Equinties - The Weekender

Sponsored by UK Meds.

Gm Equinauts

Hello everyone, intern here (as it always is ;)) as the big man is off skiing. 

We missed a couple of days to give everyone a break ahead of the Festival, and although tomorrow’s racing isn’t vintage, we are going to give you a steer through Saturday as well as the news we have missed (including Cheltenham Handicap Marks). 

Lets dive in.

Headline roundup

Ruby Has His Say

On Wednesday, the official handicap weights for the nine Cheltenham Festival handicaps were released at the press conference/lunch at Prestbury Park. 

However, there was an apparent ‘leak’ of the official weights 24 hours before their intended release, something Ruby Walsh was unhappy about in the recent episode of Road To Cheltenham on Racing TV. 

So what has gone here? 

In the simple truth, no one knows. 

To try and explain, people who have access to the BHA admin site (trainers, owners, and certain people) are able to look at entered for horses as soon as the deadline is over, hours before anything is released to the public domain. 

However, what is different for the weights is that people with access to the BHA admin site were unable to see the official weights a few hours after they were ‘confirmed’ on Tuesday, but ‘apparently’ some people could see them as soon as they were confirmed (24 hours before public release) if you get what we mean. 

Basically, people are up in arms because this gave access to classified weights for pro punters and they took advantage by backing horses they thought were well-treated by the British handicapper. 

This is something that needs to change. People who have access to the BHA admin site in one way or another are able to share information before it is released - which, in fairness, they are within their right to do if they exclusively haven’t been told not to - but the fact there is no transparent release of this information is poor from the BHA, very poor. 

Weights Eyecatchers

Sticking on this topic, the Intern has had time to digest some of the interesting marks handed to these Irish horses ahead of the Festival. 

Firstly, because he last ran in England and not Ireland, WINTER FOG for Willie Mullins in the Kim Muir has been given three pounds for his second in the Classic Chase at Warwick - go and look back at that run, he looked very good and could be dangerous in the Kim Muir. 

Next, you’d have to say that COMMON PRACTICE for Joseph O’Brien has been treated well by the British handicapper. 

I remember last year a horse called LUNAR POWER was given seven pounds by the handicapper compared to his Irish mark for finishing within the same postcode as FIL DOR before running at Cheltenham. 

In this case, COMMON PRACTICE ran a good race in Lossiemouth’s debut in Ireland, a contest that had ZARAK THE BRAVE and COMFORT ZONE filling the places - he was fourth and better jumping could have seen him go a lot closer, so to only get two pounds is nice. 

Finally, the obvious one that looks nice is IMAGINE for Gordon Elliott. 

Having run into HUNTERS YARN and INOTHEWAYURTHINKIN this season, to be given four pounds to a mark of 139 is something Gordon is happy with and he was heavily backed for the Martin Pipe when this was officially revealed. 

Tattersalls Resale

Cast your minds back a few months and we spoke about how Tattersalls had not received payment from Saleh Al Homaizi, a Derby-winning owner, for 17 juveniles and that these horses were going to have to be resold. 

Well, the first of these 17 are set to be offered up at the Breeze Up sales in Newmarket next month. 

The 475,000gns NEW BAY colt, a half-brother to The Acropolis, will breeze up on the Rowley Mile on Monday, April 17th as a part of the 11,000,000gns spending spree from Al Homaizi. 

More: 

WEEKEND PREVIEW

There isn’t much top-class racing to talk about with the Festival just around the corner, so we will touch bases on the main contests of the day. 

Morebattle Hurdle

It could be a good day for Emmet Mullins this weekend as his four-year-old MCTIGUE heads the betting for the prestigious Morebattle Hurdle. 

Due to his age, he gets a 10lb allowance from the rest of the field, having him run off 132 effectively, which for a Grade 2 French winner is a gift and he could be very hard to beat for some shrood connections. 

Up against him, COLONEL MUSTARD represents the County Hurdle form, something that looks very sweet thanks to the successes of STATE MAN since. 

Now he is only three pounds higher than that and we don’t have to be the ones to tell you why that is very tempting. 

Of the rest, CORMIER won this race off a two-pound lower mark, though today’s contest looks more competitive, LUTTRELL LAD, a Grade 2 Persian War runner-up from 2021, is returning to jumping for the first time in 301 days, and TEDDY BLUE’s third in the Betfair Hurdle looks like fairly decent form since RUBAUD’s recent victory. 

Grade 2 Premier Novices' Hurdle

We will keep this short because, for a Grade 2, it’s a bit dross. 

Firstly, NEMEAN LION represents the TAHMURAS formline and is the only one with Grade 1 form - very respectable and Kerry Lee is actually in some good form atm. 

Arguably, the only reason why FERONILY is as short as 9/2 is because of his connections of Emmet Mullins and Paul Byrne - he was third in the bumper won by A DREAM TO SHARE at the DRF which is form we don’t know an awful lot about. If you’re backing, good luck. 

Actually, we may know why he is so short - it’s because the rest don’t have much of a leg to stand on. 

COLONEL HARRY was behind NEMEAN LION in the Tolworth and was fairly beaten at the finish - hard to see a reverse in that form. 

If returning back to his bumper form, LOOKAWAY beat HULLNBACK in the Grade 2 bumper at Aintree in 2022 but has disappointed over hurdles since - you would have to take a chance that he is back, but he’s young enough to learn on the job. 

Greatwood Gold Cup

One of the big handicap chases of the day comes from Newbury and it’s a great renewal of the Greatwood Gold Cup. 

PAINT THE DREAM tops the market following his brilliant weight-carrying performance two starts ago off 154 - four pounds higher than that won, he loves Newbury and should go well. 

Another horse who loves Newbury is ZANZA for Phillip Hobbs. 

Now, let’s get real, who thought this horse would one day be rated 158!? 

And tbh, he must have a very slim chance of winning off this mark, and if he does, he has to turn into a Grade 1 horse, surely!

He beat a non-stayer in HITMAN by seven lengths lto in the Denman Chase and had DOES HE KNOW, a handicapper, and FANION D’ESTRUVAL, another handicapper, behind him, so the form isn’t amazing. 

One horse who could outrun his odds in this contest is THE BIG BITE for Henry Oliver. 

It’s not too long ago that this horse finished a length off FUNAMBULE SIVOLA, a two-time Grade 2 Game Spirit Chase winner, off a mark of 144 at Doncaster - fast forward a year and he comes into this race off a nine-pound lower mark at a distance that could see him to best effect. 

Even connections like his chances, as his trainer said: “It looks a suitable race for him. He didn’t stay three miles at Newcastle and it was too soft for him behind Fugitif at Chepstow over Christmas. I think he’s a spring horse, and he was third in this race two years ago off a mark of 146. He’s down to 135 now and retains loads of ability. There have been genuine excuses for his defeats.”

So, who is our new sponsor?

UK Meds is an online clinic where you can get medications delivered to your door. Handy if you can’t be arsed to have those awkward convos with your doctor face to face!

UK Meds has just won the distribution rights to MYRKL and you are the first to hear about it!

Myrkl is a miracle pill that makes you feel fresh the next day, after the fun of the night before.

I'm serious. It works and that's the only reason they're sponsoring the newsletter. I swear by it so much, I reached out to UK Meds asking if I could work with them - and here we are now, plugging it to you.

This newsletter is powered by UK Meds.

Risk On

We have a couple of interesting International bets:

AL SUHAIL 5/6 (NAP) - 3:10 Meydan

FORTE 8/11 - 22:43 Gulfstream

 Back in England, risk on LE MILOS for the Skelton's in the 3:35 at Kelso - the most progressive horse in the line-up, has to carry a 4lb penalty for his Coral Gold Cup win but that shouldn't be too much of an issue, and this field isn't the strongest in the world.