Equinties - Saturday musings

Gm, Equinauts

Let’s dive in.

HEADLINE ROUND UP

IN THE BIN

We don’t know why, but racing X was awash with adverts and line ups for Cheltenham previews yesterday.

You probably won’t believe this, but we (well, me (JT)) have never, ever watched a Cheltenham preview.

Now, you might say it’s an arrogance thing, perhaps underlying subconscious where we think we’re better than the people on the other end of the mic’s. We might agree with you. But our reason for steering clear of such things is we don’t want anything to muddle our methodology.

Just think what these previews are about - bookies hiring personalities to fill some air time whilst offering out tips with out consequence to their pocket. They couldn’t car less. Now, don’t get us wrong, some trainers might offer some great insight but really it’s a propaganda factory and jockeys… well they’re the worst tipsters going.

When we play an edge we don’t want anything to influence that and the panel won’t be selecting to our edge either.

We’ll give you an example of how we go about punting the Festival. Remember, the year TIGER ROLL got chinned by DELTA WORK? We had two bets that week. One was DELTA WORK (sorry, TIGER) and the other was a lay on a Hendo mare short in the market who we knew wouldn’t go in the mud. And that was it - two proper bets with all those races and horses dominating headlines.

Sounds like no fun right? It takes some discipline. Of course you can still enjoy the remaining races. We always set aside a small pot for every big meeting, pocket change, to have some fun with multi’s but it’s not stakes which makes a difference. But for our real bets, we play the Fez like it’s any other day

If you enjoy the previews, you do you. It’s like an argument for eating bacon to a veggie… ‘because it tastes f*cking good’. You also might follow some of the tipsters on the panel. That’s fine.

But we pick our own and listen to no one but our trusted contacts.

Quite simply, previews aren’t for us. We have better things to go.

And we will win at the Festival.

SATURDAY MUSINGS

JP’s future pilot, Harry Cobden, is still side-lined for Cheltenham's Trials Day after being trampled on in a race —tough times for the ex-champ, but Sammy Twiston-Davies steps in seamlessly on exciting juvenile MINELLA YOGA for Paul Nicholls who he’ll be doing a lot of business with in the future. That juvenile race is a a fairly hot one with the field looking to cement their Triumph credentials but they’ll need to handle the slop…

A lot of rain is forecast over Cheltenham today and the ground might just be bottomless come race day which poses immediate wonder - will there be some non-runners?

Straight away, there would be concern over SIR GINO’s participation… knowing how Hendo likes to bubble wrap his horses, might he save his Cheltenham ‘banker’ for another day?

You can just see it can’t you, especially given how the RP have slapped his boatrace across the whole front page alongside comments from McGrath (the chap who sourced him) claiming SIR GINO as his ‘greatest find’.

If Sir Gino skips Saturday's Unibet Hurdle on Saturday the focus shifts straight to a low-mileage prep strategy ahead of the Champion Hurdle. Nicky Henderson has made it crystal clear that SIR GINO is locked in for the big one at Cheltenham, describing it as the primary target after his dominant Christmas Hurdle comeback. The horse is already trading as short as 5/4 or 6/4 favourite in places, and the vibe from Seven Barrows is that he doesn't necessarily need another run to sharpen up—he's shown he can handle long layoffs and still fire on all cylinders.

That said, if connections want one more outing for experience or to get rid of the rotten ‘bounce’ factor, the Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton stands out as a realistic option. It's a classic stepping stone for Champion Hurdle hopefuls—BINOCULA used similar paths in the past, and it's often a small-field, high-class heat raced on good-to-soft ground that might suit SIR GINO's profile.

Henderson has previously referenced races like the National Spirit at Fontwell and the Kingwell as potential spots if the ground comes right, especially since both offer a sharp 2m test. The Kingwell would be a smart, low-risk tune-up: close enough to Cheltenham to keep fitness ticking over but far enough out to allow recovery.

All that said, given we’re going to be at Cheltenham Saturday, we’d love love love to see SIR GINO turn up!

BRIDGING THE GAP

Four seconds and a third. That’s Fergal O’Brien’s best efforts from 58 runners at the Cheltenham Festival. A big Festival win at his home track has remained elusive to him and his bid to kibosh the drought hasn’t been made easier for Fergal’s team this year has been somewhat depleted with CRAMBO retiring.

The captains armband has been readily picked up by SIX MILE BRIDGE though and he will be Fergal’s main hope for success. Unbeaten over fences, his main target will be the Browns Advisory Novices’ Chase, of which FINAL DEMAND is the current even money fave, but will get a further entry in the Arkle and then a handicap too (which could be a smart play!).

SIXMILEBRIDGE looked really very good last time out and will next be seen at Sandown’s Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase.

TWO WINNERS AND A 16/1 PLACE YESTERDAY, MAKE SURE YOU’RE SUBSCRIBED TO PREMIUM SO NOT MISS US ON A BULL RUN (LINK BELOW):

For exactly the same price as a pint of Guinness at Cheltenham, become a premium subscriber and gain access to our very best content.

Already a paying subscriber? Sign In.

A subscription gets you:

• • Our famous weekender edition
• • That warm fuzzy feeling inside knowing the intern gets fed
• • Big race previews and best bets
• • Bet competitions