The fourth and final day of the Cheltenham Festival on Friday is upon us. Hopefully you have had an enjoyable and profitable Festival so far, but whatever your current position is, there's still business to be done and this column will be looking to finish with a flourish.
The Mrs Paddy Power Mares' Chase (2.40) will see Dinoblue attempt to win it for the second time and her claims are both clear and obvious. There wasn't much to knock about her last two wins in limited company, but she is getting older and there has to be a chance that she isn't quite as good as she was last year. That may or may not be misguided, but I think she is one to oppose at the sort of price she is trading.
Not for the first time, Gavin Cromwell has got his team to emerge from a quiet spell just in time for the Cheltenham Festival and I reckon he has a very live contender here in ONLY BY NIGHT.
The eight-year-old has proven herself to be a very talented lady over fences thus far. Indeed, she was a shade unlucky in the Arkle Challenge Trophy at this meeting last year, idling when hitting the front and only just getting nabbed by Jango Baie in the closing stages. She has gone on to run some seriously good races against the boys since, most notably when beating Champ Kiely by a short-head in a Grade 3 chase at Naas in November.
The main unknown when it comes to considering Only By Night's prospects in this race is her stamina for this longer trip. However, I actually think it will suit her. To me, she has been shaping as though ready for this mid-range trip and Keith Donoghue is likely to find her to be a lovely ride over it. She is likely to be ridden with patience and will look to strike late. I think she has a far better chance than her current price implies.
The Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle (3.20) is the latest novice hurdle at this meeting that has attracted a huge field. Doctor Steinberg sets a high standard of form, but I worry that he might not be the right type for this race and might over-race his chance away.
On the At The Races Cheltenham Preview a couple of weeks ago I selected Thedeviluno for this race and I have no reason to put you off him now, but the chessboard changed after the Gavin Cromwell-trained THE PASSING WIFE was supplemented into this race last week.
Like many, I thought The Passing Wife has been campaigned beautifully with a view to the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle at this meeting. His fifth run over hurdles had landed him on an ideal rating of 143 for it. I believed he was set to go off favourite for it and be tough to beat.
However, his connections have instead made the highly-bullish decision to skip the Martin Pipe, leave his potentially very attractive handicap mark at home and supplement him into this Grade 1 novice hurdle over a trip he has never tried.
To me, this represents a seriously bullish call for a team I wouldn't associate with making anything but very calculated campaigning calls. I feel there is a massive hint being given here and I am certainly going to heed it. His form reads more than well enough and at his price, he is my selection in the race.
The final race of the meeting is the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle (5.20) and while it isn't the type of race one would ever wish to depend on to finish on a winning note, it's been a kind one to this column over the years.
Without wishing to repeat myself, my heavy inclination has been to side with British-trained runners in the handicaps at this meeting and I'm going to stick with that policy here. The one that makes the most appeal to me is the Olly Murphy-trained ACT OF AUTHORITY.
The eight-year-old was unfortunate to bump into a proper handicap good thing in Wodhooh in this race last year, with him finishing nicely clear of the third home. Olly Murphy spent long enough in the Gordon Elliott academy to have learned patience and to me it looks like they have been working backwards from this race for quite some time.
As has become the norm in Britain, the handicapper has been notably generous with him, dropping him 2lb for what looked an obvious prep run for this at Ascot last time. That drop leaves him just 1lb higher than the mark he finished second off in this last year and it looks unlikely that he is facing into another Wodhooh this year.
A key part to this is that first-time cheekpieces are applied which appeal as being very likely to help his cause. He looks to be a very fair price to me, and I can see him running a big race to hopefully finish this year's Cheltenham Festival with a bang.
