Lucky on Day 1 - Onto Day 2

DAY 1 REVIEW

Kopek Des Bordes won the Supreme as I expected, and my each-way alternative, Romeo Coolio was 3rd.? My main selection, Tripoli Flyer, was a non-runner, and although Tutti Quanti outran his odds, he was unplaced.? My pick in the Arkle, L'Eau Du Sud, led over the last and looked a possible winner before being run into 4th up the hill in a tight finish.? I backed Famous Bridge and King Turgeon in the next.? The former landed some each-way money with bookies paying six places.? I mentioned four in the Mares Hurdle, and only one of those, Take No Chances, was able to make the frame.

The race that ensured I had a profitable day was the Champion Hurdle.? I thought Constitution Hill would win, and it was shocking to see him fall at the top of the hill.? I nominated State Man as the best each-way bet, and he was 10 lengths clear when he also fell at the last.? That left my 33-1 ante post bet, Golden Ace, to win the race when really all I was hoping for was for her to sneak into 3rd!? I followed that up with a decent each-way return from Liam Swagger and a losing selection of Transmission and Kyntara in the last.

DAY 2 PREVIEW

Turners Novices Hurdle

According to the market, this is a three-horse race between the Irish-trained favourite, Final Demand, the British-trained 2nd favourite, The New Lion and another Irish raider, The Yellow Clay.? JP McManus liked The New Lion so much that he bought him in the run-up to the Festival.? Don't get me wrong, the front three could easily fill the first three places, but at the prices, there is some each-way value in my opinion, with a couple of very smart horses at double-figure prices.?

Sixmilebridge and Potters Charm were 1st and 2nd here last time, and both have won every race they have run this season, bar one second place each.? Personally, I have Potters Charm as the best of the two as I think he was well below his best last time and he is top on my speed figures, but I am very happy to back both of these each way with a slightly larger better on Potters Charm, but with three places and only three ahead of them in the market, both look good each way bets.

Brown Advisory Novice Chase

Ballyburn is odds on here, and to be honest, I cannot see past him.? He is at the top of my class ratings and speed ratings, and nothing has popped up on my data as an each-way alternative.? The price is not appealing, but I will just have a small bet and watch him win (now that is confidence!)!

Coral Cup

Unlike many, I love these big field handicaps as they suit my style of betting.? I backed the favourite, Be Aware, a week ago at bigger odds as trainer Dan Skelton is a master at lining one up for these big handicaps and felt that this was his best handicapped horse of the week.? Whether he is a big enough price to back now is questionable, but I would not put you off.?

At the other end of the spectrum, I would also not put you off Ike Sport for my trainer, Neil Mulholland.? He only just got into the race at the bottom of the weights, but he is a smart horse and capable of winning.? He is a big price because he pulled up two starts ago.? He bounced back from that with a better run than the bare form looks last time, and he should be capable of running well.? I got a price of 80-1 on Monday, and he still makes appeal at 33-1 this morning.?

The other one I liked (a lot) was Impose Toi.? He is also towards the top of the market, but he is proven under all these conditions, and I think he is a very good each-way bet.

Cross Country

I used to hate the cross country races, but over the years, I have grown to enjoy trying to pick them apart.? You get a mix of classy chasers and cross country specialists going head to head.? Stumptown leads the specialists and has been in great form, he may be hard to beat.? Mister Coffey will be thereabouts, but his last win was in November 2020, your guess is as good as mine in terms of when he will convert 2nds and 3rds into a win!? Galvin is the best of these over normal fences and has some cross country form but usually finds one or two too good in this sphere.? I will speculate on classy handicapper Iwilldoit.? He might blow out as this will all be new to him, but if he takes to the course, he has the quality to compete, and I have backed him each way.

Champion Chase

The big race of the day and Jonbon is a deserving favourite.? He is a classy two-miler and probably deserves to win.? Marine Nationale has been behind Solness the last two starts and is half the price of that one today, and Energumene was 6 lengths behind Jonbon last time.? That was only his 2nd run back after a long absence, though, and I would expect him to improve for that.? He looks a great each-way bet with three places and could take advantage if Jonbon's jumping lets him down.?

I could make an each-way case for Solness, but I had three other each-way plays at bigger prices.? Found A Fifty would probably have been 2nd favourite, but for pulling up last time, if he bounces back from that, then he is a big price.? Even bigger, though were Quilixios and Libberty Hunter.? The former is classy enough but has lost his way a bit.? The class is there if he shows his best, though.? The latter is a big outsider, but?he has form at this level and it would not surprise me to see some big prices in the frame as a super quick two-mile race can see jumping errors knocking fancied runners out of contention.

Grand Annual

A two-mile handicap chase, always a very hard race to call, but I will try!

Martador and JPR One look the classiest of the Brits, My Mate Mozzie has danced every dance with some success in Ireland, Jazzy Matty seems to be the Irish buzz horse and Unexpected Party won this last season and could do again!

Lucinda Russell trained a winner yesterday, and I think she could do again here as Traprain Law is one of my two bets.? He has good form under these conditions, and I am hoping he will go well.

My other bet is Dancing On My Own.? He has course form and a shrewd trainer.? His absence from the track since October is a concern, but if there is no sinister reason for that, then he could run a big race.

Champion Bumper

I backed Windbeneathmywings for this, but he came out last week with an injury.? I have looked at the race again, but I really do not have much of an opinion, and I am going to keep the betting bank for tomorrow and head for home after the penultimate race!