say the four qualifying runs for the handicap hurdles could sway things in the favour of a different type of horse. Gordon won one handicap hurdle last year with commander of fleet who was campaigned fairly openly. Given the delays with frost etc getting four runs in might be tricky for some horses.

The Irish didnā€™t fare too well in the handicaps last year all told. Looks like handicapper finally caught up with them bar the Martin Pipe and Coral Cup. There seemed to be much bigger prices on the day. English filled up many of the places too. It will be interesting to see does that trend continue.

Agree with this. Heā€™ll stay all day long too

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4/1 for Maxxum is one of the worst bets Iā€™ve seen. Unless heā€™s Big Bucks in disguise heā€™s going to be crucified by the handicapper.

He is not huge so carrying a big weight may be more the issue imho. He went up 18pounds so is 138 here. Id say he will be 144 over in uk. If he is a graded horse, he still has a tonne in hand but carrying top weight would be my concern.