Equinties - confirmed

Gm Equinauts

We were asked yesterday why we are so bullish on MAUGHREEN for the Mares Novice Hurdle, a good question given we’ve been pumping her in all the competition bets.

The simply answer is to that is she’s the only horse we’re nailing out colours to at the moment… at a price anyway.

We like her pedigree, her form, her trainer (no sh*t) and we like what we’re hearing.

Win or lose, the competition bets are to get our followers excited for something - a freebie on us.

We’ve got three in-the-money slips to giveaway now, more to come with two more up for grabs today!

Let’s dive in.

HEADINE ROUND UP

ALL CONFIRMED

BRIGHTERDAYSAHEAD and LOSSIEMOUTH held a strong sway on what would happen to the Mares’ Hurdle this season and this is for obvious reasons, they are both arguably the two nicest mares in training, and if either one of them lined up in the 2m4f contest, it would be a walk over.

So, with the confirmation that BRIGHTERDAYSAHEAD will head to the Champion Hurdle, and confirmation in Willie Mullins’ stable tour yesterday that they want to keep to the Champion Hurdle plan for LOSSIEMOUTH, this has allowed a few sets of connections to confirm their Mares’ Hurdle ideas.

The first, most notably, came from the Jeremy Scott yard regarding GOLDEN ACE. 

A while back, Scott said he would go to the race that BRIGHTERDAYSAHEAD and LOSSIEMOUTH weren’t going to. So, as he already suggested, that’s the plan as GOLDEN ACE is likely to go to the Mares’ Hurdle. 

On the decision, Scott said: "The Mares' Hurdle is where I think we'll go. Ideally Lossiemouth will skip it too, but that's where we're leaning. It ultimately comes down to the owner but I think we're on the same page. 

"She's recovered well and seems in really good form, I'm really pleased with her. I'm as happy as I could be."

So, can she win the Mares’ Hurdle? There was a narrative flying about earlier in the season that she doesn’t stay 2m4f, but she won over the distance at the April Meeting and she does tend to travel better over this distance rather than two miles.

Furthermore, all she did at Wincanton last time out was stay, so the Mares’ should be fine for her.

One horse who will have a few trip questions to answer is JOYEUSE who is set to be supplemented for the Mares’ Hurdle. 

Nicky Henderson says the decision to supplement her isn’t based on the BRIGHTERDAYSAHEAD news, but we’re calling bs on that, and she is set to run at the Cheltenham Festival on what will be her first start over 2m4f.

Henderson said: “I think the plan would be to supplement her. She can’t run in a handicap at Cheltenham as she hasn’t had enough runs and she seems in very good order. “If it opens up, as the race looks like it’s starting to, and opens up a little bit more if Lossiemouth goes to the Champion, then we’ll give it a go.

“The big question is if she stays two and a half miles but she came to the boil before Newbury and Nico [de Boinville] is happy with her at this trip if she’s in the same form. She might lack a bit of experience but she was very professional in a big handicap last time.”

To us, this sounds like JP forcing Hendos hand a little bit. She’ll benefit for the experience, but she hasn’t got the form in the book just yet to be winning this. She is very unexposed, but she needs to prove her ability.

More: https://www.racingpost.com/news/festivals/cheltenham-festival/golden-ace-set-for-mares-hurdle-with-jeremy-scott-thrilled-with-her-form-ahead-of-cheltenham-festival-aQgCC1I3hwGf/ 

A PROPER RACE

The Cheltenham Gold Cup might be memorable this year but for only one reason - GALOPIN DES CHAMPS Gold Cup hattrick bid

Sure, sure, sure, of course, winning a hattrick of Gold Cups will put the name GALOPIN DES CHAMPS forever in the hall of fame,

That’ll be memorable.

But if only six turn up, no one will remember that race.

Seriously, we could be looking at six runners in the Gold Cup, which would kind of suck, but GALOPIN DES CHAMPS’ dominance in the blue ribbon event means for the Gold Cup’s loss, it’s Ryanair Chase’s gain.

But, what about the race that is set to have a few Gold Cup horses running in it? That’s right, the Ryanair Chase is set to swallow up a couple of would-be Cheltenham Gold Cup runners, but in fairness, this is making the Ryanair a fascinating race to watch.

FACT TO FILE is the current favourite for the race, and it looks like he could be heading this way. He’s basically not going to the Gold Cup because his stablemate, GALOPIN DES CHAMPS, because he can’t beat GDC. Officially, no final decision has been made, but comments like “he’s a Gold Cup horse IN TIME” would make you think he could head to the GC next year and not this one.

Not only could the Ryanair have him, but news from France yesterday confirmed that IL EST FRANCAIS is Ryanair-bound.

This is ultimately a good call and we like his for this. Yes, it would be nice to see him in a Gold Cup, but 2m4f on the New Course when he can buck out at a super speed is something that will suit him. He’ll give all of the Ryanair runners and riders something to think about. Keep too close and you’ll risk running out of puff at the end. Keep too far away, and you may not be able to catch up. A tactical affair.

On the decision, Noel George said: “I’ve been through all the stats and horses that have been ridden aggressively and have gone from the front have a great record. I didn’t think the New course versus the Old course was a huge factor but the fact horses that go from the front and dominate in the Ryanair have a great record played a big part.

“You’ve got Allaho, Un De Sceaux and McCoy’s last winner of it, Uxizandre; they have a great record going from the front, Vautour as well.

“I school him lots because he enjoys it and at Cheltenham the fences do come thick and fast, his jumping is a huge asset. James will hopefully be pinging fences and will be able to fill him up all the time.”

On his day he’s a machine and we can’t wait to see him. Roll on, Cheltenham!

NOVICES’ CHAT

Finally, we’re going to revisit the Willie Mullins Bingo chat we spoke about in yesterday’s newsletter, again. This will only be a short section, but it’ll be quite clear.

In the morning, Bryan Drew went on the Nick Luck Daily Podcast and said that FINAL DEMAND is “70-30” to run in the Turners over the Bartlett. 

Fair play to Luck, he’s a very accomplished journalist and he would have a good contact to Drew, so knowing he is a part-owner, getting him on the podcast to talk about the horse is the best he could do.

He’s never going to get Mullins in a situation like this because Sporting Life, and Mullins’ own lips, have a lock and key in place regarding Cheltenham targets.

We’re not the only ones to say this, but we can imagine there is one owner in Closutton that gets a say on where his horses are going, shock, it’s Mr McManus.

So, are Drew’s words on this matter that important to us punters? Not really. Even Ruby Walsh, who keeps his mouth fairly closed on matters of Cheltenham targets, pretty much confirmed the Turners is still the plan for FINAL DEMAND. 

Yesterday’s Sporting Life stable tour had no mention of the Bartlett for FINAL DEMAND, so let’s just all assume the Turners is the plan. However, we’ll leave you with this final comment.

If, and this is an if, there is concerns about FINAL DEMAND running in the Turners on drying ground, is this small bit of information about what they think of his credentials. Are the cracks beginning to show regarding his tactical speed in a race like the Turners? Let’s just say that if you are a fan of THE NEW LION, you’re probably smiling from ear to ear currently (we’re smiling).

RISK ON

Apparently our man Norm has the bets today, follow him on X @normduncsbgp

Of the the only jumps racing available today, we quite like this one:

17.00 PRESENTANDCOUNTING

He’s a front runner and on his favoured ground he could be really hard to peg back. We’ve had a big string of cross bar hits the last week and we’re hoping this lad can just lead and win to start a bull run for next week. 11/8 is short enough so we might also play around with the distance markets as a fun side bet - 12 lengths for 9’s looks ambitious but we can see it happening.

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