2025 JUMPS SEASON WEEKEND REVIEW 2

 

So the first Cheltenham fixture has been and gone and as far as Cheltenham goes, it was not a great two days for us but we didn’t we bounce back in style on Sunday, with two tips and two winners at 7/1 (SP 9/1) and 3/1 (SP 4/1). 

 

We undone all our bad two days at Cheltenham and profit on top and our members could not have been happier. Some even did a cheeky double and were rewarded ten fold.

 

We are now 25.5 points in profit for the jumps season and that is in just 18 days. We are flying along.

 

 

More on our winners when we get to Sunday but first let us review our tips at Cheltenham and then our tips at Aintree on Sunday.

 

We have also left a few horses to follow at the end so keep reading…..

 

 

Cheltenham started for us with a big priced tip, the Ben Pauling, Whatsupwithyou. I thought he was travelling nicely up top and jumping well on the whole. He was just moving into contention at the top of the hill when a stumble made the jockey lose his irons. He could not recover and was pulled up. It was too far out to know what would have happened but I have seen him go close from a similar position at Cheltenham, in the past. 

He is one to keep on side next time out if the right race and conditions but the bottomline is, he was running a nice race before bad luck struck.

 

Next up was Un Sens A La Vie who I was extremely confident about going into the race. He was far too keen, he didn’t jump with any fluency and to make matters worse, I am not sure why Sam Twiston Davies got into a tussle for the lead as soon as the tapes went up. Not often I criticise Sam, but just take a pull, try and get him to settle and just pop his hurdles. The horse clearly has a lot to learn and next time out I would be teaching him to settle and with that will come improved jumping. He is far from the finished article and maybe not as good as I first thought but even so, I think he is better than what we saw and could be one for later on down the line once he has matured.

 

Our final two selections for Day 1 were Matata and Third Time Lucki. Big mention for Third Time Lucki who sadly was fatally injured. Thoughts are with everyone connected to the horse.

Matata was poor, he didn’t jump with his usual zest, he made far too many mistakes and maybe at a rating of 160, it was a bad decision on my part. We live and learn.

 

 

Day 2 started with two selections in Transmission and Hoe Joly Smoke. Transmission ran an ok race and maybe he will be a strip fitter next time out. While Hoe Joly Smoke travelled powerfully and came to the last fence, Harry Skelton was sitting pretty. I thought here we got a lovely 12/1 winner but he just didn’t get up the hill and we had to settle for 3rd place. I was confident when watching the race as you don’t see many horses who travel so well under Harry Skelton, not go and win. The radar was working ok but the Cheltenham hill saw off our chances.

 

Gowel Road and Winning Smut were our next two selections. Both were very poor, no excuses here and not much more to write about other than bad selections.

 

The final tip of the day was Intense Approach and this race really annoyed me. We secured the value and were on a nice price but had I known they were omitting the last 3 fences, he would not have been a bet. Intense Approach needs to jump, he needs to gallop, he does not need a flat race. 

Had I known they were omitting the last 3 fences then my bet would have been Pied Piper, who has excellent form, although the Cheltenham hill caught that horse out so we would have had to settle for 2nd. Even so, I am just giving you an example of how things can change when the race changes.

Not a lot we can do in that situation and it just about summed up the two days for us.

 

 

What a day it turned out to be. I felt a little hard done by at Cheltenham if truth be told. Mistakes, horses fatally injured, the Cheltenham Hill, poor rides. They are excuses but I know things went against us. 

I was not going to let the two days spoil the party and the start we had already made to the National Hunt Season. Confidence was still high and I just had a feeling we would bounce back.

 

Sam Twiston Davies made up for a poor Cheltenham with a great ride on Torn And Frayed. We were so unlucky with Torn And Frayed at Chepstow, I felt we deserved that. He lined up on the same handicap mark of 128 and if he didn’t make a mistake at Chepstow, he would have won by half the track and would not have been on a mark of 128. How he drifted and went off 4/1 is beyond me but even so, a nice 3/1 winner for us.

 

Hitman in the next, went off 9/1 and we were on at 7/1. I went back in at 9/1 as that was far too big a price. He was cruising in this race last year off a higher mark and even though he had not won for a number of years, 153 was a dangerous mark in my eyes. He was given a great ride by Freddie Gingell and he won as easy as you like to end the weekend on a high for us. Magic stuff and Cheltenham was a distant memory. 

 

 

DOUBLE POWERFUL is a horse who can be followed. He made his chasing debut on Saturday at Cheltenham and didn’t jump well at all. He still stayed on from the back of the field despite being bumped and hitting about 5 fences on the way around. If he can brush up his jumping, which you think should happen given he is a 6 year old and still a work in progress over fences, he will pop up somewhere. He even stays a bit further and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him go close next time out, in the right race.

 

HOE JOLY SMOKE travelled very well but just got caught out by Cheltenham Hill. Known as a bit of a Sandown specialist in the past, he can be followed and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him go for the Ladbrokes Gold Cup at Newbury. A flat track like Newbury should suit this smooth travelling horse. Although this is not Ante Post advice, 25/1 with William Hill looks a big price depending on what happens to his handicap mark. He may get right in at the bottom of the handicap. 

 

LONG DRAW ran an eye-catching race in the Pertemps Hurdle Qualifier. Before the race and in a stable tour, Olly Murphy said his season target was the Pertemps. He was not going to be winning here and spoil his handicap mark, it was all about qualifying and he did so in 4th place. I wouldn’t be surprised to see run a few ‘stinkers’ in his next two starts to bring his handicap mark down and get the Cheltenham rated 134. I pick up on these little snippets and once again, we will see what happens next time out before getting involved with Ante Post, but it is one for the notebook.

 

 

We are in great form at present and off to a flyer with over 25 points bagged already and a return on investment of 77%. It is all about keeping this going and although I know we are going to have bad days, it is all about how we bounce back, just as we did on Sunday.

 

As you can tell from my reviews, I mean business and I am not missing a beat.

 

I am after my record of 174 points set in 2016 and I am hungrier more than ever.