You probably don’t need reminding that Cheltenham is now less than 2 weeks away and the countdown is well and truly underway but I thought I’d go ahead and tell you anyway.

What is does mean though is for the next 2 weeks I will be concentrating solely on the big meeting and bringing you all the latest news and hopefully highlighting a few winners.

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There were a couple of articles in yesterday’s Racing Post that caught my eye….

Firstly, in the Triumph Hurdle section that Pricewise had done there was a quote from Charlie Egerton who trains my big Triumph Hurdle hope Westlin Winds….

“He is being aimed at the Triumph. He’s very well and everything has gone to plan with his preperation. He would go on soft, but he’d be better on good ground. He’s been something of a forgotten horse, but his form is good. Ollie Greenall will ride.”

Which is good news for quite a few reasons;
1) I had been a bit worried that connections may have been considering the Fred Winter Handicap with him but that now looks unlikely
2) He hasn’t been out for a while but we now know it’s not because he’s injured.
3) If the going turns soft he’ll still run and if it firms up a bit he’ll have an even bigger chance.
4) The trainer, like me, thinks his form is good enough.

I actually emailed Charlie Egerton urging him to run Westlin Winds in the Triumph and not the Fred Winter and while I know it probably won’t have any affect on his decision such is my investment on the horse I didn’t think it could hurt!

Click here if you haven’t yet downloaded the completely free trends guide for the Triumph Hurdle >>>2010 Triumph Hurdle Guide
(There are no sign-up or card details required. This link takes you directly to the guide and it’s yours to keep)

The other bit in the Post that caught got my attention was a write-up about Diktalina’s owner and her being his last roll of the dice for his syndicate. If you’ve been reading my posts recently you’ll know I really like this horse and unlike Westlin Winds I hope she runs in the Fred Winter. By all accounts she will, which is good news, but the interesting bit in the article was that there are still 4 shares left in the horse.

Having visited the syndicate website it appears the shares are still available at £2000 for 5% + £120 month training fees. A bit steep but having had some luck on the poker tables recently it’s given me serious food for thought. A 1/20th share of a possible Cheltenham winner sounds tempting.

All I need to do now is persuade the missus. I’ll let you know how I get on…

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After mentioning bet365’s amazing Cheltenham offer in Monday’s post it seems other firms are now keen to get in on the act and start offering their own incentives to get you to bet with them. I’ll keep my eye out for you and bring you the best of the offers as they are announced.

Today it’s the turn of Paddy Power who will refund all losing bets (up to £200) in the Supreme Novices Hurdle if Dunguib wins the race.

This is another great concession that is likely to cost the firm upwards of a £1 million with Dunguib trading as one of the shortest prices at the whole meeting and most peoples idea of a banker. When the firm make offers like this it’s not hard to see why their profits have dropped by 15% in the last year.

In our trends guide we actually oppose the favourite in this race as he has a couple of minor trends to overcome but on all known form he’s obviously the one horse they all have to beat. Which means Paddy Powers offer is the perfect concession for me, and anyone else opposing Dunguib, as should Ireland’s highly exciting prospect win the race we’ll get our cash back on any losing bets (as long as they run!).

Now if  any firm out there wants to offer me money back on any seconds I back at Cheltenham then please let me know.

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Cheltenham Festival Top Jockey

A few stats…

Ruby Walsh has been the top jockey 4 of the last 6 years with 3, 3, 3 and 7 wins at the meeting.
Paul Nicholl’s has contributed to the winning jockeys total in 6 of the last 10 Festivals
The last time Tony McCoy was top jockey was in 1998 (5 wins)
11 of the last 12 top jockeys at the meeting rode 3 or more winners
The last time a jockey won the trophy having ridden just one winner was in 1982 (Jonjo O’Neill)

Interesting fact: Ruby Walsh has drawn a blank on 4 of the last 6 opening days of the meeting (he managed 1 winner last year)

With the mighty Paul Nicholl’s stable behind him and the added bonus of being the number 1 Irish jockey when any spare rides come up he looks almost certain, barring injury, to be crowned Top Jockey again this year. With 3 winners normally enough to land the title his four main rides of Master Minded, Quevega, Kauto Star and Bick Bucks may be enough to win it on their own. Add to that the fact he will probably ride in every race and he should record enough placings to ensure he wins if it ends up a tie for the most winners. Only Barry Geraghty looks able to muster a book of rides that could produce the 3 or more winners needed to challenge for the title but he doesn’t have a ride you would consider banker material.

The current odds of 4/7 may not appeal to everyone but for those of you who don’t mind backing the short ones it does look overpriced. I reckon he’s a 1/3 shot.

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I’ll be back tomorrow with news of my Cheltenham Trends which is 128 pages long, covers all 26 races and is only £19.95. You can get a copy here… Festival Trends 2010 Cheltenham Guide

Good luck,
Gavin.

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