15th-Dec-2023

I am taking a chance on Go Dante here.  A talented novice hurdler three seasons ago, Olly Murphy’s horse was off for over a year after he finished fourth behind Stage Star in the Grade 1 Challow Hurdle in 2021, but he progressed nicely last spring.  He was impressive in winning a handicap hurdle at Wetherby last March on soft ground, the first time that he encountered soft ground since that good run in the Challow Hurdle.

He didn’t run badly in the Greatwood Hurdle at Cheltenham last time.  He travelled well down the hill but he made a mistake at the second last flight, and he got a bit squeezed out of it as a result on the run around the home turn.  He just tired after that on the run to the last.

That was his first run of the season, his first run since a wind operation, so there is every chance that he will progress for it.  We know that he can operate at Cheltenham, and he gets to race today off a handicap rating of 125, just 3lb higher than the mark off which he won that handicap hurdle at Wetherby in March.  He remains a potentially well-handicapped horse.

GO DANTE WON (ADV 6/1, SP 7/2)