Cheltenham 2017 Antepost Bets

[Istabraq]

Have we all given up on Vautour over 2 miles ?

In March he was Gold Cup winner in waiting who was controversially re-routed to the Ryanair which he won in a canter, 2m can't be on his upcoming agenda.
I'll never say never because the Mullins/Ricci army run over distances to suit connections and not always what the horse needs, but I would have thought Douvan is their only Queen Mother horse...................................at this stage !

[MrMcGoldrick]

Have we all given up on Vautour over 2 miles ?

I haven't given up on it OV, atrocious programme last season, Mullins camp got it completely wrong but still managed to get a grade one win out of him at the fez, then two quick runs after stating he was almost pulled out of the fez altogether. Complete rethink next season for me, and the 25/1 looks colossal, Douvan looks more of a stayer, in my view, than Vautour, a fully fit Vautour would give anything a huge task to overcome given the right prep over 2 miles

[Old Vic]

I haven't given up on it OV, atrocious programme last season, Mullins camp got it completely wrong but still managed to get a grade one win out of him at the fez, then two quick runs after stating he was almost pulled out of the fez altogether. Complete rethink next season for me, and the 25/1 looks colossal, Douvan looks more of a stayer, in my view, than Vautour, a fully fit Vautour would give anything a huge task to overcome given the right prep over 2 miles

I thought you might still be hanging in there.

I think running him RH at Punchestown over the shorter trip was not the way to end the debate on his ideal trip. Paz's shout for targets looks the most likely but value always to be found in being contrary imo.

[Vanilla]

Great to see Coneygree jumping a few poles today, photo posted by Mark Bradstock on his twitter account.

[Istabraq]

Great to see Coneygree jumping a few poles today, photo posted by Mark Bradstock on his twitter account.

Not seen that, will take a look.
I do fear for the horse though, at the moment he has a massive 'fragile' title to carry around and we all hope he comes back as good as he was at HQ 18 months ago....

[Vanilla]

Following the sad demise of Marito, is there a danger to On The Fringe in the Foxhunters?
6/1 available.

[Istabraq]

Following the sad demise of Marito, is there a danger to On The Fringe in the Foxhunters?
6/1 available.

Age maybe ?
Took longer to come to himself last year, poor opening season performance and I'm sure he didn't get to Chelt spot on, the fact so many were in close proximity suggests he wasn't 100%, he was arguably more impressive at Aintree and Punch.

If that was his true running then the likes of Current Event and Paint The Clouds come into it and Current Event I think is probably the one to take over his crown.
Probably still needs to prove he stays the Foxhunters trip but he'll be just 10 come March.

At the prices I could back both, 6/1 and 33/1, we know this is their only target.....

[MrMcGoldrick]

Great point about being their only target Isty, we probably spend too much time trying to second guess the aims of so many horses, even harder to work out than usual at the mo, courtesy of the Ricci battalions, it used to be a case of £100 a month on Quevega, then a bit of speculation on the championship races, but I had a good run with Hurricane Fly, all changed now, last seasons Champion hurdle winner could be aimed at anything from the same race again to the Gold cup, what's a punter to do?

[Istabraq]

My (stubborn and) persistent belief that Arch Villain would come good was rewarded today so I've taken the plunge and taken the 6/1 On The Fringe, I'm no trader but I reckon it's about 6 months until we see the horse in public and I'm sure he'll be a shorter price in Jan/Feb than he is today, 6/1 is a nice price about a horse that assuming he gets there sound will be no bigger that 7/4.

Mr M - there are probably only 3 or 4 races at the festival that we can be sure are targets for horses and this is one of them, so, whilst we know the ante post market is littered with hard luck stories this is one race we can be absolutely certain where OTF is heading, 6/1 is too big....

[KingSprinterSacre]

I love when I see new posts in this thread. I long to get back to talking about the proper game, National hunt. Cant wait until the flat is over to we see the likes of Sprinter, Faugheen, Douvan, Annie, Altior etc come back out.

[TimRiggins]

Just ordered Jumping Prospects, and had my first bet for 2017.

Found a £20 freebet that was running out, so chucked it on Ar Mad for the CC, lol.

Real racing can't come soon enough!

[mayo]

Not long till Listowel. A surprising number of Cheltenham winners have started there in recent years.

added

Altior @ 7/1 CH
Barters Hill @ 14/1 RSA
Min @ 8/1 Arkle
Thistlecrack @ 8/1 GC
Smad Place @ 25/1 King George
On the Fringe @ 6/1 FX

[Kevloaf]

I think I will end up checking this thread every day. Ante-post betting is great, as I feel I have accepted I won't be generally putting 'good' bets on, but I would rather waste my money on that one magical week than on a 2YO maiden that I have nothing but the connections and market to go on.... so with that being said, here is what I am already on for Cheltenham 2017:

Barters Hill (RSA) - Might go for the JLT, as he will start at that distance but 20s seems massive on a horse that was unbeaten going in to the festival that in my opinion didn't give his true running because of the stiffness a couple of days earlier)
Alpha Des Obeaux (RSA) / On The Fringe (XC) - 62/1 each way double... Some good points made on the previous page about OTF and then I just thought I can't see ADO going for anything but that race with his owners being so keen on the race. I don't think the price is great but if they both turn up I would expect a good run for my money
Thistlecrack (Gold Cup) - I have been backing Vautour with my free £5 skybet each week and will probably carry on but I took the 8s about Thistlecrack because I watched Tizzard talking about the Gold Cup as the target and they have nothing to lose in going for it. If he takes to chasing there is no way he will be that price considering how he performed in the World Hurdle. (Whether he wins or not is a different matter of course)
Faugheen - World Hurdle - 10/1 when I read about Ricci saying he would want Annie to defend her crown... I expect Faugheen to go for the CH but 10's was far too big at the time...

That is all I can remember at the moment

[Istabraq]

Sensible thinking there Kevloaf, but I'm very cynical about Ricci/Mullins and where their horses might go, anything with doubt about target I'll ignore like the plague.
Even Barters Hill has unfinished business over timber, not certain to go chasing, but if he was I'd expect him to go RSA route.

I snapped up some 6s On The Fringe with B365, won a few quid and pressed, won a few quid more and pressed at 5s, now have a nice position about a horse that can only enter the one race and whose dominance in the division is obvious, although age is a concern the renewal looks to be weaker this season.

[Kevloaf]

My Barters Hill thoughts came from this article, http://www.racinguk.com/news/article...m-november-run although I did read after Cheltenham that if Thistlecrack goes chasing (which looks likely) then they might aim at the World Hurdle.

Yeh, I read earlier about your reasons for On The Fringe and can't knock them at all. From memory he wasn't that strong until Cheltenham in any race last year and you'd see no reason they won't just do the exact same thing again. If I win anything at York this week I will be topping up my ante-post portfolio!