Speaking exclusively to BOYLE Sports, trainer Willy Twiston-Davies has spoken about the impact of Heavy Ground on courses with Un Sens A La Vie getting stuck in the mud during the Betfair Hurdle but earmarks the Scottish Champion Hurdle as the next step for the horse.
Elsewhere, Willy argues that Guard The Moon leads their Cheltenham team but says Matata is a contender despite defeat to Lulamba, describes Dan Skelton as "relentless" and tips The JukeBox Man who is trained for Harry Redknapp for further success,
The piece concludes with the former jockey arguing that Haiti Couleurs could do the Gold Cup and Grand National Double and gives his Cheltenham treble .
Seasonal Ground Strategy:
Heavy Ground: Un Sens A La Vie Mud Stuck In Betfair Hurdle
For the older horses, not so much. For the younger horses, it has hindered us quite a bit. Ideally, you don't really want to be running four- and five-year-olds on heavy ground three, four to five times a year. We ran Un Sen A La Vie in the Betfair Hurdle purely because that was his target, that was his Gold Cup all along, and you can't dictate the ground.
As I said, we travelled through best obviously apart from the winner. He simply got stuck in the mud. So, something like the Scottish Champion Hurdle is going to be right up his street on what will hopefully be decent ground at Ayr. The majority of our horses are four-, five- and six-year-olds, and you don't want to give them too many wars on heavy ground.
February's been one of our quietest months. We've been trying not to run them because the rain has just been relentless. If you run now on heavy ground, you could stop your March and April. Your season could be ground to a halt by having a hard race for unnecessary reasons.
Cheltenham Festival Squad Overview
Guard The Moon Leads Our Cheltenham Team
We won’t have the strongest squad. We have a big bunch of young horses. The one I think would be worth having a chance at would be Guard The Moon in the three-mile six-furlong stayers’ race, the National Hunt Challenge Cup. He won well from a very bad position at Windsor over three miles. He looks like he's crying for a step up in trip. He will go to Cheltenham as a fresh horse after missing the Eider on Saturday. I think he performs better fresh, like the first time out at Aintree when he won very well. I think there are a few things we can tweak, jumping-wise.
I think he should go there with a very good chance. He had a season last year that was to be forgotten, really. There were little niggles here and there, but he's always promised to be a lot better than that. And I still think hegua looks like he’s off quite a workable mark. It will be very interesting to see Guard Your Dreams and whether we go to the Ultima or the Plate . Obviously, he won very well first time back after a bit of a layoff at Warwick. He could not have been more impressive. He's gone up the weights a good bit. He’s had no luck at Cheltenham at the Festival meeting, but he's actually won an International Hurdle there before and got some very good form. So, he'd be quite interesting.
Gowel Road is obviously an interesting horse, very consistent. He ran in the Pertemps qualifier on Saturday at Chepstow with Toby McCain Mitchell claiming five pounds and finished second, so he has qualified. He’s also in the Stayers’ Hurdle . He could be a very big each-way price, 25-1 or more. It will be very interesting to see what we do with Master Chewy . I spoke to Jamie Shepherd , his owner, and he was very keen to have the entry for the Handicap Chase . But at the same time, I wouldn't be surprised if both Matata and Master Chewy rocked up for the Ryanair .
The top two in the market could easily end up going for the Gold Cup . I can see the Ryanair thinning out. So, we could have a good chance of collecting some good prize money, and if one of them was going to steal the race, then that would be brilliant. They deserve the right to run in Grade 1s; they are both over 155: Matata is 160, Master Chewy is 157.
Matata A Contender Despite Defeat To Lulamba
It's hard to knock Matata’s performance at Cheltenham on New Year's Day . That was very impressive and would suggest you’re not far off Grade 1 company. I think 2m 5f or two and a half miles on better ground at Cheltenham will be his forte. When he won at Windsor last year, it was a straight left-handed track. He's never been great right-handed. He's 160, so he's definitely worth a look at, and he'll be nice and fresh. Master Chewy obviously ran a very good race behind Edwardstone ; he showed some of his old spark after his wind op.
I think we probably rode him a bit too aggressively at Newbury , back to two miles, trying to beat Lulamba . We probably should have ridden him to be placed, and I think he probably would have. It just depends on what Jamie and Anne Marie would like to do come Cheltenham week.
The JukeBox Man
“Relentless” Dan Skelton
Dan Skelton has been relentless this season. They've got more horses than everyone else, but the placing of them, constantly picking up big prizes every weekend. It's been unbelievable. Ben Pauling's done very well to get The Jukebox Man back. There's no shortage of quality trainers in England at the minute.
Harry Redknapp
If Harry Redknapp can help to bring more fans into racing, all the better. You could see how emotional he got at Kempton . Having someone as high-profile as him, loving and supporting the sport, can only be a bonus.
Best Bets
Could Haiti Couleurs Do Gold Cup And Grand National Double?
It looks like a very strong Grand National . It’ll be interesting to see what happens to Iroko, whether he runs at Cheltenham . It looks like he's going to go to Kelso for that Premier Chase that Protektorat might run in. So that will open up a lot. Of ours, Beauport got 10-11, which I thought was very fair. Top of the Bill will probably struggle to get in, looking at it.
I can imagine I am Maximus would be very good in the race. You'd love to have a go with him. Last year’s winner, Nick Rockett , has had setbacks. It'll be interesting to see what happens to him and where they can get the run-in to qualify. Obviously, the interesting one is whatever happens to Haiti Couleurs . If he won the Gold Cup , would they give the Grand National a go? He looks on a very fair weight.
The going would dictate a lot, and how hard a race he had at Cheltenham . If I won a Gold Cup , after watching what happened to Synchronise , it'd be very hard to go and do that. You'd imagine if they won a Gold Cup , that'd be his season over unless they wanted to go to Punchestown .
My Cheltenham Treble
In the Fred Winter , Genealogy , I like Guard Your Dreams in the Staying race, he’d be one of our best chances. And Haiti Couleurs in the Gold Cup.
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