16th-Apr-2016

I am also backing Ch’Tibello.  Dan Skelton’s horse finished third behind Sternrubin and John Constable in the Gerry Feilden Hurdle, but he is 2lb better off with John Constable and 16lb better off with Sternrubin, and that gives him a chance.

Like John Constable, he is a five-year-old who is lightly raced over hurdles.  Unlike John Constable, however, he is lightly raced under all codes, he raced just once on the flat before he ran the first of his four races over hurdles, so he has bundles of scope for progression.

On his last run before the Gerry Feilden, Ch’Tibello finished second, beaten just over a length by Altior, the pair of them 20 lengths clear of their rivals in a novices’ hurdle at Ascot at the end of October.  Obviously Altior has improved dramatically since then, but Ch’Tibello has all that potential for progression.

Like John Constable, he comes into this race a fresh horse.  He hasn’t run since November, but he does go well fresh.  He handles soft ground as well as good ground, so conditions will not be an issue for him.

The two Willie Mullins horses, Ivan Grozny and Clondaw Warrior, are both big players, but both are short enough and both have had hard races in the last two weeks, which is never ideal as we go towards the end of the season.

CH’TIBELLO WON (SP 8/1)