With the weather playing havoc at the minute and the racing being decimated. plenty of people turn their thoughts to more exotic climates and dream of warmth, cocktails and holidays. However, if you ask me for something exotic, I’ll tell you that a permed treble is very exotic and much more interesting than sitting on a beach surrounded by Sharon, Tracy and Sid the sexist!
So, after plenty of alcohol had been consumed on NY eve, the great minds of racing – Tony the Bookie, Mr Hulmes and myself – got together to conjur up a cunning plan to beat the blues and the bookies. This plan consisted of 3 races at Cheltenham that will give us an edge over the oddsmakers come festival time. We happened upon the Arkle, the RSA and the Gold Cup. Now betting on novice chases isn’t something that usually appears in my modus operandi, but the festival is different gravy.
So The Arkle, which is my favourite race of the festival and hence my leg of the treble. Firstly you must take into consideration 2 things: Previous Festival form and hurdle form. These 2 are massive aids when it comes to finding the winner. Horses who perform well at this festival do so year after year and are always worth supporting. The highest rated hurdler also has a decent record in the Arkle. So the 2 very obvious candidates are Champagne Fever and Rock on Ruby. With so many Mullins horses entered in every race, you are guessing with the target for Champagne Fever but history shows us that he is a 2 mile novice hurdle winner here and it is my belief that this will be his target. Rock on Ruby has 3 great runs here under his belt, including a Champion Hurdle win. That fact cannot be ignored. So we have 2 for the permed treble.
Tony the Bookie has a great record in the RSA and so he took command at this point. The RSA is a really tough race for novices and with the invention of the Jewson, we tend to lose some of the more classier horses, leaving us with thorough stayers. My 2 against the field here are Black Thunder and Le Bec. I have been really impressed with Black Thunder in his 3 chases, as he jumps and stays extremely well, both RSA attributes. Added to this, his trainer thinks he is an ideal type for the race and has nominated it already as his target. Le Bec, has 2 good runs at the course this season already, winning 1 and coming 2nd in the other when conceding weight. He is a big, raw boned, chasing type with a long striding gallop and he has long been thought of as a chaser. Now he is in that sphere, he should excel. Thats leg 2 of the perm sorted.
So the final leg, decided by Mr Hulmes, is the Gold Cup. Here, we shall keep it simple. Bobs Worth and Cue Card, not flash, not original, but sometimes you don’t need to overthink things you just need to back the winner. Bobs Worth is the reigning champ, is undefeated at Cheltenham and loves the battle up the hill, thriving on the long run in and knowing where that finish line is. Cue Card is a brilliant jumper, who on good ground would have simply run away with the King George. However on heavy ground, he just got stuck after the 2nd last. This is another horse with winning Cheltenham form and is constantly under rated by both punters and bookies alike, which is why he is always appealing to back. Right thats the 3 legs done let’s check out the prices with bet365.
Arkle – Champagne Fever 5s and Rock on Ruby 14s
RSA – Black Thunder 16s and Le Bec 16s
Gold Cup – Bobs Worth 2s and Cue Card 7s
So we shall be laying out 8 units (2x2x2) for possible returns of at least 306 units (3x6x17) or a maximum of 2040 (15x17x8). Now if that ain’t worth dreaming about then I’m packing my suitcase and rubbing on the sun lotion. I like Pina coladas……
