Review of the day

There was no joy with todays tips - which was disappointing, if not entirely surprising…

It always looked like being a tough day - and my high risk strategy didn’t pay off.

Most of the tips were speculative plays - the main exception being Sams Profile, in the opener.

I thought he had a good chance - and he ran a fair race.
He was still in there pitching at the second last, but he slipped slightly on landing after jumping the hurdle - and that was his race over.

The Worlds End was a very speculative play, against 3 strongly fancied opponents - but I hoped he would at least give us a decent run for our money.

Alas, that wasn’t really the case, as his jumping was hesitant throughout, and he was beaten a fair way from home.

The race was won in impressive style, by Topofthegame.
I could easily have put us on him, if he’d been any kind of price this morning.
However, 7/2 was as good as it got - and there seemed minimal margin in that.

His SP of 4/1 was a little better - and may have tempted me in - but it wasn’t an option when I was able to tip…

I took 2 against the field in the Coral Cup - and it’s fair to say that they ran contrasting races !

Killultagh Vic was a huge disappointment (having been weak in the market) and was never sighted.
Brio Conti on the other hand, tanked through the race, and arguably could have won.

However, he did a bit too much, too soon - and had little left for the final hill.

At Cheltenham, optimal distribution of energy is absolutely key.
He’s clearly still a well handicapped horse however, and I’ll not be at all surprised if he gains compensation at Aintree…

Altior managed to win the Champion chase - though it was a bit of a struggle !

He looked beaten jumping the last, but the horse has a rare desire to win - and it seemed almost inevitable that he would battle back, past Politologue and Sceau Royal, up the hill.

Any other horse would have lost - but Altior is something special.

Tiger Roll is also turning into something special…
I felt he had to be opposed in the cross country chase - but he cantered through the entire race and never looked remotely like getting beaten…

Auvergnat was a horrible late drifter (out to 15 on BF) - and ran accordingly.
Tea for Two on the other hand, was very well backed.
He was just starting to make his move, when he stumbled and unseated Lizzy Kelly.

I very much doubt he would have beaten Tiger Roll - but it would have been interesting to see how close he could have got…

As I said this morning, the Fred Winter looked a complete lottery - so it was a little surprising to see Band of Outlaws backed in to 7/2, at the off - though far less so, to then see him win comfortably !

It may be the Cheltenham festival - but that just means that the certainties carry even more money !

And that was also the case in the finale, where Envoi Allen was backed into 2/1 fav - and held off the 7/2 second fav.
In fairness, the winner did cost £400K - so I guess connections were keen to recoup  some of their cash.

It was all a bit of a shame for Thyme Hill, who ran an absolute cracker for a 20/1 shot - but could only manage third place…

Hopefully tomorrow will deliver better.

TVB.