Cheltenham Festival Handicaps

Grasshopper

Grasshopper

Senior Jockey
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Nov 14, 2006
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To whom it may concern; West Cork not entered in the County Hurdle.

Other horses near top of the ante-post handicap markets who were not entered, as follows:

Ultima
Thunder Rock
Indigo Breeze
Ain't That A Shame
Run Wild Fred
Gold Cup Bailly

Boodles
Comfort Zone
Gust Of Wind
Goodie Two Shoes

Coral Cup
Gaelic Warrior (presumably all-in for Ballymore now)
Irish Point
I Like To Move It
First Street

Grand Annual
Haddex Des Obeaux
Ciel De Neige
Colonel Mustard
So Scottish

Pertemps
Favori De Champdou
Music Drive
Captain Conby

Plate
Ga Law
Unexpected Party
Sholokojack

Kim Muir
Mister Coffey
The Goffer
Panda Boy
Indigo Breeze
Gard De Sceaux

County
West Cork
Echoes In Rain
Merlin Giant
Gauloise
Hercule De Seuil

Martin Pipe
Absolute Notions
Inothewayurthinkin
Hunters Yarn
Dawn Rising
 
 
I was having a look at the handicap entries earlier to try and make some sense of it all. Here are some musings for what its worth and all that.

It's interesting Peter Niven has entered Malystic in the Grand Annual as I thought he said the horse wouldn't run in it?

The thing is though, in his poor run at Cheltenham before, the horse scoped badly afterwards so I feel that was a legitimate excuse.

I was a bit disappointed with Malystic's performance the last day as I thought he might actually be good enough beforehand. He looked a bit unfluent at his fences so I hope they can sort that out.

Hey ho though, he was running against graded horses, so for finishing several lengths behind a horse like Greanateen he still has an unchanged mark of 149.

If he had got anywhere near close to winning that race his mark would have definately gone up, so I am trying to turn a negative into a positive, in the sense he has probably only been entered in the Grand Annual because his mark wasn't adjusted for his fourth place in that grade two.

I have had Malystic on my mind for the Grand Annual since his win at Doncaster.

I will keep the faith if his trainer lets him take his chance, I think he could run a big race.

Another horse interesting me is Monbeg Genius. Jonjo looks to have found the key to him and he has notched up several nice victories on the bounce. I reckon he has an interesting handicap mark and more importantly can keep improving.

He is entered in the Ultima and Kim Muir, and also actually holds an entry in the Uttoxeter National over a marathon distance the Saturday after the Cheltenham Festival finishes.

I think he is a very promising horse and I'd like to see him take his chance against the big boys at the festival, in either the Ultima or Kim Muir.

His mark of 137 might just be enough to make the cut in The Ultima. Last years bottom weight was on 138 though so it might be a close run thing. The year Vintage Clouds won it in 2021 the bottom weight was a lot lower. Lets see.
 
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Just a heads-up for anyone thinking they'd see the Handicap weights today.

It seems the BHA have deemed that only licensed individuals with entries - and bookmakers, of course - are fit to see the weights today. The great unwashed will apparently have to wait until tomorrow, when the BHA plan to do a reveal as part of a 'media day'.

The fu*cking wankers. :mad:
 
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Marb said:
I was having a look at the handicap entries earlier to try and make some sense of it all. Here are some musings for what its worth and all that.

It's interesting Peter Niven has entered Malystic in the Grand Annual as I thought he said the horse wouldn't run in it?

The thing is though, in his poor run at Cheltenham before, the horse scoped badly afterwards so I feel that was a legitimate excuse.

I was a bit disappointed with Malystic's performance the last day as I thought he might actually be good enough beforehand. He looked a bit unfluent at his fences so I hope they can sort that out.

Hey ho though, he was running against graded horses, so for finishing several lengths behind a horse like Greanateen he still has an unchanged mark of 149.

If he had got anywhere near close to winning that race his mark would have definately gone up, so I am trying to turn a negative into a positive, in the sense he has probably only been entered in the Grand Annual because his mark wasn't adjusted for his fourth place in that grade two.

I have had Malystic on my mind for the Grand Annual since his win at Doncaster.

I will keep the faith if his trainer lets him take his chance, I think he could run a big race.

Another horse interesting me is Monbeg Genius. Jonjo looks to have found the key to him and he has notched up several nice victories on the bounce. I reckon he has an interesting handicap mark and more importantly can keep improving.

He is entered in the Ultima and Kim Muir, and also actually holds an entry in the Uttoxeter National over a marathon distance the Saturday after the Cheltenham Festival finishes.

I think he is a very promising horse and I'd like to see him take his chance against the big boys at the festival, in either the Ultima or Kim Muir.

His mark of 137 might just be enough to make the cut in The Ultima. Last years bottom weight was on 138 though so it might be a close run thing. The year Vintage Clouds won it in 2021 the bottom weight was a lot lower. Lets see.
Click to expand...

Monbeg Genius bumped up to 140 based on todays weights - So would make the cut comfortably for the Ultima if the decide to run there I reckon.
 
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simmo said:
I notice Sharjah still entered for the County Hurdle - could they be looking to do a Wicklow Brave/Arctic Fire with it??
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Sharjah is two years older and has had nearly double the amount of starts Arctic Fire had by the time he won the County. He will be overbet for this.
 
As I'll be in Spain for Festival week, and unsure if I can bet from there, I've played myself in early on the handicaps. Being mindful of my generally shi*tty record in these races, I have adjusted my staking plan accordingly in most races, though there are still a couple I couldn't really bring myself to get too involved in.

These are the bets. All are NRMB, so damage will be limited for those that don't get a run (those currently in danger of being excluded are marked with *).

Also worth stating that these bets made in the expectation of the ground being more or less Good-to-Soft all four days. If it gets Soft/Heavy, others would come into play.

Ultima
Corach Rambler
Lord Accord EW*
Tea Clipper EW
Castle Robin EW*


Fred Winter
Token bet on Cougar


Coral Cup
HMS Seahorse
Run For Oscar
Hauturiere EW*
Au Fleuron EW*
Off Your Rocco EW*


Grand Annual
Before Midnight EW
Grey Diamond EW*
The Last Day*


Pertemps Final
Salvador Ziggy
Thanksforthehelp
An Taillur EW
Botox Has EW
Call Me Lord


Plate
Midnight River
Battleoverdoyen*
Seddon*
Hereditary Rule EW*


Kim Muir
Token bet on Amirite


County
Winter Fog
Gin Coco
First Street EW
Fils D'Oudairies EW*
The Wounded Knee EW*
 
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If you are in Spain GH it'll be tricky getting through their screening unless you have some kind of VPN gizmo installed. I normally get a brother to credit €xx for me on his account and then text in the selections as needed.

Where you going?
 
Off to a mate’s gaff in Rhoda (Roda?) somewhere near Alicante/Murcia region, Colm, for golf mornings and horsey-horse afternoons. He tells me he has a VPN and it should all be cool for betting, though some other people have told me it can be a bit hit-and-miss, depending on who you’re betting with, so I figured I’d take no chances.

I’ve lined-up someone back in the UK to have on-the-day bets for me if I need any - he just doesn’t know about it yet! :lol:
 
Grasshopper said:
Off to a mate’s gaff in Rhoda (Roda?) somewhere near Alicante/Murcia region, Colm, for golf mornings and horsey-horse afternoons. He tells me he has a VPN and it should all be cool for betting, though some other people have told me it can be a bit hit-and-miss, depending on who you’re betting with, so I figured I’d take no chances.

I’ve lined-up someone back in the UK to have on-the-day bets for me if I need any - he just doesn’t know about it yet! :lol:
Click to expand...

Apps are hit and miss, even with a VPN as they often use location services for determining where you are but the web sites are normally fine with a VPN turned on. I use Nord VPN and it’s great and supports iOS and desktop
 
English/Irish phone, turn off WiFi and only use the websites as opposed to Apps and you won't have a problem, doing it for 5 years without a single issue.
 
Euronymous said:
Sharjah is two years older and has had nearly double the amount of starts Arctic Fire had by the time he won the County. He will be overbet for this.
Click to expand...

They mentioned this on the ATR preview last night. Can’t remember who said it but they thought he still had the class to win it off a huge weight.
 
Beef or Salmon said:
English/Irish phone, turn off WiFi and only use the websites as opposed to Apps and you won't have a problem, doing it for 5 years without a single issue.
Click to expand...

This
I go Benidorm often, dont connect to wifi and find I can bet as i usually would.
 
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Also, if you do have to text bets over, dont use your GFs account if you’re not together abroad. You’ll be odds against to get paid :lol:
 
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