Tag: Kings Palace

Cheltenham Saturday Preview

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

It is Paddy Power Gold Cup day at Cheltenham on Saturday and the going remains soft after a dry opening day.

The big race is due off at 2.30 with Oscar Whisky and Johns Spirit heading the weights. Philip Hobbs was in good form with a double on Friday but Colour Squadron was diverted from this race only to be beaten by his stable companion in the novice chase. Present View won well at the festival in March and had a nice prep race over hurdles, although connections could have done without the nasty scare when he received a cut at the last flight. Fortunately no damage was done and trainer Jamie Snowdon is optimistic that there is more improvement to come.

The card opens at 12.40 with a tricky novices’ handicap. John Ferguson’s Parlour Game was a good winner on Friday and he will be looking to Chesterfield to continue the good work. Like his stable mate, he is a former Godolphin runner. There are plenty of disappointing types in this race so I am going to take a chance on Irish raider Diamond Dame who is certainly in great form at present.

All eyes will be on Kings Palace for his chasing debut in the 1.15. David Pipe’s six-year-old looked like being one of the bankers of the festival meeting but ran at least a stone below his best and eventually fell. He has had plenty of time to get over that experience and is capable of beating his four rivals if anywhere near his early form of last season.

The Murphy’s Group Handicap Chase at 1.50 features several walking wounded including Sam Winner, Cape Tribulation and The Package. Preference is for the latter who has run some great races here over the years and is capable of winning after a lengthy absence.

The Grand National winner Pineau De Re reappears over hurdles in the 3.00 but will be hard pressed to concede 4lbs to Vivaldi Collonges. He looked likely to score here last time out but was just beaten by In The Rough after a protracted dual. They finished well clear of the third and the Nicholls’ horse can go one better here.

Nicky Henderson’s Hargam makes his hurdling debut in the Triumph Hurdle Trial at 3.35 and is expected to run well. He was a high class performer on the level in France but faces a useful sort in Golden Doyen. He was beaten on the nod at Chepstow in a decent race and his experience may just give him the edge.

Diamond Dame 12.40 @14-1 Bet365

Kings Palace 1.15 @6-4 888Sport

The Package 1.50 @8-1 Ladbrokes

Present View 2.30 @13-2 Coral

Vivaldi Collonges 3.00 @6-1 Ladbrokes

Golden Doyen 3.35 @5-2 Paddy Power

Get on Sky Bet Cheltenham Price Boost!

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

The bookmakers are really pushing the boat out with their Cheltenham offers this season. Not only do we have ante-post prices on all 27 races, several leading firms are already offering non-runner/no bet on the four championship races.

Sky Bet have added a further incentive to get stuck in to those ante-post Cheltenham wagers by offering a price boost on three tips provided by Racing UK experts Lydia Hislop, Mark Howard and Steve Mellish.

I have the greatest respect for Lydia and she is probably the only woman on the planet who could talk for longer about racing than I could without getting bored! I usually find her articles to be right on the money but I have to take issue with one comment she made about Big Buck’s on Saturday. She described the criticism of Sam Twiston-Davies for hitting the front too soon as “pants”. This is based on the fact that Ruby Walsh won on the horse by leading from a similar juncture in a previous World Hurdle.

That overlooks the 420 day lay-off, the heavy going and the fact that it was Twiston-Davies’s first ride on the horse. To my mind, all three contributed to the horse’s defeat but I’m sure we could discuss it if she has a few hours to spare! Although the jockey’s union does not allow criticism of their fellow riders, I think Mick Fitzgerald’s assessment was probably an accurate one and we’ll see Big Buck’s a little further back in the field on March 13th.

Lydia has selected King Palace, previously highlighted in this column, as the winner of the Albert Bartlett. Sky Bet are holding his price at 9-2 until midnight tonight. Mark Howard picked out Ted Walsh’s Foxrock, the winner of a grade 2 event at Naas last week, as his best bet in the National Hunt Chase (offered at 9-1). He is as low as 7-1 elsewhere and market rival Shotgun Paddy is not yet a certain starter.

Finally Steve Mellish weighed in with Le Rocher (also featured in this column on Monday) as his best bet in the Triumph Hurdle. I did not expect 12-1 to last for long but he is on offer at 14-1 until midnight. I am sure that he would be half those odds if he were trained by Nicholls or Henderson. If you haven’t played yet, grab the 14-1 while you can!

Sky Bet price boost

Kings Palace 9-2 Albert Bartlett

Foxrock 9-1 National Hunt Chase

Le Rocher 14-1 Triumph Hurdle

Albert Bartlett Ante-Post Preview

Posted on by Online Betting Pro

I don’t often consider betting this early on the Cheltenham festival unless it is for a long range tilt at the Gold Cup or the Champion Hurdle. However, one horse stuck out like a sore thumb at Cheltenham last week and has festival winner written all over him.

That was Kings Palace in the stayers’ novice hurdle who cemented his position as favourite for the three-mile Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle with a devastating display. It wasn’t just the fact that he won by 14 lengths, it was the ease with which he destroyed some decent novices.

He was settled in front by Tom Scudamore and produced some superb leaps. The further he went, the better he went and you could see the distress signals coming out from those attempting to keep in touch. Only the 25-1 outsider Masters Hill made any kind of fist of staying with him but he looked a spent force turning for home.

Milan Bound could never get close enough to mount any kind of challenge whilst Saint Roque eventually fell through exhaustion. The third horse was over 30 lengths adrift at the line with Scudamore taking a long look behind for imaginary dangers.

The five-year-old is a son of King’s Theatre and this was only the sixth time he has appeared on the racecourse. The form was in the book for all to see having beaten Creepy and Monbeg Dude on his previous outing by 18 lengths and more at Newbury. Creepy came out and won a Grade 2 event whilst Monbeg Dude won a valuable three-mile chase to advertise his Grand National claims.

Trainer David Pipe already sees Kings Palace as a future chaser but will definitely aim him at the Albert Bartlett. He will also be given an entry in the two and a half mile novice race at the festival but that is just to keep their options open.

Of course the price is everything and 5-1 may not seem that attractive with three months to wait. I don’t mind taking a chance on his health and fitness as I can see him starting odds-on if the rest of the season goes his way. I would imagine that he’d have one more outing before the festival and it will take something exceptional to threaten his place at the head of the market.

Kings Palace (Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle) 5-1 Ladbrokes