Timeform takes a look at Saturday's action from Cheltenham.(credit:
CharlesFred)
Trials day dominates the weekend's racing. Timeform lead you through the action.
Anticipation for the Cheltenham Festival will be ratcheted up a notch this weekend with the track holding its annual Trials meeting ahead of the big one in March.
The day's most valuable race at Prestbury Park is perhaps the one with the least relevance to the Festival itself. The Argento Chase is nominally a Gold Cup trial, but with that race seemingly between Kauto Star and Denman, neither of whom turns up here, it is a trial only in the sense that it may have an influence on the supporting cast come the big day in March. However, that is not to say that the Argento has not attracted a decent field, befitting its Grade 2 standard. Indeed, with the likes of Madison du Berlais, Carruthers, Ollie Magern and the novice Inchidaly Rock set to go to post, the race is of plenty of interest in its own right.
Similar comments apply to the Betfair Cleeve Hurdle, which is a trial for the World Hurdle. With Big Buck's dominating the division, it would take something very special indeed in the Cleeve to make a dent on the market for the staying hurdlers' Championship event. Nevertheless, a good quality field has assembled for the race. Arguably the most interesting runner is the progressive Lie Forrit, who steps up in class having won on his last two starts in handicap company. The likes of Lough Derg, Fair Along and Mr Thriller all oppose him here.
A race that is better suited by the 'trial' tag is the Grade 2 Betfair Finesse Juvenile Novices' Hurdle in which Pistolet Noir, currently 11.0 and second favourite for the Triumph Hurdle on Betfair, makes his first start for Paul Nicholls. He has no easy task on his hands, however, with notable opposition coming from George Nympton, second in a competitive event at Cheltenham last time, and the Francois Doumen-trained Good Lord, whose run at Newbury on his British debut was surely too bad to be true.
The handicaps on the card are all typically competitive and should provide plenty of pointers for the Festival. By way of example, the first two home in last season's renewal of the Timeform Novices' Handicap Chase went on to make a significant impact in March. This year's fields look up to scratch.
Over at Doncaster the showpiece is the fiercely contested Sky Bet Chase over three miles. Seven Is My Number is the favourite as he looks to make it six wins in seven starts over fences, but things are tight at the head of the market with three further horses quoted at single-figure prices. Top weight Calgary Bay is probably the most interesting of them, having bounced back to form in a big way when winning over course and distance last time. The highest-profile runner on the rest of a card full of quality is Mad Max, who makes his second start over fences in the Lightning Novices' Chase.
Elsewhere on Saturday there is jumping at Uttoxeter, racing on the all-weather at Lingfield and in Ireland they go at Fairyhouse.
On Sunday in Britain there is NH action at Hereford, where leading Arkle fancy Somersby holds an entry, and Plumpton, while Kempton host a meeting on the Polytrack. Over the Irish Sea there is jumping at Limerick and Punchestown, with the latter hosting a particularly interesting card, with some of Ireland's top two-mile chasers set to go to post in the Grade 2 Tied Cottage Chase.
Follow this link to Betfair and get a free bet on any of Saturday's action from Cheltenham.