Ch’tibello

Ch’tibello ran well on his seasonal debut to finish fifth in the two-and-a-half-mile handicap hurdle at Newbury on Saturday. Held up early on, he was last and being pushed along as they left the back straight, but he stayed on well for Harry Skelton from the top of the home straight, over the last two flights, to take fifth place. He was well beaten by the first two home, Earlofthecotswolds and Masters Legacy, but he was only beaten a length by Glory And Fortune for fourth.

It was a more-than satisfactory return from Dan Skelton’s horse, on his first run since he finished sixth in the Grade 2 International Hurdle at Cheltenham’s December meeting almost a year ago. He is usually better in the middle-to-latter stages of the season than he is in the early part of the season, his best runs have been between mid-December and April, and he won the County Hurdle at Cheltenham in March 2019. He hasn’t won since then, but he is back down to a mark of 144 now, 2lb lower than he was for that win and 13lb lower than his peak. He is not getting any younger, but he retains lots of ability on this evidence, and that mark could under-rate him now. He stays two and a half miles well, he may need it now, as a 10-rising-11-year-old, and there could be another good handicap in him off a mark of 144.
Newbury, 27^th November 2021