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| Punter's Diary by Malcolm Heyhoe |
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| Updated: 29th December2009 - GG.com |
January Jewels
The clock has barely struck midnight, the New Year is almost twelve hours young and jump racing gives race-goers their first taste of top-class action when Cheltenham stages the traditional New Year’s meeting on January 1st.
Two races dominate Cheltenham’s New Year card and perhaps the best of them will be the Dipper Novices’ Chase and here punters could get the chance to weigh the Cheltenham Festival aspirations of Punchestowns, a high-class staying hurdler who looks set for the top over fences if his smooth debut success over fences at Newbury is an accurate guide.
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A week later and the newly-opened Ffos Las racecourse in South Wales steps into the spotlight on a quiet day’s racing and the highly-praised Welsh course stages the inaugural running of the first Welsh Champion Hurdle. If things go to plan Punjabi, the reigning champion hurdler will bid to build upon his recent run in the Boylesports International by winning in South Wales.
On January 10 Leopardstown features the Pierse Hurdle and this fiercely-contested two-mile handicap remains one of the toughest races to crack in the Irish jumps calendar. A week later in Britain, Warwick clicks into gear with its high-class card on January 16 with the Classic Handicap Chase over 3m 5f looming large as the feature race. Thorough stayers usually top the bill here and the Nigel Twiston-Davies-trained Hello Bud could be in the reckoning for this good prize.
On the same card Cheltenham Festival aspirants in the staying novice hurdle division will be given the opportunity to test their mettle in the Leamington Novices’ Hurdle while over at Kempton the Lanzarote Handicap Hurdle is the feature race.
On January 23 the temperature rises on the month’s action with two cracking cards at Haydock and Ascot. At the former course Skippers Brig looks a good thing to land the Peter Marsh Limited Handicap Chase after his superb effort in the Boylesports Gold Cup last time. This is a seriously progressive young chaser and as long as the mud is flying he should make up into a monster performer over the longer three mile trip. Haydock also stages the Champion Hurdle Trial and the Rossington Main Hurdle.
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Over at Ascot on the same day the Victor Chandler Chase brings together some of the current crop of top-notch two-milers including Twist Magic, a previously unreliable sort who has somehow blossomed into a decent two-miler as long as he is kept away from Cheltenham’s twists and undulations. He should be hard to beat in The Victor Chandler following his facile Tingle Creek success.
In Ireland on January 24 Leopardstown plays host to the Irish Champion Hurdle and horses such as Solwhit, Sublimity and Muirhead will be looking to strengthen their Cheltenham credentials ahead of the festival in March with the former fancied to come out on top.
The month’s action turns full circle in January with a return to Cheltenham for its full-scale trial fixture for the festival in March. The feature race is the Cotswold Chase though this event has lost some of its cache as an influential contest for would-be Gold Cup performers.
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On the same card the Cleeve Hurdle should be at the mercy of Big Buck’s while Triumph Hurdle aspirants will be looking for a goods how in the Finesse Juvenile Novices’ Hurdle. Over at Doncaster the Sky Bet Handicap Chase is the feature race and it would be no surprise to see the talented if inconsistent Calgary Bay bid to follow-up his recent course and distance success for trainer Henrietta Knight.
Malcolm Heyhoe writes weekly horse racing articles for GG.COM-Horse racing betting, information, news, results and free daily tips
Archive December 2009
