THE CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL (Day 1)
 

THE CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL :loveme:

It has to be Willie Mullins all the way :t:

And so we’re all set for the greatest show on earth o:D

Day one could be a Willie Mullins bonanza. So could day two and day three and day four, of course, but if the champion trainer is going to have a day of days, it will probably be Tuesday.

So how many of the Mullins favourites will win on day one? Douvan, Un De Sceaux, Faugheen, Annie Power? It is around 15/1 the accumulator at best prices if you fancy all four. And uniquely, such is the strength of Mullins' back-up team, three of the four hot ones could get beaten and he could still win all four races. Un De Sceaux in the Arkle is the only one who flies the Closutton flag on his own. He likes doing things out on his own I guess.

Bizarrely for the defending champ, Jezki is still a little bit of a forgotten horse in the Champion Hurdle. I suppose that’s going to happen if you go zero for three for the season.

But we know that Jezki is at his best on goodish ground – ref. Cheltenham last year, Punchestown last year. His three runs this season to date have been on soft ground, soft ground, and yielding ground respectively. He is getting closer to his optimum conditions. A similar performance to the one that he put in last year would bring him close.

However, given the shape of the race, Arctic Fire may be the bet each-way at 16/1 Third in of the Willie Mullins triumvirate, the Soldier Hollow gelding was beaten less than two lengths by Hurricane Fly and Jezki in the Ryanair Hurdle at Leopardstown’s Christmas Festival, and he split the pair of them in the Irish Champion Hurdle in January. Yet he is twice the price of Hurricane Fly and four times the price of Jezki.

So he will have to improve if he is going to get closer still, but there is every chance that he will. He is only six years old, he is a year younger than Jezki and Faugheen and The New One, and Hurricane Fly had won three Grade 1 races before he was born. Of the top five in the market, he is probably the one with most potential for further progression.

He ran a cracker to finish a close second in the County Hurdle last year as a five-year-old when, if the race had panned out a little differently for him, he might have won it. So County Hurdle form is handicap form, but that run proved that he can thrive under Cheltenham Festival conditions, and he should bounce off the ground.

The shape of the race is really good for each-way betting: a short priced favourite, the dead eight runners, and quarter the odds a place. Arctic Fire may not win, he may be quite good enough to beat all of Faugheen and Jezki and The New One and Hurricane Fly, but he probably shouldn’t be a 16/1 shot against them, and 4/1 about him finishing in the first three is well worth having as the place part of the bet.


Donn McClean

Im a big believer that only maybe two of those "hot pots" will win but....


Went into Ladbrokes this morning and between 9am and 9.10am they were offering the following prices..

DOUVEN @ 3/1

UN DE SCEUX @ EVENS

FAUGHEEN @ 6/4

ANNIE POWER @ EVENS.


Even i had to have a little wager at those prices.....:king:

Good luck with those Tony :t:

Yes I've done them as well but also gone with everything Irish today in the way of Fcst Doubles and Fcst Trebles

Douvan .. 1st
Shaneshill .. 2nd

Un De Sceux .. 1st
Clarcam .. 0

Faugeen .. 1st
Hurricaine Fly .. 3rd

Annie Power. .. Fell
Glens Melody .. 1st


Going for some value :t: Mee 3:-)

Oh well thats my bet totally fked......I will let Ruby know who to blame later....

:Do:D

Are you 'Dudes' ready for this .. Lets do it :eat: .. http://youtu.be/q2Xi3ioasik :t:

Haha......:clap::clap:

We're off and running :t: Oi Oi Mullins and Walsh swoop :D and it's a 1-2 for Willie Mullins with Douvan ..Shaneshill :loveme:

Oh and i added mine for the tricast.........:king:

Nice one Tony with that Tricast :t:

SF .. £18.12 .. Tricast .. £343.38 :clap:

I Love Cheltenham.......:t:


Ask me again on Friday ......3:-)

Well I guess I'm as sick as most punters today with the fall at the last by Annie Power when coasting to what would have been a massive pay-out for most punters on day one of the festival ..
To say I'm sick is un understatement :-C .. Still it could be worse http://youtu.be/jHPOzQzk9Qo .. So ... :frog:

That cost me £380.00....

I did have a £20 treble the first three at those laddies odds and..


a £10 double Dovan and Cause Of Corses which just won at 8/1.....


Went out of the PP on the third race for 50p's


That should pay quite well

All in all the best day i have EVER had at the festival ....:t:

Annie Power so unlucky
 

Annie Power fell at the final flight when in front to leave stablemate Glens Melody to land the OLBG Mares' Hurdle.

Bookmakers were left breathing a sigh of relief after the heavily-backed odds-on favourite came to the last clear of her rivals but took off too soon, hit the obstacle hard and crumpled to the ground, leaving the race wide-open.

Happily both Ruby Walsh and Annie Power were quickly on their feet, as Glens Melody - second to another brilliant Willie Mullins mare, Quevega, in the same race 12 months ago - took over the lead.

Polly Peachum and Barry Geraghty emerged from out of the pack to give chase up the run-in and it was tight at the line but Glens Melody (6/1) prevailed by a head from Polly Peachum (9/1), with the gutsy Bitofapuzzle (16/1), who was handy from the start, staying on again for third only a neck further back.

There was an unusually muted response from the Cheltenham crowd as the winner and jockey Paul Townend returned to the winner's enclosure - many of the crowd would have been clutching tickets involving the four Mullins 'bankers', the first three of whom had already won and of which Annie Power was the last to run.

Townend said: "It's not the nicest way to win, but she deserves it as she's a great mare.

"(I'm pleased) for the owners who kept her in training and gave me the ride. I'm delighted. It's brilliant."

Mullins added: "Annie is up all right and Ruby is up all right, so everyone is fine and we can enjoy Glens Melody now.

"I thought Annie just stood off - she was probably going too well.

"I'm delighted for Fiona (McStay, owner) who was right to keep her in training and come back for this race.

"Paul is a fantastic guy. It's great he's had a winner on the first day of Cheltenham. You couldn't write a script like today.

"Last year she was robbed by Quevega having jumped the last in front and this year she got the rub of the green."

Although it may not have been achieved with the horse many had expected, Mullins was still in the winner's enclosure for an amazing fourth time on the day.

"It's unbelievable to have four winners in one day," he added. "I keep thinking this is not real and it won't last forever, so I'm going to enjoy it now."

Despite the fall, Ruby Walsh was still able to reflect upon "a super day".

"I thought she'd gallop her way through it, but instead she went to have a go at the last, hit the top bar and that's what happens. She's fine, it's one of those things," he said.

"It's been a super day. Douvan was great, Un De Sceaux was brilliant, Faugheen winning the Champion Hurdle was magic. At least Annie Power got up and there'll be another day."

Nicky Henderson said of Polly Peachum, another placed runner for Seven Barrows after Josses Hill in the Arkle: "We're getting close. There isn't a mares' race for her at Aintree and if we go to Punchestown we will bump into Annie Power again."

(Below that fall of Annie Power)