Cheltenham Festival Ante-Post Betting: Barbers has the cut of a Ryanair winner

/ Paul Jacobs / 01 December 2009 / Leave a Comment

Brondesbury examines the Ryanair Chase and Champion Hurdle markets following the weekend action at Newbury and Newcastle

Okay so we have read all the hype, soaked up the atmosphere and all declared Denman to be an all time great. However, with the Hennessy Gold Cup now behind us the question we have to ask is can the big horse land a second Gold Cup and so usurp, again, his stable mate Kauto Star as the best chaser in the land?

I think that the joint owners of the horse summed up the situation perfectly when they said on ground good to soft or quicker ground the speed of Kauto Star will always win the day, but should we get a more testing surface then Denman will just jump better out of the ground and outstay his great rival.

Sometimes in racing we try to look too deeply into a horse's form, but that summary is about right in my book and it is almost as if we are betting on the weather at this stage of the season some three months before the big meeting by having an ante-post wager; a very dangerous and unnecessary method of re-investing our hard earned.

If that is truly what you believe, and I think it is THE pivotal factor in this third Gold Cup match up, then it is a no brainer to wait until nearer the festival to assess ground conditions.

With the likelihood of Imperial Commander running in the Gold Cup this opens up the way for Barbers Shop ([11.0]) to aim for the Ryanair Chase.

He was travelling just as well as Denman down the far side only to patently not get home down the home stretch when push came to shove. Now, that may be down to a pure stamina deficiency, lack of fitness or a combination of both.

But the fact that he was able to travel with such purpose over 2m5f in last year's Paddy Power and only just lose out to that well handicapped Imperial Commander up the hill tells me everything I need to know about his major asset, a high cruising speed and not staying power.

He has already shown that 2m 5f around there is perfect and those odds make plenty of appeal especially as he is likely to act on the odds-on quicker ground so much better than one of his main dangers Tranquil Sea.

As far as the Champion Hurdle is concerned, the Fighting Fifth was run at a joke of a pace. The Supreme Novices winner Go Native is a smart horse in his own right, but as Noel Meade mentioned to me on Timeform Radio, speed has always been his forte and he could be vulnerable in a well run race.

With the big race always run at a breakneck pace I still strongly fancy Solwhit to reverse the form and he now looks a fair win and place wager at [9.2] and [2.7] respectively.