Cheltenham Festival 2023 - Day 3 Preview
By
Brian Hayes
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3 mins
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Thursday At The Cheltenham Festival
A wet, but extremely entertaining day two of the Cheltenham Festival is now over. It was great to see Impaire Et Passe perform as brilliantly as he did, and The Real Whacker is a really great story for small trainer Patrick Neville. Energumene was faultless once again and deserves his second Champion Chase.
Our attention now moves to Thursday and what a day of racing we have in store!
Mighty Potter - 1:30 Turners Novices' Chase
Mighty Potter is going to take a lot of stopping in the Turners Novice’ Chase!
Looking at the handicap marks alone, he is well clear of the rest as he sits on a mark of 162, while the nearest to that is Banbridge and Appreciate It, who are on a mark of 152. This just shows the level of performances he has been putting in this season. I had a question mark about him going into the season on nicer ground, but he put that to bed at the Dublin Racing Festival when he was mightily impressive. This shows he will handle any conditions like most very good horses do.
He will take all the beating.
Thanksforthehelp - 2:10 Pertemps Handicap Hurdle
This is another very competitive Cheltenham Festival handicap, but this can go the way of Thanksforthehelp.
Your eye would be drawn immediately towards this horse as the booking of Mark Walsh for David Pipe does stand out. He was a brilliant winner last time at Chepstow, and he might not be done winning just yet!
Shishkin - 2:50 Ryanair Chase
Shishkin looks very hard to stop in the Ryanair Chase after he was so unbelievably impressive last time out in the Ascot chase.
Before his last start, he had a wind surgery and that definitely did the trick as it looked to have transformed him back into his previously brilliant self. I couldn’t take him on here whatsoever as he looks a class apart.
Home By The Lee - 3:30 Stayers' Hurdle
I have been singing Home By The Lee’s praises all year on my Bookmakers.com column, and I am not going to desert him now.
I think he will continue to love this trip as he stays all day, and this race should be run to suit. Home By The Lee was excellent last time at Leopardstown when seeing off Ashdale Bob, and he simply looks a better horse this year. He is a bit sweeter in the way he travels, and while he goes through a flat spot in the middle of his races, like all the best stayers do, he more than makes up for it late on.
This is a top-quality race, but Home By The Lee has been a solid horse and looks value at 6/1 with most horse racing betting sites.
So Scottish - 4:10 Magners Plate Handicap Chase
I am going for another JP McManus horse in the Plate Handicap Chase in So Scottish for Emmet Mullins.
He definitely lacks experience compared to a few of these, but he might just be ahead of the handicapper. He has shown plenty of ability on his last few starts and looked like this trip was what he wanted at Ascot. If he can get a trouble-free passage, he could take a bit of stopping in this contest.
Lot Of Joy - 4:50 Mares Novices' Hurdle
As much as I have been impressed by her, I am willing to take on Luccia in this contest.
She must carry a penalty for her win last time, and that can be hard in a race like this. Lot Of Joy is a mare I’ve always liked, and I actually tipped her as one to follow at the very start of this season on Bookmakers.com. She might just be getting the hang of things over jumps, and there could be a bit of improvement to come. She is rated seven pounds inferior to Luccia but gets five pounds off her so she might not have all that much to actually make up here.
Angels Dawn - 5:30 Kim Muir Challenge Cup
This is a race for amateur jockeys over three miles and two furlongs, and while I am a huge fan of Mr Incredible, for win purposes, I fancy Angels Dawn to go well.
I really like Mr Incredible as he ran a massive race in the Classic Chase for me last time at Warwick, and he won’t have any issues with the ground, being a Westerner. However, I just feel he has a lot of weight to carry. Angels Dawn is trained by Sam Curling, who is a very good trainer, and this mare was going to run a huge race at Punchestown before unseating three out. I just think she is running here in the form of her life, off a low weight and could be worth a look at horse racing betting apps!
Brian Hayes is a leading Irish jockey based with the Willie Mullins yard and regular rider at all the big national hunt racing festivals including Galway, Punchestown Aintree and Cheltenham. The Cork native has ridden high in the riding ranks despite not hailing from a racing background and quickly becoming a relied on partner for some of the best horses in top training yards.
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