Frank Hickey ....
Regularly the Albert Bartlett Novices Hurdle market is headed by a horse that’s undefeated after three or four runs, however they regularly then get beaten at Cheltenham by horse with far more experience.
That’s because the Albert Bartlett field tends to go at a really strong pace in the early stage and that pace usually collapses given the stiff three miles at Cheltenham. You’d want to be going with something a bit more streetwise and Talkischeap falls exactly into that category.
He’s had 11 outings – when you include his three point-to-points – and in his four runs over three miles, he’s won them all. He came to my attention in his outing at Newbury when running over three miles on soft ground, which wouldn’t be his preference.
He settled beautifully and travelled powerfully to win very comprehensively. He’s gone up to a mark of 142 off the back of that, which suggests to me he needs to improve another eight pounds to be winning this. However, the way he settles and travels, he’s one you can bury out the back of the field and let him produce it late.
He’s 20/1 at the moment, I’ve got involved with that and I wouldn’t put anyone off having a few quid on him each-way.
