Betfair Ambassador Rachael Blackmore continues her Cheltenham Festival preparations with two runners at Navan on Saturday and provides exclusive insight on their chances...
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Two runners for Rachael at Navan on Saturday
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He seems to be taking well to jumping
14:00 - Como Park
Como Park is a nice recruit and we are looking forward to getting him going over hurdles. He seems to be versatile in terms of ground conditions.
He battled on well to win his maiden on the flat on fast ground over a mile and five furlongs at Leopardstown last summer for Joseph O'Brien. He won a handicap at Down Royal in September on soft ground. He has a handicap rating of 90 on the flat.
This will be his first time to race over hurdles, and you don't really know for sure how they are going to do until they race. He is obviously going to learn a lot, but he has been schooling well at home, he seems to be taking well to jumping, and we are really looking forward to seeing what he can do over hurdles.
Hoping that she can finish off her race well again
15:10 - Music Of Tara
Music Of Tara ran well to finish third in a handicap hurdle at Leopardstown over Christmas, and the form of that race has been working out well since. The horses who finished sixth and seventh have both won since.
That was a nice improvement on her first two runs this season, it was a performance that was more in keeping with the type of mare that we think she is.
She finished off her race well too at Leopardstown over two-and-a-half miles. I am hoping that she can finish off her race well again here up the hill at Navan, over the same distance, off a handicap rating that is just 1lb higher than her Leopardstown rating.
I can see Legacy Thor running well too. I rode him at Gowran Park last time and he certainly wasn't beaten when he made a bad mistake at the second last flight. It's a competitive handicap hurdle but Music Of Tara seems to be in good form and I hope that she can show the benefit of her Leopardstown run.