15/11/14

Willie Mullins
Tarabiyn
12.00 Punchestown
Disappointing last time at Down Royal and is hopefully better than that run. Tarabiyn might be the better of the two here.
★★★☆☆

Wullie Mullins
Verawal
12.00 Puncheston
Disappointed last time and we will see if the softer ground will help show improvement.
★★☆☆☆

Phillip Kirby

Lady Buttons
12.25 Wetherby
We will know our fate early on tomorrow as Buttons runs in the first, the 12.25 and she is taking on some decent mares, most notably Hannah’s Princess who is better off at the weights given her run behind Buttons at Aintree ( when you take into account the penalty we have to carry for the hurdle win at Worcester.) However, our mare will handle the ground no problem, and you can’t help but notice that Hannah’s Princess has been campaigned on a quicker surface so far. There’s a couple of other decent ones too and although it won’t be easy we have every confidence in our mare. A win would set the day up well!
★★★★☆

Phillip Kirby
Musikhani
12 25 Wetherby
Musikhani makes her debut for us in the same race, she has not yet fulfilled her promise so we are hoping for a nice hurdling experience and to see her running on at the end.
★★☆☆☆

Willie Mullins
Clondaw Court
12.30 Punchestown
Clondaw Court (Ruby) makes his reappearance in the 2m 6f conditions hurdle. He is lovely big horse who has won over this course. These conditions will suit and should give a very account of himself.
★★★★★

Ruby Walsh
Clondaw Court
12 30 Punchestown
But first things first and let’s start with today and Clondaw Court in a conditions hurdle. I believe this is a good horse and my idea of a banker. He is unbeaten in four races, a point-to-point, a bumper and twice over flights. He was last seen at Thurles in January, scoring by 18 lengths. Clondaw Court is working and schooling well at home, will love the trip and the ground and I have to be confident.
★★★★★

Kim Bailey
Grand March
12 40 Cheltenham
Dreams are what racing is all about and Julia Baldanza has been dreaming that her horse Grand March will come up the Cheltenham hill in front.. I hope she is right as he runs in the first today with Jason Maguire on top. They certainly have a chance... Buses?
★★★☆☆

Lucinda Russell
Vengeur De Guye
Tomorrow at
12.40 Cheltenham Cheltenham we run Vengeur De Guye who won well at Perth on his UK debut but then disappointed next time. We have addressed a few issues at home and hopefully he can run well tomorrow. 
★★☆☆☆

Simon Dow

Kagami
12.50 Lingfield
Kagami has just had the two starts for the yard thus far and has been reasonably uninspiring to date. He joined the yard from Jeremy Noseda where he had some decent form to his name. Last time out at Kempton he finished down the field. He broke well enough but was quickly towards the rear which is where he stayed for the rest of the race. We are still finding our way with him and despite his best form for Noseda coming over 11f we felt that his first run for the yard over 12f lacked any suggestion that he could stay longer distances. We are dropping him back to 1m, in claiming company, over a track that he has run well at before so we are hoping for an improved performance.
★★☆☆☆☆

Simon Dow
Soul Instinct
12.50 Lingfield
Soul Instinct is a three year old gelding by Myboycharlie who is a recent acquisition from the Kevin Ryan yard. This horse is a one time winner on soft ground at Carlisle but failed to get his name on the score board on the poly track, despite running some nice races to fill the places on a few occasions. The weekend is likely to be a fact finding mission with regards to both the track and trip but we are excited about getting a run in to him.
★★★☆☆

Willie Mullins
Valseur Lido
1 00 Punchestown
Werun two in the 2m 4f beginners chase. Valseur Lido (Bryan Cooper) looks the pick of the two on hurdle ratings but he lacks experience. If he takes to this game he should be in the shakeup.
★★★★☆

Willie Mullins
Abbey Lane
1 00 Punchestow
Abbey Lane (Ruby) is a handicapper so he has lots of experience and will love this ground.
★★★☆☆

Charlie Longsdon
Drop Out Joe
1 15 Cheltenham
Drop Out Joe runs in a very competitive looking Novice Chase. It looks as if he could run the best race of his life and only come fourth or fifth.
★★☆☆☆

Aidan Coleman

John Louis

1:15 Cheltenham

He was a bit disappointing last year, but does look a bit stronger now. That said this is a tough place to start and I’d take a watching brief with him.

★☆☆☆☆

Phillip Kirby
Embsay Crag and Oscar O'scar
1 30 Wetherby
Embsay Crag (Phillip Dennis) and Oscar O’scar (Henry Brooke) , they appear to be first and second favourites and we couldn’t put anyone off either, they both went well last time and Oscar was unlucky with his wing incident.
★★★★☆

Lucinda Russell
Bescot Springs
1.30 Wetherby
At Wetherby Bescot Springs will enjoy the soft ground, and he has run some good races here before. 
★★★☆☆

Aidan Coleman

Shattered Dream

1:50 Cheltenham

He is a nice big horse, who has joined us from Ireland. He seems uncomplicated and appears to stay and jump well. He is an unknown quantity though and we’ll know a lot more after this.

★★★☆☆

Barry Geraghty

The Druids Nephew

1:50 Cheltenham

He’s only seven and was having his first run for Neil when he bolted up by 12 lengths at Huntingdon last month. This is a much better grade and there’s a 9lb rise to overcome but I’ve no reason to believe that this one has stopped improving. I’ll be hoping that my first association with him will be a winning one.
★★★★☆

Paul Nicholls
Sam Winner
13:50 Cheltenham
Sam Winner
I'm convinced that there is a decent race in Sam Winner when things drop right for him, and I have him pretty straight for this. Ideally, I would want better ground for him, but I suppose the form book tells you otherwise, as he probably put up his best performance when failing by only two lengths to give Smad Place 3lb in heavy ground at Newbury last season. Goes well here - he ran a good fifth in the RSA, though in hindsight the four-miler might have been a better option - and will stay fine, so I am hopeful of a good run. I think he has the talent to be winning handicaps off a mark of 147, though this is very competitive obviously. Runs in a tongue tie for the first time.
★★★★☆

Barry Geraghty

Oscar Whisky

2:30 Cheltenham

On Saturday I’m on one of the stable stars in the Paddy Power Gold Cup, OSCAR WHISKY who has to carry top weight. While it is a concern I don’t think it’s by any means an impossible task and he has the right profile to win this. The track and the trip suit him well and I’m sure that you didn’t see him at his best towards the end of last season. He fell at the first at the festival and wasn’t as good as usual when he was beaten at Aintree after that. He proved how well he can handle Cheltenham in his first couple of runs and my job will be to get him into a nice rhythm with his jumping over his ideal trip. His work at Seven Barrows has been good and although I didn’t ride him in his final school on Thursday morning he went very nicely. I think he has a massive chance of imposing his class on this race.
★★★☆☆

Jamie Snowdon
Present View
2 30 Cheltenham
Our next runner will be Present View who is on target for the Paddy Power Gold Cup on Saturday, one of the first major handicaps of the winter jumps season. He is in terrific form, and this has been the plan ever since he won at the Cheltenham Festival last season. We gave him a prep run over hurdles in a class 2 at Cheltenham 4 weeks ago where he ran a cracker to be beaten a head after a terrible blunder at the last. Unfortunately, he came back with an annoying skin cut to one of his legs, but our head girl and vet have worked wonders, and he’s in great nick for Saturday.
★★★☆☆

Paul Nicholls
Caid Du Berlais
14:30 Cheltenham
Even though he can handle testing conditions, he is a much better horse on better ground, so yesterday's rain was not great news for him. If conditions were better I'd fancy him to run well, as I think the trip will suit - he didn't last home over 2m6f in the Galway Plate - and he always goes well here. And I think a chase mark of 143, 8lb lower than over hurdles, is workable. But, like I said, soft ground isn't ideal. He is very well though, I'll say that, and he also runs in a tongue-tie for the first time.
★★★☆☆

Aidan Coleman

Kapga De Cerisy

2:30 Cheltenham

He ran only once last season, making all to win a decent handicap chase on heavy ground at Sandown by 12 lengths just over a year ago. Unfortunately he had a little problem after that and hasn’t run since. This is a little step up in class for him, but he’s been going well at home and might just be the dark horse in the race. I see he’s about 25-1 and that looks a good each-way price to me.
★★★☆☆

Phillip Kirby
2.40 Wetherby
Celtic Agent
The novice hurdle sees four of ours declared, although if the ground is too bad they may not all line up, we wouldn’t want to see it go heavy for the likes of Dr Irv, Rocky Two or Kiwayu. Celtic Agent should be fine on the ground, he definitely handles cut and is a thorough stayer. This is the first run over hurdles for the home bred 6 year old and he made a good start this season when 4th in the bumper at The last Cheltenham meeting.
★★★☆☆

Paul Nicholls
Vivaldi Collonges
15:00 Cheltenham
Vivaldi Collonges
Progressed into a useful hurdler last season and made a very pleasing reappearance when just picked up here over 3m1f110yd last month. I also had him in the novice chase on this card and I suspect he will go over fences sooner rather than later but I think it is worth seeing what he can do off a mark of 139 in handicaps here first. I think there is still more to come from this horse - he was very green and still a big baby last season - but the rain that we had yesterday certainly wasn't ideal, as I think he wants good ground. That would be a concern for me, to be honest.
★★★☆☆

Alan king
Fighter Jet
3 00 Cheltenham
Fighter Jet goes for the three-mile handicap hurdle. He has been second in his last two races and is in good order, but, though he is genuine enough, he can be a bit lazy, so we are putting a pair of blinkers on to sharpen him up.
★★★☆☆

Julia Fielden
Automotive
3 10 Lingfield
A similar type of horse is Automotive. On his day he is very good and he has been working well at home so a good run at Lingfield on Saturday wouldn't be a surprise. He is still well handicapped so has every chance.
★★★★☆

Aidan Coleman

Baradari

3:15 Cheltenham

I am really looking forward to riding Baradari in the StanJames.com Greatwood Hurdle on Sunday. I’ve made no secret that I thought he perhaps should have won the Fred Winter at last season’s Festival, and he ran a very encouraging race to finish third at Ascot a fortnight ago. I think he’s up to this class and, like Kapga De Cerisy, looks very appealing each-way value at 20-1.
★★★☆☆

Willie Mullins
River Run
3 20 Punchestown
River Run (Ruby) makes his hurdling debut in the 2m 4f maiden hurdle. He jumps well enough at home and will like these wet conditions. On pedigree, he should stay this trip.
★★★★☆

Barry Gerraghty
Hargam
3 35 Cheltenham
I’m on a very interesting newcomer for Nicky in the Triumph Hurdle Trial, HARGAM(3.35), who comes from the same source as our Triumph Hurdle winner of 2009, Zaynar, Alain De Royer Dupre and the Aga Khan. He had class on the Flat in France and as for his jumping, I couldn’t have asked for anything more on Friday morning, knew what the job was about and very switched on. That’s all I know but it’s enough to think that we’ve got a potentially smart young hurdler on our hands.
★★★☆☆

Willie Mullins
Master of Verse
3.55 Punchestown
Master Of Verse (Patrick) makes his racecourse debut in the bumper. Heis a strong individual who has won a point to point. He should be well upto handling these conditions and we are expecting a good run.
★★★★★

Alan King
Dusky Legend
4 05 Cheltenham
We also have Dusky Legend going for the mares bumper. She won eight lengths first time out at Fontwell last month, and, while I am not sure how strong the race was, she could not have done it any better. This is a step up in class, but she has worked well since and deserves a crack."
★★☆☆☆

Willie Mullins
Darling Carlotta
4.05 Cheltenham
Daring Carlotta (Paul) puts her unbeaten record on the line inthe mares listed bumper. She has won three from three on good ground and should be okay on the underfoot conditions here. She has done nothing wrong so far and should give a very good account in what looks like a hot race.
★★★★☆

Richard Fahey

Bamboccianti
6 15 Wolverhampton
Bamboccianti gets our evening underway in the Unibet Offer Daily Jockey/Trainer Specials Nursery Handicap; a Class 2 event worth £14,000 with a BOBIS bonus attached. A son of Dutch Art, he stepped up on his Nottingham debut to win well at York in September despite getting rid of Paul on the way down to the start. That was over five-and-a-half furlongs. He’s back up to six for his all weather debut. He’s a nice colt
★★★★☆

Phillip Kirby
Splash of Verve
7.45 Wolverhampton
Julie takes Splash of Verve to Wolverhampton, he hasn’t confirmed the promise he shows in his homework yet so perhaps this step up in trip may see some improvement. He is a likeable colt with a good temperament and has grown nicely over the summer.
★★☆☆☆

Richard Fahey
Picadilly Jim
8 45 Wolverhampton
Piccadilly Jim lines up in the Ladbrokes Maiden Stakes for three-year-olds and up over 1m141y. A gelded son of Royal Applause, he is yet to get his head in front in five starts but has picked up prize money every time.
★★★☆☆

Richard Fahey
Oaks Bluff
9.15 Wolverhampton
Oak Bluffs is last to post in the final race of the evening, the Download The Ladbrokes App Handicap. Another Royal Applause gelding, he has not shown a lot so far and is stepping up in trip for his all weather debut.
★★☆☆☆