Our form expert tipped up 10/1 winner Long Draw on Friday and he has three selections for Doncaster and day two of the December Meeting at Cheltenham on Saturday.
The Verdict: Saturday December 14
2pts win Theonewedreamof in 1.13 Cheltenham at 5/1 (General)
1pt e.w. Guard Your Dreams in 1.50 Cheltenham at 20/1 (bet365, 1/5 1,2,3,4)
0.5pts e.w. Kinondo Kwetu in 2.05 Doncaster at 28/1 (Paddy Power 1/5 1,2,3,4)
Sweet Dreams in December feature
It’s a cracking renewal of the Nyetimber December Gold Cup Handicap Chase at Cheltenham on Saturday with five horses who ran in the Paddy Power Gold Cup taking their chances again.
Il Ridoto bids to become just the fourth horse in history to do the double in the same season, with Exotic Dancer in 2006 the last horse to complete the feat.
He went on to win a Cotswold Chase by 18 lengths and then finish second to Kauto Star in the Cheltenham Gold Cup later in the season, highlighting the sort of horse you have to be to pull off such an audacious double.
Il Ridoto, up 8lb in the weights, is respected and it’s a big day for Olive Nicholls taking 7lb off his back to help alleviate the burden, but he’s on the drift and you can see why. This is a tough task.
The horses he beat in the Paddy Power: Madara, Fugitif, Ga Law and In Excelsis Deo have not been missed by the market and it’s tempting to take them all out of calculations given this is a very different race on the New Course.
Fugitif won this race last year when the ground was soft and he probably wants conditions more testing than he faces on Saturday, so it’s not surprising to see Madara head the betting.
Whether he deserves to be 7/2 I’m not sure and the percentage call is to take an each-way swing against the Paddy Power quintet.
GUARD YOUR DREAMS is 18/1 getting four places and that looks a perfectly fair bit of business for the Nigel Twiston-Davies team.
I like that his New Course form over hurdles is a good body of work, including an International Hurdle win at this meeting a few years ago where he beat horses rated 155 and above, while his Relkeel third included rivals of the same calibre.
Last season he went off the rails a little, but fences seem to have perked him up again and he has supplemented a reappearance win at Warwick (where he beat subsequent winners Roccovango and Genois) with two good efforts in defeat at Cheltenham.
At the November Meeting he ran really well in third behind smart prospect Peaky Boy (who runs earlier on the Saturday card – look out for a form boost), warming to his jumping after a few tentative leaps early on.
He can come on for that effort and after three qualifying runs that enable him to compete in this race it would be no surprise to see him leave his current best chasing form behind from a mark of 136.
The Verdict: Back GUARD YOUR DREAMS in the 1.50 Cheltenham
Dream a nightmare for bookies
Gavin Cromwell had another Cheltenham winner with Stumptown on Friday and his mare THEONEWEDREAMOF has an excellent chance in the Quintessentially Mares’ Handicap Chase in the 1.13 at Cheltenham.
This five-year-old has quickly switched to chasing and she came on for her Kilbeggan third behind Jasmin De Cotte with a very good win at Tipperary in July, beating a couple of subsequent winners who are now rated 107 and 116.
She jumped well and beat them easily, so there’s every reason to expect a bold bid from a handicap mark of 111 given her trainer’s prowess both at Cheltenham and in mares-only races.
Indeed, he won this very race with La Malmason last year and so there’s every chance he has had it circled in the calendar for Theonewedreamof from some way out.
Bar a spin on the flat at Galway her powder has been kept dry since Tipperary, but she goes well fresh and 5/1 looks big against the Brits.
The Verdict: Back THEONEWEDREAMOF in the 1.13 Cheltenham
Kin worth a small bet for Englands
Finally, KINONDO KWETU is worth a small each-way bet at 28/1 in the bet365 Handicap Chase at Doncaster.
This is a wide-open contest but the combination of a flat, galloping track on drying ground is perfect for Sam England’s horse.
His best form is at Aintree and Worcester, two tracks not dissimilar to Doncaster in configuration, his win at Worcester in August coming off just a 3lb lower mark.
He didn’t jump well at Cheltenham in October, but was given a confidence-boosting ride in fifth in the Rehearsal Chase at Newcastle last time and if that has helped him regain his confidence he’s a player.
The Verdict: Back KINONDO KWETU in the 2.05 Doncaster
Preview posted at 1555 GMT on 13/12/24
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