There's a few like that but stringing 4 of them together means them all between them covering maybe 10 miles over 40 or 50 obstacles with other very good horses attempting to end up ahead of them so only one such plunge, at most, is advised.
I like to get in early before everybody else's previews. I don't want to be put off by what they think. It's easy to get confused.
But we shouldn't be confused. There are some absolute stand-out horses in several divisions at present and Cheltenham is where they have been aiming at.
We could easily be already underway with Ballyburn in the Supreme who couldn't be faulted at Leopardstown and we leave out the Champion Hurdle because Constitution Hill and State Man are the two most gloriously boring horses in training.
On Wednesday, El Fabiolo is another rock solid investment at the 4/6 I had him in a treble. Jonbon is no machine up against him, a box of tricks but a big talent. He will need everything to go right and something to go wrong for the obvious good thing, maybe even at 2/5.
But I'll only feel the benefit of the 4/6 if it goes in with Lossiemouth and Stay Away Fay at 5/1 in the Brown Advisory. The Nicholls horse is an act of faith on my part after his heroics at Sandown in December and then not being disgraced against his seniors at Cheltenham but stay is what he does, grimly if necessary and what Fact to File achieved at Leopardstown is difficult to say because Gaelic Warrior wasn't right that day.
The Ryanair Chase looks a bit below par without Allaho and is doing its best to undermine my usual argument that a proper Grade 1 chase over 2 and a half miles is just as much a championship as a Champion Chase over 2 or a Gold Cup over 3 and a quarter. My reason for looking forward to it is getting my Allaho money back which is in William Hill's account until then. Thursday could be a day off from investments and just be loose change for entertainment's sake.
But the way Sir Gino bolted away and put the highly-thought of Burdett Road in his place over course and distance last time puts him firmly into the blue chip category and Mr. Henderson will be wanting the security of him in the bank before the Gold Cup.
9/1 is fair enough about Shishkin but all the doubts about Galopin des Champs never being the same horse again after last year have been blown away since his first time out debacle this season. Shishkin has been unfairly derided, not least by me, but in among his 22 runs, of which he's won 15, are F, P, U and R and one wonders if he's looking for a B, D or S because he's really playing Scrabble. We know not to put anything beyond Mr. Henderson's handling capabilities but even he looks mystified sometimes.
I prefer winning to be as dull as possible and as predictable as pay day. 'Having a run for your money' is the sort of nonsense put about by bookmakers in the hope of convincing you you've had a good time while they concentrate on making your money theirs. I fail to see the fun in that. It's a result-based industry, some dour-faced football pundit will tell you, as if some industries weren't and then they'll add in some extra wisdom like it's goals that count or a win would be a good result for them tonight. The telly pays ex-players good money to tell you things like that.
Nobody pays me to write these self-evident platitudes.
Ballyburn, Lossiemouth, El Fabiolo, Sir Gino and Galopin des Champs add up to 14.5/1 at the moment and Mr. Hill has enhanced that to 15.9/1 with one of his prmotional bonuses but I'll cover that with all my faith in Lossiemouth at odds on. And that is the plan.
Hopefully, like today, I'll have Fun, Fun, Fun.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.