There's scarcely a meeting goes by at Cheltenham without a valuable handicap chase around two and a half miles though this card's (13:50) looks below the usual standard. Double Ross has gone up 15 lb for winning twice over C&D, while the likes of Wishfull Thinking and Cedre Bleu are classy but unreliable for one reason or another. With the Venetia Williams string still in irresistible form, Shangani starts to make a lot of appeal. He was fourth in a similar race at last year's Festival and is now on a 3 lb lower mark due to three below-form runs this season. They haven't been without promise though, with his third-placed finish at Kempton last time suggesting he's working back towards his best. This track probably suits better and Shangani looks well worth chancing in the race his yard won 12 months ago with Katenko.
The Grade 2 novice hurdle at 15:00 provides an interesting match-up between one looking for a bit of redemption (Rathvinden, a faller at Warwick last time) and another looking to prove his worth as a hurdler beyond doubt. Red Sherlock is the second horse in question. His smart bumper form is beyond reproach, but his two starts over hurdles so far have amounted to no more than routine wins over inferior opposition. This provides a different test, chiefly through the aforementioned Rathvinden who looked poised to give Deputy Dan a race last time before exiting three out. Our faith in Red Sherlock remains unshaken, however, and it's reckoned that he can take this en route to a Festival novice.
Finally, a word on the eagerly-awaited Cleeve Hurdle (15:35). It's a race packed with quality, showing that other trainers aren't frightened to take on a reappearing Big Buck's. Their daring is likely to receive scant reward. Reve de Sivola might be high-class, while we probably haven't seen the very best of either Boston Bob or At Fishers Cross over hurdles, but Big Buck's stands alone among staying hurdlers, current and past. If he's within a stone of the horse he was in his prime- which isn't so long ago as is perhaps being insinuated- then he won't have any trouble at all in extending his winning sequence to 19 and you certainly won't get many more chances to back him at around even-money.
Timeform UK SmartPlays
All at Cheltenham
Back Shangani in the 13:50
Back Red Sherlock in the 15:00
Back Big Buck's in the 15:35
