Good morning/evening everyone, I hope we are all counting down the seconds until the Cheltenham roar on Tuesday which will see the start 2015 Festival. But before the excitement of next week we have one more weekend of racing to get through and a good weekend at that. Sandown hold the yearly Imperial Cup meeting with comes with a 100k bonus for winning the feature race and any race at Cheltenham next week. We are also treated to away meetings at Chepstow and Ayr as well as a good card at Wolverhampton on the flat and Gowran Park across the Irish Sea.
As always @OnTheOtherHoof have prepared a video preview for you as we look ahead to tomorrow's action on Channel 4. Joining me on the panel are @Calummadell, @Adamwebb121 and a rare appearance from @Mytentoryours (I know right, I thought he was in therapy for a drinking problem as well). We also have a new Cheltenham preview up that you can watch via the link below if you missed it when live!
Cheltenham Festival 2015 Preview - Novice Hurdles With Oli Bell
Saturday video, live at 8pm tonight!
Now onto the all important selections!!
2:00 Sandown - Great Try
Paul Nicholls was successful in this race with Red Harbour back in 2010 and he looks to land it again with either As De Mee or Great Try. On jockey bookings the latter would appear to be the second string however the market has them in similar places which looks to represent their respective chances.
Great Try has struck up a good relationship with Nick Scholfield this season and finally got off the mark over hurdles last time out at Bangor. In truth that wasn't the strongest of events and he was entitled to win it, however it may have been more beneficial for him to just win a race and learn a bit more about his job. He made his hurdling debut back in December at Aintree where he was a bit unlucky to bump into Ballybolley who after that was rated the highest novice hurdler in England, albeit a title that sounds a lot better than the accolade itself.
He has since run well twice with a third at Newbury behind Clean Sheet who has gone on to win again and has very live Cheltenham aspirations in the Martin Pipe, and the already mentioned victory at Bangor. Today will mark Great Try's first real test with an eighteen runner handicap but he looks to hold every chance and will likely improve for the step up in trip. (15/2)
3:10 Sandown - Arzal
One of my favourite races of the season now with the Imperial Cup which has attracted a brilliant field of 26 for the 2015 renewal which is almost twice as many as last year. Among the most interesting entries is West Wizard who was once touted for the top, things haven't exactly gone his way though and he could be appealing off a mark of 132. We find preference elsewhere however with Arzal who has already beaten West Wizard earlier this season.
We have only seen Arzal on a racecourse in England four times but on each occasion he has acquitted himself very well in a variety of races. He lost his maiden tag at Kempton when handing out a seven length beating to West Wizard who is worse off at the weights this afternoon. After that Arzal returned to Kempton on Boxing Day but found Jollyallan too strong, which is no disgrace if you consider how high in the market his rival that day is in the Supreme Novices next week. That brings us to his latest run which caught many people's eye including mine in the Betfair Hurdle behind Violet Dancer. The form book says he was sixth and beaten fourteen and three quarter lengths, but that tells very little of the story on that occasion.
He was held up in the rear of the field and travelling nicely but was severely hampered and almost bought to a standstill by the fall of Chieftain's Choice. That pushed him back even further in the field and left him with a mountain to climb which understandably seemed too much. His seven pound claimer who rides again today nursed him back into contention and despite never landing a blow up front, stayed on from an impossible position to come an eye catching sixth. He hasn't been raised in the handicap for that effort and with a clearer run this afternoon can make his presence felt before a possible engagement at Cheltenham next week in the County Hurdle. (14/1)
NAP - Great Try
Nb - Arzal
Good luck if you are having a bet tomorrow and as always, happy punting!
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