The entries were made for the novice chase events at Cheltenham this week and the one who really stands out with the spring festivals in mind is BANBRIDGE.
He's been entered for the Sporting Life Arkle and the Turners Novices' Chase and we can’t pretend to know which race is the priority, but the state of the ground could obviously play a part in the final decision, as might the Goffs Irish Arkle Novice Chase at the Dublin Racing Festival – should he even run there.
That's looking like a red-hot race in itself, but I wouldn’t be at all shocked if Joseph O’Brien's horse ended up being the pick of the bunch in Ireland this year and that alone makes him must-bet material at 20/1-plus for the big two-miler in March.
Last sighted finishing third in the Bar One Racing Drinmore Novice Chase at Fairyhouse over a more demanding distance in early-December, that race is looking like one of the hottest novice chases run anyway so far this season, impressive winner Mighty Potter now favourite for the Turners and runner-up Gaillard Du Mesnil (a Grade 1 winner since) favourite for the Brown Advisory – and even shorter for the National Hunt Chase.
The fourth and fifth (Authorized Art and Adamantly Chosen) went on to finish a lot closer to winner Gerri Colombe in the Grade 1 at Limerick on Boxing Day than they did Mighty Potter in the Drinmore, as if any further confirmation were required that we’re dealing with red-hot form.
On top of this, I don't think we saw anything like the best of Banbridge on testing ground at Fairyhouse. He was prominent enough early on but appeared to be getting stuck in the mud which hindered his jumping quite markedly, and he was eventually looked after by JJ Slevin once his chance of winning was clearly up.
He’s better than that by a long way and the ratings back it up, Banbridge posting an impressive performance figure on good ground over the Arkle course and distance at Cheltenham's International meeting back in November (replay below).
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Runner-up Tommy’s Oscar hasn’t exactly boosted that form since but he did run against Constitution Hill in the Fighting Fifth on his next start, before finishing second off 155 in a novices’ handicap chase at the same venue, so he’s not been letting the side down.
Banbridge was spring-heeled on his preferred surface earlier in the season, kicking off with an eight and a half-length win over two and a half miles at Gowran prior to the Cheltenham triumph, so it was a sensible move to put him away over the Christmas period.
A pretty cosy winner of the Martin Pipe off a mark of 137 at the 2022 Festival, before being tried over three miles at Aintree when clearly running flat before stamina came into play, he might just be getting a stride quicker with age and I can see him absolutely thriving in the pressure-cooker atmosphere of a strongly-run Arkle.
The Grand Annual is surely out of the equation now anyway, given he’ll be well into the 150s with the BHA after brushing Tommy’s Oscar aside so easily.
O’Brien has only ever had two runners in the Arkle - Us And Them in 2019 and Fakir D'Oudairies in 2020 - and they both finished second.
Perhaps that’s the best Banbridge can hope for too, given how dominant Jonbon has been in Britain this year, but Nicky Henderson's ace wasn't miles ahead of the Irish as a novice hurdler last season, having finished just a couple of lengths ahead of Kilcruit when a distant second to Constitution Hill in the Sky Bet Supreme and a neck in front of El Fabiolo at Aintree the following month.
His price is too skinny on that basis but it does look a lot like Jonbon versus the Irish and it’s not hard to see Willie Mullins looking to step either Appreciate It or El Fabiolo up in trip come Cheltenham, so this race will inevitably cut up.
Again – the Irish Arkle is going to reveal a lot more on that score, but there’s nothing I’d rather back right now than Banbridge, whether he goes to Leopardstown or not, and I can just about resist a cover shot on the Turners as I don't really fancy his chances in a rematch with Mighty Potter, even on better ground.
If I'm wrong regarding this horse's eventual target, I can swallow that, but if you can't then William Hill go 14/1 with the non-runner, no-bet guarantee in the Arkle and 10s in the Turners.
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