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Equinties - Cheltenham day 1
BGP Capital
December 12, 2025
Gm Equinauts
It’s day 1 of Cheltenham’s December Christmas meeting and big pots are available for the Tote players today (you know our feelings on the Tote versus the corporate betting giants who don’t like punters and are killing the sport).
The Tote are guaranteeing £100k today for the placepot and a massive £120k rollover for the Scoop 6!
Play for as little as a couple of quid, find a horse you think can’t finish out the places and punt for glory!
Click this link to get involved: Tote | Offers
Let’s dive in!
HEADLINE ROUNDUP
SERIOUS CONTENDER
There’s only so many times DIVA LUNA can show that she’s a natural over fences until we have to accept her as a genuine Mares’ Chase contender.
Admittedly, yesterday was just her second start over the larger obstacles, and barring an early mistake, she flew around Warwick to win easily.
Ben Pauling has mentioned Grade 1s against the boys for her later this season, and while she may have a chance in something like the Scilly Isles, the one race that looks perfect for her is the Grade 2 Mares’ Chase at Cheltenham in March. 2m4f is her trip, they’d go a nice clip for her to sit off and ping her fences, and she likes the track. It’s pretty perfect.
Post-race, Pauling said: "Last season was a write off from start to finish. I know it looked like she had some good results, but we knew what she was capable of, it was nowhere near that, she wasn't herself. We struggled to get her right all of last season and what she did was on raw ability, not because she was in the best of form.
"Now she has a couple of Listed chase wins under her belt, I think she needs to step into some open company and take on the boys, so I'm looking towards the Scilly Isles [on January 31] as her next target.
"There wasn't a lot of horses in this race today but you couldn't be happier with what she did. She made one mistake, which is no bad thing, she has to learn. She's come back this season totally different and back to her best."
In what looks a little big, she is 16/1 for the Mares’ Chase. Pauling, who is rarely wrong, likes her a lot (and he always has), she likes the track, she likes the trip, and she seems much better than last season. She was a bit below herself last campaign, and yet she still finished third in the Grade 2 Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at the Festival, which is pretty notable. Yes, DINOBLUE and SPINDLEBERRY are established, but they are also priced accordingly, and DIVA LUNA has plenty of upsides. We are starting to just sing off the same hymn sheet as Pauling.
PRESSING ON
After a slow start to the season, Venetia Williams has seen the winners enclosure twice this last week indicating that, perhaps, the gates to Venetia Wonderland have finally opened it’s doors in time for Christmas. DJELO retained his Peterborough Chase crown with a devastating front running performance and AUTHODIDACTE revelled in the mud in a fashion so typical of the yards horses.
Today, we get to see her stable star L’HOMME PRESSE return after a long 300 days on the side-lines. On his day, without a doubt he is the best horse in the race but punters might be wondering whether he’s back to his best after this most recent absence before steaming into him today at 5/1.
His racing record suggests punters shouldn’t worry. Three of the four times he’s returned from a long absence, the Grade 2 Cotswold Chase winner has won and the blot in the ‘winning return’ copy book can be excused for it was in last years King George no less!
That said, this time is little different. He’s been off with any injury and part of the fix has seen vets put a metal screw in him… somewhere, we don’t know what op he has had, all we do know is that his owner, Andy Edwards, is unsure as to whether he retains all his top ability at 10yo.
The odds are further stacked against him today when you take a look back at the historical trends of top chasers competing in handicaps at Prestbury Park. Only 30 chasers rated 160 or higher have appeared in a Cheltenham handicap in the last decade, with just one of those horses landing the big W. And that was a horse you’ll all be so familiar with - the mighty FRODON. He did it twice! What a horse he was for Paul Nicholls and Bryony Frost. Even, National winners TIGER ROLL and MINELLE TIMES and Gold Cup winners CONEYGREE and MINELLA INDO couldn’t do what he did. Okay, you might crab this by pointing out that those times were FRODON’s ‘Gold Cup’s’ having been trained to the second for those races knowing he wouldn’t be able to win a Gold Cup, but still, stats are stats.
So, in short, Venetia will need to perform a training miracle for L’HOMME PRESSE to win today (if anyone can, she can) but we suspect today might be a nice intro to see how well he is with a view to target bigger things later down the line. If he is ready to go and as good as he was, he wins and he’ll bring the house down.
We love horses like L’HOMME PRESSE so we’ll be eyes on and wishing the best of luck to both horse and connections!
BIG RACE PREVIEWS
12.05 2M 1F BRITISH EBF NATIONAL HUNT NOVICES” HURDLE
Cheltenham is back today, but there are no Graded races but that being said, the opening novice hurdle and novice chase genuinely wouldn’t look out of place as Graded contests, so we’re going to preview them for you today.
Think we’re telling a lie with that first statement? Well, someone agrees with us, and that someone is Nicky Henderson, who told the Racing Post: “It’s some contest, and it should be a Graded race with who is running. It’s very high-class.” Cheers, Hendo.
We’ll start with his runner, OLD PARK STAR, as he has some pretty identifiable form. On his first start over hurdles at Kempton last month, he beat UN SENS A LA VIE when in receipt of 6lbs. He fairly dotted up this day, and the runner-up went off 5/2 favourite for the Grade 2 Sharp Novices’ Hurdle at the October Meeting.
UN SENS A LA VIE was poor that day, obviously, but it gives some indication of the form. He’s returning to softer ground for the first time since his Kempton bumper, and he was actually third to HURRICANE PAT at Sandown on debut when with Paul Nicholls. Nice prospect.
He’s not favourite; KINGSTON QUEEN is. She was third in the Grade 2 Mares’ Bumper at Aintree in April, and she looked like a big type who would love obstacles in time. She showed that was true at Chepstow in November when putting KRIPTICJIM away with by seven lengths. She had to find a bit after the second-last, and she probably had Jack Tudor worried for a few strides, but her class showed after then. Her jumping in the closing stages would worry, and did she show out-and-out two-mile speed last time out. Unsure.
It was hard not to be impressed by LISBANE PARK at Exeter last month. He looked very good on the eye, and according to Joe Tizzard, he’s impressing at home. The third, KEL DU LARGE, actually runs in the 2m1f handicap hurdle later on off 114, and he’d have to be of interest there. LISBANE PARK is the definition of unexposed in a race like this, though softer ground (if it even is that bad) will be a new test.
OUR BOY STAN for Ben Pauling and MINELLA MARATHON for Dan Skelton come into this on the back of winning debuts, and OUR BOY STAN got a form boost yesterday thanks to MONEYGARROW. That being said, he didn’t bolt up the last day at Ffos Las. However, the runner-up has chased down BARON NOIR since, so that represents nice enough form. Probably does have the speed for 2m as he looked quick at Ffos Las.
MINELLA MISSION was good on debut, but the form of what he beat can be questioned, and there was something about the way he jumped and went away from the last that raises our eyebrows (not in the good way). Is he that good?
MULLAGHLOSS has to be respected for the Irish. He jumped and travelled like a nice one at Thurles, and why are they coming over? For the craic? No, they probably think they can win.
As for GLANCE AT MIDNIGHT, the race he won at Huntingdon was poor, but the runner-up, UNJEU ROYAL, isn’t a bad one. Has a bit to prove at this level, one would think but we like his pedigree and we think it’s valiant they bring him here for a day out…but that’s surely all it is?
SHERMINATOR is the final one in this field with a real chance. He was good in an average Taunton race, but a fair bit more is needed. That was also in March, and Harry Fry’s horses have been needing their first runs.
Verdict: Pipe’s fave will be hard to beat with the mares allowance but although she hasn’t done much wrong, she is more exposed than most so it might be worth taking her on with a swing ew. Joe Tizzard’s LISBANE PARK looked good on debut and his flat oriented dam side might mean he could be the ‘quickest’ over 2m out of the field who all will probably be stepped up in trip in time.
12.40 2M 4F CHASING EXCELLENCE NOVICES’ CHASE
This has fewer runners than the opener, but it should be another competitive affair.
CALIFET EN VOL is not the top-rated. In fact, he comes out third at the weights, but he is favourite based on a few lines of form.
The main ones are his win over NO QUESTIONS ASKED (144) and JAX JUNIOR (139) in the Sidney Banks, and he was second to THE NEW LION at Newbury in November.
He went off favourite for the Grade 1 Sefton Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree, and connections think a lot of him. This is his first run of the season, and his first run over fences, but Hendo won this with JANGO BAIE last year.
ROYAL INFANTRY is also making his chasing debut, but he’s run twice this season in competitive handicap hurdles, and he did smash up CREST OF FORTUNE over hurdles at Haydock last season. His form is probably below that of CALIFET EN VOL, but fences can definitely improve him. Interesting contender, though the first-time tongue tie goes on.
Fergal O’Brien completes the field with two horses. TINTINTIN shouldn’t win, so that leaves SIXMILEBRIDGE. He is the proven one here. He won nicely at Ayr on chasing debut, though he probably does need to sharpen up on his jumping. He actually got better through the race, and his jumping at speed wasn’t bad at all.
He was a Grade 2 winner before the race was taken away from him, but he’s still unexposed, and he could just take down a race like this.
Verdict: Nicky Henderson has won this race 4x in the last decade, and the horses that have won it for him have been monsters namely last years winner JANGO BAIE. Hendo once muttered the name SHISHKIN when describing CALIFET EN VOL and if he has improved over the summer to anywhere near his ability then he should be winning this.
RISK ON
Oh so close to a full house yesterday as the gamble of the day (Christian Williams’ horse was chinned on the line).
We haven’t found a bet today but if one comes up we shall post it to X @equinties.
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