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No Wednesday selections
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Ante-post punt will be half the price on Saturday
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Look to Henderson to continue fine Cheltenham race record
If The Glen Rovers continues on his upward curve, he will be tough to beat in this contest, but I was most tempted with a bet on Gaassee 9/110.00 on Wednesday. The seven-year-old ran encouragingly on his stable debut for Jack Morland 18 days ago at Southwell when sticking to the task from off the gallop, and he could have done it with a much stronger gallop to aim at.
Still, he went through the race powerfully and made a good move but couldn't match the pace of those well-positioned. That form worked out well with the runner-up scoring for this column last Saturday, and in the hope that connections push forward from stall two, he could prove hard to pass under different tactics.
While it is taking a punt that his connections will look to kick on with him, he has made the running in the past, and he has an unexposed profile on the AW with form figures reading 4113. That includes a course and distance victory, and he is well handicapped on the best of his form from. He is one pound out of the handicap and hasn't won for a long while, but many of these look held by the assessor, so he could be the answer at a favourable price.
Kingston Pride - 10/111.00 on the Betfair Sportsbook - having been sent off a well-backed 6/42.50 chance, can't have been right when he pulled up in the Grade 2 Winter Novices Hurdle at Sandown in December. It's worth putting a line through that and giving him another chance at double-figure odds, given the promise he has held in previous starts.
The Nicky Henderson horse had offered stacks to like on his hurdling debut at Uttoxeter on his seasonal return, where he won easily, and this bumper winner is open to improvement. He was a narrow second to the smart Tripoli Flyer at Lingfield in a bumper on his rules debut and had beaten the very useful The Enabler in his point-to-point.
He has a good grounding to expect him to be far better than his latest showing, and he is overpriced to bounce back here. Potters Charm was said to be heading straight to Cheltenham for the Turners, and I don't like that he is here, but he is too short in the betting with an inflated rating under a penalty. Bill Joyce similarly carries a penalty and wants desperate ground to be at his best, while Western Knight must also give weight to the selection.
Nicky Henderson won this with Brichdale and Santini and was second in 2022 and in the race last year with Lucky Place. Therefore, I expect him to be represented and the selection to be seen to have the best effect on a more suitable surface than Sandown last time.
Back Kingston Pride to win the 16:10 (Sat) Cheltenham