Horseracing Tips / Paul Jacobs / 10 November 2009 / Leave a comment

The feature race of Cheltenham's Open Meeting pits a clutch of the UK's top chasers against one another. Brondesbury has three suggested ante-post bets for Saturday's big one

"Poquelin was mightily impressive last time out over C&D and, unlike his stable mate Chaptoturgeon, he has been crying out for a test here. His 11lbs hike is also fair, but of the two, with that run behind him, it's Poquelin who I prefer."

There are several factors that need to be well advertised in this week's column as we try to unravel Saturday's Paddy Power Gold Cup conundrum. Firstly, the race normally goes to a progressive, young chaser and, not surprisingly, course form in the last few years has proved invaluable.

The reason the last factor comes into play is that Cheltenham is without doubt a track that rewards a chaser that can get into a jumping rhythm.

That is exactly the kind of horse Imperial Commander is and he jumped from fence to fence literally without a blemish.

L'Antartique, Exotic Dancer, Celestial Gold and Fondmort all had previous winning experience of the track which backs up that theory.

Of the previous course winners, Jewson hero Chapoturgeon has to run off an 18lbs higher mark here. He has so much speed that I always thought this trip would be beyond him and it still maybe on a softer surface. His mark of 153 looks about right.

Poquelin was mightily impressive last time out over C&D and unlike his stable mate he has been crying out for a test here. His 11lbs hike is also fair, but of the two, with that run behind him, it's Poquelin who I prefer.

Ballyfitz relishes this terrain and 2m5f is spot on, but he doesn't have a massive amount of scope for me. Stablemate Knowhere is only 2lbs higher than when third in this contest two years ago. Nigel Twiston-Davies' charge has form on all sorts of ground, but a spot of rain wouldn't go amiss. More pertinent to his claims is a fast run race, which is nearly always the norm.

My three against the field at this stage are the aforementioned Poquelin ([10.5]), sure to go off much shorter on the day especially if the horses above him are declared to run, keeping him in a viable racing weight.

I also like Nicky Henderson's My Petra ([13.5]), I actually wanted more like [17.0], and will leave my wager on her until the day as she needs a dry week to show her best form.

And the third horse I'm keen on is Tarotino ([9.0]) who like the above pair definitely comes under the 'progressive' banner.

He has always been held in high regard and has been given plenty of time to come to himself. A victory over Thunder Rock and co at Bangor in May was impressive and although he requires another big step up here he has the scope to defy the handicapper and has a good record fresh to boot.

If I was forced to hang my betting coat on one peg then it would be Poquelin, saving my stake on the other two selections.

Tags: My Petra, Nicky Henderson, Paddy Power Gold Cup, Poquelin, Tarotino