Plenty of clues as the big showdown looms

By Alan Conway

It may only be the first week in January but we can begin to mention the C word. Cheltenham is creeping up on us. The festive period of racing offered up many clues as to what may happen in March. Some reputations were enhanced and some bubbles were burst.

When Leopardstown finally got underway we were treated to three days of high class and ultra competitive action. The star on day one was Pandorama who justified the high opinion that his connections had of him when taking the Lexus Chase.

It was hard not to be impressed, although the temptation to rate the race highly is tempered by the second place finish of Money Trix and the below par performance of Cooldine. Even with that Pandorama did what he had to do and now heads to Cheltenham with only one defeat over fences to his name. He has to be rated as one of our leading chances in the Gold Cup. If the ground came up soft on Gold Cup day then I could see him playing a big part in the race. But if the ground came up good or better he might just be a length or two below Imperial Commander et al.

While we may only have an each way squeak in the Gold Cup our chances of taking back the Champion Hurdle looked to have improved thanks to Hurricane Fly’s easy victory in the Festival Hurdle. He once again brushed aside Solwit in a visually impressive victory. Although the time wasn’t great it was pleasing to see the burst of speed that the Hurricane showed and if he turns up fully fit in March the rest may have to fly to catch him.

If we fancy winning the Champion Hurdle then sadly we have no chance of stopping Big Bucks in the World Hurdle. He is so far in front of his rivals it’s amazing. He recorded his tenth straight victory over hurdles in the Long Walk at Newbury. The scary thing is that he will be even better in a race like the World Hurdle where the strong pace will play right into his hoofs. He is long odds on to win and has to be the banker of the week if he turns up.

Along with the World Hurdle the Champion Chase is also a must see race thanks in part to the decisive win by Big Zeb in the Dial A Bet Chase. The jumping errors which blighted his rise to the top seem to have been ironed out. He travelled like the class act in the race and even though the margin of victory was a neck he was doing nothing in front and was value for a couple more lengths. His clash with a rejuvenated Master Minded will be a race to savour.

On the juvenile front it was a mixed bag. The long odds on defeats of Zaidpour and Mikael D’Haguenet have put a dampener on their festival chances. They should be forgiven those runs though as they clearly where not the same as they were at Fairyhouse.

There was one performance that stood out for me. Our Girl Salley’s win in the mares hurdle on the Thursday was very taking. She pulled Barry Geraghty’s arms out and still found plenty after the last hurdle. It would be interesting to see her travel over and take on Quevega at the festival. The road towards Cheltenham begins to speed up from now. Hold on tight.

By Alan Conway