Afternoon all, not long now til the big one, was wondering if anyone had any ante-post fancies. Especially with the trials starting this weekend on both sides of the Irish Sea, some of the contenders should firm up what races they are going to.

Ive been on Faugheen for the Champion Hurdle since July at 6s, cant beleive his price now, wouldnt be piling any more on at evens, would say Jezki or the Fly are the value now, though not sure the Fly will even travel.

Other races i fancy:

Arkle - Un De Sceaux
JLT- Vautour
World Hurdle - More of That
Supreme Novice - Alvisio Ville
RSA - Kings Palace
Ryanair - Don Cossack
Triupmh Hurdle - Peace and Co
Albert Bartlett - Black Hercules
National Hunt Chase - Don Poli
Cross Country - Any Currency
Bumper - Au Quart De Tour
Gold Cup - Conti

Will be interested to see how Un De Sceaux goes this weekend against Gilgamboa who i think is a great horse too, but UDS could be something else. Mullins has a serious hand this year!!

Thoughts??

My Early choices..

Champion Chase - Sprinter Sacre
Champion Hurdle - Jezki or The New One (Haven't decided yet)
Arkle - Josses Hill (E.W)
JLT- Vautour or Irish Saint.
World Hurdle - Beat That
Supreme Novice - L'Ami Serge
RSA - Conygree or Kings Palace (Haven't decided yet)
Ryanair - Dynaste or Al Ferof
Triupmh Hurdle - Peace and Co
Albert Bartlett - Out Sam (Maybe kept for Aintree- Similar to Beat That)
National Hunt Chase - Don Poli
Cross Country - No Enteries out yet.
Bumper - Don't have a strong opinion on this race. Wouldn't have any idea who would run..
Gold Cup - Bobs Worth (E.W) or Djakadam

How impressive was Un De Sceaux today, incredible run., the 6/1 i got a few months back after he fell 1st time out is looking really juicy now!

I've already had a dip into the ante post markets to try and get a bit of value.

Supreme: Jollyallan (20-1)
I know Douvan looks unbeatable in this, but I feel that Jollyallan could run into a place and hasn't been given the attention he should have. He has been quietly progressive with some nice wins the last twice, admittedly not beating much. He seems to be learning all the time and could run into a place for respected connections.

Champion Hurdle: Kitten Rock (40-1)
Like the above, this horse could be the proverbial dark horse. The trainer likes him a lot and the horse has gone relatively unnoticed this season. He has a big engine, jumps well and looks to be suited by a quick paced 2 miles which he'll get at Cheltenham. Won at Navan the last day, beating a decent sort of Mullins'.

Champion Chase: Dodging Bullets (9-2)
I'm a fan of Sprinter Sacre, but I do think he is beatable now. Dodging Bullets has been one of the unsung heroes of 2014/15 and looks a top class opponent. Although he hasn't won a major race at the course, he has certainly run well there in the past. With risks against Sprinter and Sire de Grugy, I can't see anything past Dodging Bullets.

World Hurdle: Whisper (20-1)
Seems to be over priced in my opinion. Chasing hasn't gone to plan this season, getting beat on his debut over fences but wasn't disgraced. He was very progressive over hurdles last season, winning the Coral Cup and then the Grade One at Aintree. This seems to be the new Plan A and he could run well.

Triumph Hurdle: Fiscal Focus (16-1)
I had a bet on him before he ran last Sunday, but then again he had no chance against the Fly, Jezki and co. Made a great start to his hurdling career when beating Kalkir (who is shorter in the betting) in a Grade Two, running right away. Was decent on the flat and could progress further for a shrewd yard.

Gold Cup: Smad Place (25-1)
Again, I had a bet on him before he ran in the ex-Argento, but he ran well enough for me. Always comes alive at the Festival as previous form shows and went down fighting in the RSA last season. The Gold Cup doesn't look overly strong and he is a big price. Good run after a break at Cheltenham and the price could be a lot shorter by race time.

Bumper horse to watch out for tomorrow backed him today at 33s for the Champion Bumper

Mahler Lad (IRE) D.McCaine
declared to run at Newcastle ar 4.20
Defeated Boldini And Bellshill in a point to point in March

he is around 9/4

I only had 2 ante-post bets and they were Allez Colombieres for the supreme but he was sadly put down. My other was Djakadam at 50/1 for the Gold Cup which is looking much better now than it did after the Hennessy.

Here are my thoughts with 6 weeks to go, I think Mullins will have a huge day 1:
Arkle: Un de Sceaux (9/10) He may be a very short price but I just cannot see this horse getting beat. An absolute beast and jumped very well at the weekend.
Champion hurdle: Faugheen (5/4) I'm a big fan of The New One but I think he may just come up short against the machine. I love the Fly too but I think he doesn't quite produce his very best at Cheltenham and he will need career best to win this.
Mares hurdle: Annie Power (5/4) The absence is a big concern but I believe she will take some beating and could win if not at her best, the trip is also much more suitable than the 3 mile World Hurdle. If she doesn't make it then Aurore D'Estruval (5/1) would be a worthy fav, She has some very smart form already.

Neptune: Parlour Games (8/1) I really like this horse, the way he has won his last 2 races makes me think he is a good thing. Held up and showing a great turn of foot to get his head in front, with the race sure to be run at a good gallop it will suit him down to the ground.
Champion Chase: Sprinter Sacre (3/1) I was impressed with his comeback run at Ascot, he will surely come on lots for the run and will take all the beating.

JLT: Ptit Zig (4/1) another horse I have a lot of time for. Nicholls has said since day 1 this horse will make a super chaser and he is not wrong, the trip will be perfect and I think he could have the bit more stamina up the hill to see off Vautour.
Ryanair: Dynaste (5/1) Sticking with last years winner for this over his optimum trip. He loves Cheltenham and ran a good race over a trip slightly too far on the weekend.
World hurdle: Saphir Du Rheu (7/1) and Beat That (12/1) I'm going to be taking on More of That who has had problems this year. Saphir was very impressive on Saturday and Nicholls knows how to get a horse to win this race. I also very much like Beat That who made a pleasing comeback over an inadequate trip over the new year, he will be a key player on last years novice form back up to 3 miles.

Triumph: Peace and Co (9/4) not original but he is a serious horse, impressed me at Cheltenham on Saturday given he was pulling really hard over the first half a mile yet still stayed on well up the hill on soft, he must have a huge engine.
Gold Cup: Many Clouds (10/1) Has emerged as a good gold cup contender after his 2 wins this year, his critics will say he has only produced his best on soft however being related to Bob Back, who has Synchronised (won his gold cup on good) and Bobs Worth in the breeding lines i'm more than hopeful he will be fine if it's a good ground festival.

Not bad, would have been even better had Djakadam got up but i'll take a 50/1 e/w 2nd having backed him in October.

Elsewhere wins for Faugheen, Un de Sceaux and Peace and Co with 2nd places for Parlour Games and Saphir Du Rheu.

Just a question to Hysteria21...

Just about douvan. You say he is just about unbeatable on what evidence his latest run against a bunch of stayers. Not much substance to his form..

He is a Machine!!

But that race is a hotpots graveyard

There's one very interesting ex-flat horse running this weekend at punchestown and that is Open Eagle, he's always seemed like a horse that should give hurdles a go. I see he's entered in all the races at Cheltenham so having a ante post bet is out of the question because Mullins could put him in any race if he was to win this weekend.

Any news on him Paul.

Have you noticed how McCain buys all the wrong horses from the Irish points? Its no coincidence that the Irish trainers pay less for better horses and Donald regularly pays crazy money for average horses.

Well he wont run in the 3miler and he wants soft ground as well, so might not even run at Cheltenham. If he does Id say the Neptune would be his race. But I doubt he'll run at the festival and will be saved for the top races in Ireland, should he be good enough.

Bordini and bellshill were always the right buys out of that race in fact i think bordini went unsold and was bought later down the line

Mahler Lad looks like he needs 4 miles already think my fiver e/w is destined for the bin

not heard anything about Open Eagle Ghost but he did well for o'meara very impressive last run on the flat

he was picked up only for 15,000 GNS at tatts horses in training sale which is value he had 8 races during the
2014 flat season i think they will go easy on him maybe a couple runs this season

But I read on the ATR form guide before the race that he only cost 18,000 , I'm not sure if that was right but if so then I wondered if he had some sort of problem. It didn't pass the sniff test to me to beat good horses and only cost that much. I thought the winner of that race looked a interesting horse.

They bought him for 15,000 Wow now that was the steal of the season, loves soft ground and every time he ran he always looked like a hurdler. If i had money that would have been the horse I would have bought at Tatts. Fot that price I think he must only have 2 legs.

He's entered in all three novice events and was 25-1 with Paddy.

Ah ok. I tend to ignore the yard as he's awful. I backed three in that race the other day purely because he had the odds on fav. Consistently buys hype horses and couldn't train ivy up a wall.