Friday 11th November 2022

Author: Jordan Yates (EvRacing_)

Cheltenham

(Prices correct as of 16:30 Wednesday 9th November)

Welcome aboard to this blog where focus will be soley on Cheltenham’s November Meeting, where the action kicks off on Friday. I’ve got two fancies for the opening day of the meeting, the first of these comes in the 1:45 which is a Handicap Chase that’s ridden over two miles. This is a competitive affair, however, I’ve taken a chance on Malystic who’s currently an 8/1 chance for Brian Hughes and Peter Niven. He returned from a break at Kelso at the beginning of last month, where he finished second of four and just over a length behind the winner. That should give him a fitness edge against some of these, and he’s a smart animal having finished a neck second in a listed contest at Ayr at the back end of last season. If coming on from his run last time, I think he’s got every chance of being involved in this.

My second selection comes in the 3:30 which is the Grade 2 Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle over two miles and five furlongs. I’m siding with an Irish raider here in the form of Hubrisko who’s currently trading at 3/1 for the all-conquering team of Paul Townend and Willie Mullins. It’s pretty rare for Closutton to have runners at these early-season Cheltenham meetings, however, they tasted success at the Showcase Meeting last month with Dad’s Lad, and I think they’ve got a solid chance of another with this runner. This five-year-old son of Doctor Dino is a lightly raced sort, but clearly has some ability as he showed when bolting up over 8 lengths in a maiden hurdle at Galway back in September. He followed that up when finishing third of seven in a Grade 3 at Tipperary behind exciting stablemate Champ Kiely, and that’s some of the strongest form on offer here. I find it unlikely that he’ll be coming over to just make up the numbers, as I think he’s here with a serious chance.