Cheltenham Forgiveness List

What is the Cheltenham forgiveness list you ask? Simple! A horse will make it onto the forgiveness list for not performing to his or her full potential at Cheltenham and is one that can be followed in the next few runs. Just picture your money lost at Cheltenham like an ex girlfriend that you are trying to get back, you may want it on occasions but it doesn't matter in the long run. Now before we get too distracted and start a support group for lonely males, lets crack on with horse number one on the forgiveness list.

The New One

More of an obvious one to start the list off with The New One who was desperately unlucky in the Champion Hurdle, when hampered by the tragic and fatal fall of Our Conor. In that incident he lost five to six lengths and when that happens in any Championship race at Cheltenham, it's hard to come back from.

The argument against him is that he was outpaced coming down the hill towards three out and then stayed on up the hill. A different and my personal view is that he exerted a lot of energy getting back into the race and his jumping suffered as a result of the incident at the third flight. Sam Twiston-Davies wasn't asking his mount for a great deal of effort coming down the hill and it could just be that he was filling his lungs before flying home up the hill.

The New One is the first entry on the forgiveness list and should go close in the Aintree Hurdle whereas another crack at the Champion Hurdle isn't off the cards.

Alaivan

Jonjo O'Neill saddled Alaivan in the County Hurdle who ran well for a long way before being outpaced turning for home and not for the first time in the race. As usual the pace was a rapid one which looked to catch him out in the jumping department as he was far from fluent at a few hurdles in first time Cheek Pieces.

By the time they were preparing to turn back towards the stands you got the feeling and Maurice Linehan was far from happy with him and started pushing along his mount. He was still prominent approaching two from home but was hard off the bridle just after, and found himself struggling to go with the likes of Lac Fontana and Montbazon who both placed. Even approaching the last he was no more than five lengths off the lead but a poor jump cost him further lengths and he kept on at the same pace.

A trip to Aintree may not be completely off the cards but he will definitely appreciate a step up to two and a half miles after staying on in taking style in the Betfair hurdle previously.

Violet Dancer

Gary and Jamie Moore were all over the front pages after Sire De Grugy was victorious in the Champion Chase on Wednesday, and later that day had a good chance in the Fred Winter. Violet Dancer was responsible for that chance and with all things considered he ran a promising race in a competitive handicap. This year's Fred Winter was particularly messy with mistakes and a few incidents, none of them managed to avoid Violet Dancer's passage, all of this wasn't helped by him being fiercely keen early on in the race.

The first time he was hampered came at the second hurdle when Astre De La Cour came down hindering the whole field, but especially Violet Dancer who was forced very wide after bumping. Approaching three from home when the race was heating up, he found himself short of room and had to get tight to one at a bad time of the contest, but it was two from home that put the nail in the coffin.

The fall of Clarcam forced more people out wide and with Raven's Tower coming across him it cost him a lot of momentum and his chance. Violet Dancer is definitely one to watch next season and will definitely make a chaser.

Sgt Reckless

Sgt Reckless was an eye catcher for many in the Supreme after coming from an impossible position to finish fourth behind the mightily impressive Vautour.

He was widely fancied last year in the Champion Bumper before being outstayed up the Cheltenham hill but it was the opposite case this year. He has gone a bit under the radar this season but has taken the notable scalp of West Wizard at Kempton before a good third on bad ground at Kempton once again. His run in the Supreme was an interesting one as he was way out the back for the whole race and no less than 25 lengths down jumping two out. You could go about that run in two ways, either say he needs further and draw the line at saying he was outpaced or say he isn't a Cheltenham horse. It could be a little bit of both but I would argue more the latter as he hasn't looked the most straightforward ride on either visit to the course.

Sgt Reckless put in a massive effort to grab fourth at the line and will surely be suited more by the demands of Aintree, and is one horse who could just need a flat track and good ground.

Baily Green

The last two horses on the forgiveness list probably ran in the wrong race which is easy to say in hindsight, but that doesn't apply to Baily Green who ran in the Champion Chase.

This season Baily Green had run four times back in Ireland before Cheltenham came around when shaping well without success. When stepped up to two and a half miles back home he pushed Sizing Europe to a length and a quarter before being second to Texas Jack in a race he arguably should have won. He has only ran over a shorter distance once this season when tackling fences and that outing resulted in a thirty and a quarter lengths pounding from Benefficient. But with the defection of Sprinter Sacre, connections decided to tackle the bigger race which you cant blame them for however you cant campaign a horse for one race and then change plans late on. The Champion Chase resulted in Baily Green being taken off his feet throughout and his jumping suffered, eventually falling four out.

For the future Baily Green definitely looks a stayer in the making and for now two and a half miles should suit but it would be no surprise were he to stay three miles, But onto our last entry on the list.

Wonderful Charm

The final entry comes courtesy of former Champion Trainer, Paul Nicholls who saddled the promising Wonderful Charm in the JLT Novices Chase.

You cant blame connections for getting this race wrong as he has been campaigned over two and a half miles on every chase start so far and holding his own in top races. Before last week the only horse who had beat him over fences was Oscar Whisky and even that was a race he arguably should have won. There isn't much else left to say about him other than he was probably travelling a bit too fast for his jumping to be fluent and as a result that suffered. The only thing that hindered him that was out of his control was when Djakadam came down four out, but in truth he wasn't hampered too badly but it checked his momentum slightly at a bad time. He ended off the race by flying up the hill and almost catching Felix Yonger for fourth who may not have stayed the trip.

The future will surely be over further for Wonderful Charm and it would seem that a win isn't too far away for him as he does look a natural over fences.


So that rounds off the forgiveness list, if I have missed any horses that you like then let me know, the same applies if you disagree with any of the entrants to the list. Follow me on twitter @lukeelder13 and join the debate!