Value Racing Club preview night

Just a final reminder, it is the Value Racing Club Cheltenham Festival preview night via zoom on Friday (7.00pm). There is still time to join - please contact James Couldwell at contact@valueracingclub.co.uk. The panel includes David Pipe, Tom Scudamore, Gary O'Brien, Michael Shinners and is hosted by Stewart Machin. There will also be guest appearances by Ed Chamberlin and Tom Lacey. It promises to be a very enjoyable evening.

I am also delighted to announce that the One Jump Ahead Cheltenham Festival Update will include an interview with the aforementioned David Pipe. I spoke to the head of Pond House on Thursday afternoon and he kindly ran through his hopes and thoughts for his select team of Festival runners. These including leading Triumph Hurdle hope and Grade 1 winner Adagio, plus Grade 2 winning novice chaser Remastered. David has trained 15 Cheltenham Festival winners and has had a good season with 46 winners on the board. Irish expert Declan Phelan has also penned a piece for the Update - one of the best judges in the business, Declan's Irish Pointers article in One Jump Ahead has been in superb form with Poppa Poutine (9/4) scoring at Catterick on Wednesday. 

If you haven't ordered a copy of the Festival Update, please head to the Publications section of the site. Last year's edition produced 7 winners over the four days, including Saint Roi (advised @ 20/1), Ferny Hollow (advised @ 12/1) and Dame De Compagnie (advised @ 10/1).

In terms of the action, it has been low key stuff, which is often the case on the lead up to the Festival. However, I was impressed with Go Dante's victory in the concluding bumper at Wincanton on Thursday. Olly Murphy gave the gelded son of Kayf Tara a favourable mention in OJA and the five year old scooted clear of his rivals to win hard held by seven and a half lengths. Bought for €170,000 as a three year old, it is possible he will be put away until next season but is certainly one to look forward to in the Autumn and beyond.