Ian McClean
Grandouet is the second highest rated hurdler rather than Champagne Fever ?
Experience is yet again a factor in the Arkle – with only Simonsig arriving to win the race with fewer than three races over fences during the last 10 years – and even at that, he nearly blew it by being too fresh. Champagne Fever and Rock On Ruby are fencing-light and Champagne Fever has the additional negative of being absent since before January 1.
However, Mullins' grey does have the helpful asset of Grade One course-form and is bidding to join Bobs Worth as the only other horse since Flyingbolt to win three different races in consecutive years. In addition, Champagne Fever and Rock On Ruby will be buoyed by the stat that nine of the last 10 winners had either won at Cheltenham or been placed at the Festival previously. They will both be further bolstered by the fact that highest-rated hurdlers have transferred that ability to fences to win the Arkle on five of the last 13 occasions – and on two of the last four occasions where the top-rated hurdler didn't win the Arkle, it was the second rated (Simonsig and Sizing Europe) that obliged.
However, Mullins' grey does have the helpful asset of Grade One course-form and is bidding to join Bobs Worth as the only other horse since Flyingbolt to win three different races in consecutive years. In addition, Champagne Fever and Rock On Ruby will be buoyed by the stat that nine of the last 10 winners had either won at Cheltenham or been placed at the Festival previously. They will both be further bolstered by the fact that highest-rated hurdlers have transferred that ability to fences to win the Arkle on five of the last 13 occasions – and on two of the last four occasions where the top-rated hurdler didn't win the Arkle, it was the second rated (Simonsig and Sizing Europe) that obliged.
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