Five horses that will like soft ground at Cheltenham Festival with rain forecast
CHELTENHAM Festival can be a little tricky on the first day as the biggest race meeting starts on soft ground.
Race director Jon Pullin confirmed that a ‘very wet’ run-in to the four-day celebration meant we could see mud flying around during the first seven races.
Here, Sun Racing looks at five horses that could benefit from this.
And don’t forget to take a look at our five horses that beat the handicapper after the weights were announced yesterday.
Ballyburn – Obstacle for the highest beginners
Willie Mullins’ new superstar is favorite for the Supreme, the first race on day one, and the Baring Bingham, the first race on day two.
But the key to getting punters to a flyer may well be a soft surface.
He made light work of Slade Steel as he rode to victory in the Grade 1 2m race at Leopardstown earlier this month.
And he beat runner-up Cleatus Poolaw by 25 lengths the time before on terrain that was soft to tough.
He seems to be enjoying a cut underfoot – although there is one word of caution: his only defeat came to Firefox (7-1 for the Supreme) on soft.
But Ballyburn has looked unbeatable since then and that second place was his first run of the season.
Ndaawi – Boodles youth handicap obstacle
Ndaawi, former prisoner of Andrew Balding on the Flat, has improved with every run for Gordon Elliott.
Being a Flatbred, there is always the chance that good soil can yield further improvement.
But there is no doubt he has shown enough to suggest soft ground is also to his liking, and an easy win last time out at Naas suggests that too.
His high knee action in particular stood out that day and there seems to be much more to come from this four-year-old, whose mother won a listed race on heavy.
Trelawne – Ultima Handicap Chase
Trainer Kim Bailey could hold the key to the Ultima in the form of Chianti Classico – but don’t discount the admittedly ‘frustrating’ Trelawne.
Master trainer Bailey has been careful with this horse and has only ridden him on soft or worse.
Last December he came third in a scorching rookie chase at Cheltenham.
Ginny’s Destiny and Gray Dawning were one-two that day – and now both are joint market leaders for the Turners’ Novices Chase.
It is concentration rather than ground that is essential to Trelawne.
But his track record shows that soft is his favorite surface and that he can achieve good results if he keeps his mind on the job.
Lossiemouth – Mares’ obstacle
She has an entry in the Champion Hurdle, but the Mares’ is a penalty for Lossiemouth.
It is a general rule that French horses like soft surfaces.
After all, their version of soft is often our heavy.
Lossiemouth, who won the Triumph last year, were great on Trials Day and the step up to 2m4f shouldn’t be a problem.
Meetingofthewaters – National Game Hunt
If – and it’s a big if – this horse runs here, watch out.
All four of his victories have come with “soft” in the description.
Paul Byrne is an extremely smart owner and the horse is trained by Willie Mullins.
If you do take the plunge, make sure you get your money back from Meetingofthewater non-runner as he is competing in four Cheltenham races and is also the market leader for the Ultima.
And someone who won’t like it…
Marine Nationale-Arkle
Before the already infamous Constitution Hill practice, the biggest shock of the season was Marine Nationale’s complete flop at Leopardstown earlier this month.
Trainer Barry Connell said the terrain made the difference that day.
Although the former Supreme winner looked good when he rode soft to victory in his race earlier.
There are big question marks over this horse and he could be worth a shot if we get more rain leading up to day one.
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