Racing Post betting expert Keith Melrose give us his horse racing weekend preview with some last minute Cheltenham clues still to be found.
We are getting a little too close to the Cheltenham Festival for this weekend to have a huge bearing on the meeting. There are a couple of exceptions, which we will come to, but by and large the winners and other eye-catchers from this weekend will be of more interest at Aintree, Ayr or Punchestown.
Last Minute Cheltenham Clues At Kelso & Newbury
In Kelso's Premier Chase (3.25) and Doncaster's Grimthorpe (3.40), we have two legitimate Grand National trials. Monbeg Genius , who runs at Kelso, will be the main focus for those with eyes on Aintree.
This is not a handicap, and therefore Monbeg Genius does not have the chance at the weights that his price would imply. If he can beat an on-song Aye Right and Minella Trump, he will have earned a prominent position in the Aintree betting.
At Doncaster, the favourite Some Scope is rated much too low for the Grand National. He is seriously progressive, though, and is hard to argue with as favourite. Many of the others in the field are known spring horses, and conditions are likely to be on the testing side today, which means the race could lack for depth.
The Grimthorpe will certainly represent a drop in grade for Does He Know , a win for whom would arguably boost L'Homme Presse and Shishkin's form ahead of the Gold Cup. He has no entries at Cheltenham but could run in the Midlands Grand National the day after the Gold Cup.
The Morebattle Hurdle at Kelso is more likely to have an impact at Cheltenham. There is a £100,000 bonus on offer for any horse that can win this and follow up in any festival race. Under Control has three Cheltenham entries, including the County Hurdle which is the race that maps most closely to the Morebattle.
A race less closely aligned with Cheltenham is the Greatwood Gold Cup at Newbury (1.55). In particular, last year's runner-up Gemirande is declared to make his seasonal reappearance. He also holds entries in the Grand Annual and Plate at the Cheltenham Festival.
If nothing else, those entries imply that Gemirande has been showing all the right signs at home, even if he has been tricky to get to the track this season. A 318-day absence is no big deal to his trainer Venetia Williams, who got Demnat (entered in all four regulation handicap chases at Cheltenham) to win after 961 days off the track at Ludlow a few weeks ago.
Irish Racing Weekend Preview
There is also good racing in Ireland this weekend, albeit both cards at Navan and Leopardstown are threatened by the wet and wintry weather. Ash Tree Meadow has two Cheltenham entries, in the Ryanair and its handicap equivalent, the Plate, and he is among the market principals for the feature Webster Cup (4.23) at Navan on Saturday.
Bet on the Cheltenham Festival at BoyleSports with our latest Cheltenham odds.
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