Cheltenham November Meeting preview & tips

ELLE PERFECTA (1.45)

Protektorat, More Of That, Tacquin Du Seuil, Finian’s Oscar, Champagne West, O O Seven. All high-class winners of this race over the last decade in what few could argue is anything but a stellar roll of honour for this race in its former guise. Since it was converted to a handicap last year, though. chances are we’re unlikely to see genuine Turners and Brown Advisory contenders using it as a stepping stone to a return in March.

It could still pay to know your Es Perfectos from your Elle Perfectas. While the former, a brother to the useful No Ordinary Joe, makes a belated chasing debut for Alan King, it’s the latter who piques my interest as a betting proposition (at around 7/1) against the trio currently jostling for position at the top of the market.

A fair hurdler, ELLE PERFECTA has posted two improved efforts since being switched to fences by Colm Murphy. The seven-year-old readily outpointed a then 126-rated rival (who she was also conceding 7lb to) when making a successful chase debut at Kilbeggan in April; then acquitted herself well in Grade 3 company at Galway in August over an inadequate trip. On both occasions she impressed with a slick jumping technique.

I’ll be honest, I’ve no idea how she’ll cope with genuinely soft ground. As a daughter of Shirocco (German Derby winner on heavy), we can only hope that she will.

It’s particularly intriguing that her shrewd trainer is sending her across the water for this race when he’d have no shortage of similar options at home. With the halcyon era Brave Inca and Big Zeb long since passed, Murphy is an infrequent visitor to these shores these days. Yet the likes of Empire Of Dirt (2016 Plate) and Impervious (2023 Mrs Paddy Power Mares’ Chase) serve as recent reminders of the Wexford wonder’s enduring ability to ready one for a big day, especially at the home of British jumps racing.

The Inside Word:

“We’re very happy with her, she’s made good progress over fences. She’s won on good and good-to-yielding here, so hopefully they won’t have too much more rain in Cheltenham. If they don’t, we’re hopeful of a good run. She’s a good jumper and a strong traveller, so I hope there’ll be a bit of pace on, too.” - Colm Murphy, trainer

ROSE OF ARCADIA (2.20)

In the age of the post-racing pop concert (def: old-fashioned term for the modern-day gig), Billy Ocean would have been an appropriate choice for Cheltenham this weekend. Because when the going gets tough - which invariably it will at the end of almost three-and-a-half miles in Sunday’s Jewson Handicap Chase - only the toughest will still be going.

There’s arguably no better runner in this line-up better equipped to cope with a slog in the mud than ROSE OF ARCADIA. After a slow start to her career (bought for £170,000 shortly after winning her sole start in a point-to-point), this eight-year-old is now making up for lost time. She’s won all three of her previous starts over 3m2f-plus, so the extra yardage of today’s test seems sure to suit; and her record under Rules on ground officially described as either soft or heavy is an impressive 11212.

A spin over hurdles at Newton Abbot a month, which she won a shade more comfortably than the neck margin suggests, was a canny move by Joe Tizzard, as it was presumably designed to get her cherry ripe for this, while knowing it wouldn’t affect her chase mark.

With ticks in many of the right boxes, including the continuing good form of the Tizzard yard, I suspect what’s left of the double-figure prices won't hang around for much longer.

The Inside Word:

“Rose Of Arcadia has run well here before and, although this looks a decent contest, she’s entitled to take her chance off this mark. She stays well, so we know she’ll be doing her best work at the finish, and she’s been a cracking mare for us. She comes here fit off the back of a Newton Abbot win and deserves this crack at a big prize.” - Joe Tizzard, trainer (via Coral)

L’EAU DU SUD (3.30)

If it’s an original, leftfield selection you’re after for the Greatwood Hurdle, then Lookaway now. Neil King’s future chaser did me a nice turn when landing a Grade 2 novice event at last month’s Showcase Meeting under a fine ride off the front by Jack Quinlan, but I’m not sure if he’ll have the big-field know-how to dominate a bunch a seasoned hurdlers on his handicap debut in this scenario.

Dan Skelton is often the go-to starting point for punters in these big 2m handicaps around Cheltenham. And no wonder. Faivor’s win in last season’s County Hurdle was his fourth in the last eight years of that Festival contest. He’s also won this race twice, with North Hill Harvey in 2016 and West Cork two years ago.

Knickerbockerglory won’t lack for backers here following a smooth success at Ascot under 5lb claimer Tristan Durrell earlier this month. But L’EAU DU SUD is the Skelton runner I’ve had in mind for this race pretty much since last spring. Twice a winner on testing ground in France, where he always ran in a tongue-strap and hood combo, the five-year-old was given only three runs in a light first campaign on these shores.

After leaving the tongue tie off for his stable debut, Skelton popped it back for L’Eau Du Sud’s subsequent runs at Kempton and in Kelso’s Morebattle Hurdle. He moved through both of those with purpose, only to not quite find as much when let down as seemed likely. If that was a sign of a horse who needed his wind tweaked, then it looks highly significant to me that Skelton waited until this summer to book him in for that procedure, presumably with this very target in mind.

The trainer produced North Hill Harvey and West Cork to win this prize on their first runs of the season (or first in two seasons in the case of West Cork), while Ch’tibello was having his first start since a wind op when he carried off the County under L’Eau Du Sud’s jockey, wee brother Harry, in 2019.

Top on Timeform ratings but with the prospect of more to come following wind surgery, I’m not the least bit surprised to see L’Eau Du Sud backed into second-favourite behind the Willie Mullins debuting Onlyamatteroftime.

Pick of the bigger prices is Fergal O’Brien’s Punctuation, who was progressive last season and limbered up for this with an eye-catching Flat win on soft ground at York a month ago.

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