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Cheltenham Festival News: Mullins' Novice impassable in the Ballymore market

Daryl Carter
15 March 2023
4 min read

Impaire Et Passe crossing the finish line.

Can Willie Mullins' well backed favourite land the cash in the Ballymore? Yes.

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Daryl Carter landed seven winners from ten selections on day one with his through-the-card verdicts. He is back for day two with all the essential daily news, stats and betting info...

Daryl looks to continue his fine start to the Cheltenham Festival
Rain is due during the afternoon
All the Cheltenham stats, market movers and race verdicts

Cheltenham weather and going

Rain is due to fall at Cheltenham racecourse throughout Wednesday, according to the Met Office, with a 60% chance of precipitation around 3 pm and getting heavier and more persistent towards the end of racing.

Here is the Going ahead of Festival Wednesday #CheltenhamFestival pic.twitter.com/NJVAdQe4aM
-- CheltenhamRacecourse (@CheltenhamRaces) March 15, 2023

Yesterday had it all!

What a day

Let's do it all again tomorrow!#CheltenhamFestival | @CheltenhamRaces pic.twitter.com/Y1fvU7yi8o
-- Racing TV (@RacingTV) March 14, 2023

13:30 Ballymore Novice Hurdle

Biggest market mover in this race in the last 24hrs:

WAS 2/1

Race stats:

All 20 Challow Hurdle winners have been beaten.
Take out: Hermes Allen.

Eight of the last nine winners aged six.
Take out: Imparie Et Passe, Good Land, Gaelic Warrior, Champ Kiely, Ho My Lord, Marble Sands, Persian Time.

No winner since 1990 prepped in a handicap.
Take out: Gaelic Warrior, Master Chewy.

Eleven of the last 14 had won a Graded hurdle.
Take out: Gaelic Warrior, Ho My Lord, American Mike, Marble Sands, Master Chewy, Persian Time.

Daryl's race verdict:

A smashing contest, but the one with arguably the most potential is Imparie Et Passe (NAP), and the money has come in droves for him this past week. He won the Grade 2 Moscow Flyer in excellent style, and while the form may lack substance, he showed all the right signs of being a top-class horse. Hermes Allen can chase him home but has been very weak in the market, and the performance of the British horses on day one wouldn't boost confidence.

Back Impaire Et Passe to win the Ballymore

13/8

14:10 Brown Advisory

Biggest market mover in this race in the last 24hrs:

WAS 6/4

Race stats:

No mare has won this race since 1995.

Take out: Galia Des Liteaux

No winner made their chase debut over 3m since 2002.

Take out: Thyme Hill, The Real Wacker, Ramillies.

This century only two failed to finish first or second last time out.

Take out: I Am Maximus, Amirite, Thunder Rock.

Only one winner this century had two previous chase runs.

Take out: Sir Gerhard, Ramillies, Bronn

Daryl's race verdict:

Gerri Colombe fits the bill for this on the stats and trends front, and he is unbeaten in his career with likely improvement to come now tackling three miles. He is hard to oppose, but it's concerning he hasn't been left-handed over obstacles, and the market has been lukewarm on him until now.

I will take an each-way chance with Thyme Hill. He goes well fresh, likes it here at Cheltenham and has a fabulous festival record at this time of year. He was the best of these over hurdles and is the highest rated in the field. The stats are against him, but this is a low-quality year.

14:50 Coral Cup

Biggest market mover in this race in the last 24hrs:

WAS 10/1

Race stats:

Only one winner older than eight since 2007.
Take out: Beacon Edge, Call Me Lord, The Very Man.

Ten of the last 13 had course experience.
Keep: Camprond, Call Me Lord, Good Risk At All

Daryl's race verdict:

This is tricky, but I like the chances of the unexposed An Epic Song, which has been well-backed since declarations and represents last year's connections who finished runner-up with Fastorslow.

Langer Dan makes plenty of appeal also, having caught the eye in the Relkeel Hurdle last month, and it's interesting he goes here rather than the Martin Pipe (he ran there the last two years). A good case can be made for Good Risk At All, the stat horse for this contest as well as a handful of others.

Rachael Blackmore Day 2 Cheltenham Runners: Captain Guinness is a classy horse

Rachael Blackmore wins on Honeysuckle.jpg

Betfair ambassador Rachael Blackmore has six rides on day 2 of the Cheltenham Festival, including a lively outsider in the Champion Chase and a bumper runner for Willie Mullins. Read her thoughts on them all here.

Read Rachael's column here.

15:50 Champion Chase

Biggest market mover in this race in the last 24hrs:

WAS 22/1

Race stats:

Only winner this century to have been BF last time out.
Take out: Energumene, Greaneteen,

No winner bigger than 11/1 in the last 19 years.

Daryl's race verdict:

Whichever way you analyse the key piece of form - The Clarence House - Edwarstone comes out very favourably, and with that likely to have put him spot on, he gets a confident vote. The slower surface will post no issue, and he is the fastest horse in the field on the figures.

16:10 Cross Country Chase

Biggest market mover in this race in the last 24hrs:

WAS 14/1

Race stats:

Ten of the last 12 no older than 10 yrs.

Fourteen of the 18 winners had won over the course previously.

Gordon Elliott has won five of the last six

Daryl's race verdict:

The whispers about Galvin's preparation for this contest have not fallen on deaf ears, but indeed the prospect of more rain makes him less appealing. Delta Work has been here and done that and ran a scorcher giving away plenty of weight when third on trials day in the handicapping contest. Back on level weights, he will take the beating.

16:50 Grand Annual

Biggest market mover in this race in the last 24hrs:

WAS 14/1

Race stats:

Last 12 rated between 136 and 152

Only one novice winner since 2013

Fifteen of the last 18 had run at a previous Festival

Daryl's race verdict:

Another tricky contest, but a chance is taken with The Last Day, who has been sparingly raced for a horse of his age and showed the fire still burns bright when bolting up at Aintree last season.

He has an excellent record from February onwards, with form figures of 1119 - the latter in a bumper in 2017 and has finished first or second in five of his nine chase starts. Andy Dufresne is another to consider. Last year's favourites have a good record returning the following year, and this is not as deep as last season, with many likely to fall victim to the rain-softened conditions.

17:30 Champion Bumper

Biggest market mover in this race in the last 24hrs:

WAS 28/1

Race stats:

No horse this century has won when a beaten favourite last time out.

Fifteen of the last 17 hadn't finished outside of the first two.

WPM has trained 11 of the last 26.

Daryl's race verdict:

I am surprised that It's For Me has been disposed of as the market leader, but that's probably no more than a market correction. He looked spectacular to my eye, and he has plenty of speed to help him see off some future-staying chasers in this field. A Dream To Share is feared most.

Cheltenham Festival Focus runners

Daryl Carter Saturday Racing Tips.png

El Fabiolo scored for the Cheltenham Focus Followers yesterday at an ante-post price of 6/1 which was a good start. It was followed by losses of Brandy Love and Tekao, but it's a long week and we have some great chances. Here are today's.

Thyme Hill E/W 12/1 Brown Advisory

I've tried to steer clear since putting him up in our ante-post column, but the more I look at this race, the more I think he has excellent place claims. I am happy with our position on him despite his recent drift in the betting. Gerri Colombe will prove tough to beat, but he is not to be written off.

It's For Me 4/1 Champion Bumper

Another to have a drift in the betting with support coming for A Dream To Share and Fun Fun Fun, but I still think this is a very, very smart horse. I am really looking forward to seeing him run.

Final Word

WOW. Yesterday had it all, didn't it? Barry Connell proved right with Marine Nationale, Corach Rambler the first to win back-to-back Ultima Handicaps, Constitution Hill proving he is the best bar none, while Honeysuckle had the fairytale ending.

The PERFECT ending to a phenomenal career

HONEYSUCKLE gave the Cheltenham crowds one last cheer before retirement #CheltenhamFestival pic.twitter.com/E5pzLdxaX1
-- CheltenhamRacecourse (@CheltenhamRaces) March 14, 2023

A spectacular start to the Cheltenham Festival, and it once again showed what a tremendous sport this is. There were cheers, laughter and tears, and that was just from the heartwarming result of Honeysuckle out of trainer Henry De Bromhead in his post-race interview.

I love this game. Go well today, and be lucky.

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Prices quoted in copy are correct at time of publication but liable to change.

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Racing...Only Bettor

Daryl looks to continue his fine start to the Cheltenham Festival

Rain is due during the afternoon

All the Cheltenham stats, market movers and race verdicts

Cheltenham weather and going

Yesterday had it all!

WAS 2/1

Race stats:

Daryl's race verdict:

WAS 6/4

Race stats:

Daryl's race verdict:

WAS 10/1

Race stats:

Daryl's race verdict:

Rachael Blackmore Day 2 Cheltenham Runners: Captain Guinness is a classy horse

WAS 22/1

Race stats:

Daryl's race verdict:

WAS 14/1

Race stats:

Daryl's race verdict:

WAS 14/1

Race stats:

Daryl's race verdict:

WAS 28/1

Race stats:

Daryl's race verdict:

Cheltenham Festival Focus runners

Final Word

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