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Elliott still seeking to get on Cheltenham scoresheet
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Ryanair selection has improved with his jumping
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Alan Dudman plays EW with three and six places
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Rachael Blackmore Superboost
Rachael has an oustanding chance of winning today's Grade 1 Ryanair Chase aboard defending champion Envoi Allen, and the Betfair Sportsbook are giving you a supersonic boost by giving you a price of 1/12.00 that the horse finishes in the first four, boosted from 1/31.33!
It hasn't been a good Cheltenham for Gordon Elliott thus far, as he's without a winner from 18 over two days at the meeting. My selection Jigoro in yesterday's Coral Cup ran poorly, as did American Mike whose jumping was just as bad. Three seconds in two days from plenty of runners is not ideal.
Cleatus Poolaw came on my radar to get qualified for this last time when running second over 2m6f at Naas on his handicap debut.
Previously he won his Maiden Hurdle emphatically over shorter, but this horse is all stamina and he will not be lacking or found wanting for running on.
Whether he is up to the class for this we'll find out from 139, but it's a good mark and he stays and he's one of the youngest in the field as a 6yo.
Today's the day Elliott can come to the party.
Three made my shortlist for Ryaniar honours on Thursday, and while I am a big fan of Banbridge, I am worried about the ground for him. Ahoy Senor is a perfectly good each-way price and I thought he raced with more enthusiasm on his last run, but I am going with Capodanno at 17/29.50.
He finished fourth in the Brown Advisory in 2022 but the round of jumping was far from blemish free, although he did bounce back to win the Grade 1 Novice at the Punchestown festival soon after, again, not without the odd mishap at a fence.
I think he's really improved in the jumping stakes this year and it was so much better in winning the Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham in the January meeting here.
While over further that day, and he has raced in the National, stamina isn't a problem and tactics from Mark Walsh will be interesting here over the intermediate trip as they changed to pressing more forward at Punchestown in 2022, yet held him up last time.
He's a class horse who was a good novice, and the 17/29.50 looks a price to play for the each-way angle here for the double.