Tony McFadden highlights three key changes to the Timeform ratings following last week's action
It's For Me created a striking impression on his bumper debut at Navan on Saturday, earning a Timeform rating of 113p which is marginally the best achieved in the division so far this season.
It's For Me, an easy winner of his only start in an Irish point, was sent off the 4/9 favourite on Saturday and his supporters wouldn't have had any anxious moments as he really took the eye with how he powered through the contest under Patrick Mullins before leading on the bridle around two furlongs out and cruising ten lengths clear.
The style of success suggests there should be much more to come from It's For Me, who has rocketed to the head of the betting for the Champion Bumper, a race his trainer Willie Mullins has won a record 12 times, including four of the last five renewals.
His rating of 113p places him slightly in advance of Encanto Bruno (112) and Wrappedupinmay (111p) on Timeform's figures, though it's worth noting the mare Queens Gamble (109) would be coming out slightly above It's For Me, as things stand, on weight-adjusted figures for the Champion Bumper after her 7 lb sex allowance is taken into account. However, she has had two runs, including one at Listed level, so has had a greater opportunity to clock a big figure than It's For Me, who is clearly a very exciting prospect.
Incidentally, It's For Me's success was the fourth in a row for owners Simon Munir and Isaac Souede whose distinctive 'double green' silks have also been carried to victory of late by other Cheltenham contenders in Impaire et Passe and Night And Day, as well as a smart prospect on the Flat in the shape of French Invasion.
Allegorie de Vassy a high-class chaser in the making
The Grade 2 mares' novice chase at Thurles on Sunday was much more eventful than a wide-margin win by the 1/8 favourite might suggest as Allegorie de Vassy gave her connections a major scare when nearly unseating at the first fence when screwing right.
That she carried on jumping out to her right is likely to be a topic of discussion in the lead-up to Cheltenham. However, Timeform's reporter commented: "It would be wrong for such concerns to overshadow what a hugely exciting prospect she continues to look", emphasising the positives of a performance that took her record to two from two over fences and four from four since joining Willie Mullins from France.
Allegorie de Vassy's powerful display of galloping resulted in the field coming home at wide intervals and she was 19 lengths clear of a useful sort in Brides Hill, who in turn was 21 lengths clear of the third, with the same margin again back to the fourth. That earned her a Timeform rating of 155p (from 144P) which is 4 lb higher than what Impervious - her market rival for the Mares' Chase - was rated after she defied a penalty and beat the boys at Punchestown last week.
The highest Timeform rating earned by a novice chaser so far this season is 162p by Mighty Potter, but Allegorie de Vassy would be coming out level with him on weight-adjusted figures after her 7 lb sex allowance is factored in. She's not been entered in any of the novice chases at Cheltenham, though, so any potential clash with the boys will have to wait until after the Festival.
Embassy Gardens enters the Albert Bartlett picture
There are ten races at the Cheltenham Festival featuring an ante-post favourite at 2/1 or shorter, though the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle is a much more open contest with Hiddenvalley Lake heading the market at 11/2.
Embassy Gardens - a horse trainer Willie Mullins, in his exclusive Sporting Life column, suggested "could be one to put in your notebook for Cheltenham" - staked his claim for the Albert Bartlett with a wide-margin in the 2m7f novice hurdle at Thurles on Sunday that stablemate Monkfish won in 2020 on his way to Festival success.
There is no doubt that his task was made much easier by Santonito, his main rival on form, running too badly to be true, but Embassy Gardens - now an 8/1 shot for the Albert Bartlett - is still worth crediting with an improved display and he earned a Timeform rating of 138p (from 127), which puts him in the mix in the staying novice hurdle division that lacks a standout contender.
For context, Corbetts Cross earned a rating of 142p following his easy win in handicap company the previous weekend, while Grey Dawning is rated 140p after his strong-staying display in the Leamington Novices' Hurdle at Warwick. Hiddenvalley Lake is rated 137p.
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