WEST BALBOA 13/2 WINNER OF A HANDICAP HURDLE AT AINTREE

CORACH RAMBLER 7/1 WINNER OF THE CHELTENHAM 2023 ULTIMA HANDICAP CHASE

CORACH RAMBLER is just a solid pick to start off our Festival Handicap. This is not to say come the day we won’t have other selections in the Ultima, but this would be my strongest selection in the race.

He was the winner of this race last season off a mark off a mark of 140 and he was doing all his best work at the end of the race. He is now up to a mark of 147 but I think he can defy a 7lb rise in the weights, especially as this race this year, is going to be an even more test of stamina with the ground being soft. The more a test of stamina the better for CORACH RAMBLER.

He has not been seen since the Coral Gold Cup (Hennessy) back in November, when an excellent 4th of 15 to Le Milos. The ground was good that day so it would have been against him, but he still stayed on from the last fence, in his usual fashion, and it just left me feeling he may have more up his sleeve. He has not been seen since as he is being aimed at the Grand National where he is currently 12/1 2nd fav. If he is 12/1 for that race with 40 runners, the 7/1 here in a weaker race looks decent. Lucinda Russell knows the time of day with her horses and clearly did not want to ruin his handicap mark prior to weights being released in the National. That is a sign that she still thinks he is ahead of the handicapper and given the National is just 1 month away, he will be a very fit horse. Following this race she will want to just keep ticking him over so she won’t have left much training in the horse. Besides CORACH RAMBLER won this race last year and the pot is worth £70k to the winner. Surely it is a case of, win this race first and then on to the National. Derek Fox takes the ride and he knows this horse inside out. He was on him last year when winning the race and in fact is the only jockey to ride him, in 11 races under rules. He is a 9 year old who only 11 races under rules, so very lightly raced.

For me CORACH RAMBLER will be staying on up the hill late in the race and in my mind, I have a placed finish at the very least. E/W.

SIRE DU BERLAIS 50/1 WINNER OF THE CHELTENHAM STAYERS HURDLE

I am also going to have a small stake on SIRE DU BERLAIS at a ridiculous price. He loves the Cheltenham Festival and has won 2 Pertemps Hurdles and finished 2nd in this race in 2021. He may be past his best but it is this time of year that he comes alive. He won the Stayers Hurdle at Aintree last year and you can literally write off anything he does over the winter, as Gordon Elliott trains him to peak in the Spring. I am not saying he is going to win this but I would not be at all surprised if he plugged on for a place here. If he is close enough after the last hurdle, not many will get home better than him. E/W.

LANGER DAN 10/1 WINNER OF THE CORAL CUP

LANGER DAN deserves a win at a Cheltenham Festival and I still think on a mark of 141 he is still nicely treated. He was 2nd in the 2021 Martin Pipe Handicap, bumping into Galopin Des Champs, who was a Grade 1 horse running in a handicap at the time. He was only beaten 3 lengths and pulled a huge 9 lengths clear of 3rd that day. Last year LANGER DAN was then well fancied in the same race but was unlucky when brought down at just the 2nd hurdle. He made amends by winning at Aintree and showed just how good a horse he can be. 

I think this race could set up perfectly for him as he is a strong travelling horse who needs a strong pace. He will no doubt get the pace he wants in this race and I can see him travelling sweetly just off the leaders and try and make his move coming to the last hurdle. 

We will need a little luck in running but if the gaps open up for him, he will no doubt be thereabouts. E/W.