Here at BoyleSports we assembled a panel of horse racing experts to preview all the upcoming action at the Cheltenham Festival.
The Host of the BoyleSports Cheltenham Preview Night was the Racing Post's David Jennings who was joined by BoyleSports Racing Ambassador Robbie Power, Johnny Dineen of Upping The Ante, David Casey who is Assistant Trainer to Willie Mullins, Trainer Gavin Cromwell, and racing expert Tony Keenan.
The panel discuss whether they think Ballyburn will run in the opener and who they are picking to win if he does or doesn’t.
Supreme Novices Hurdle Tips
David Casey: Ballyburn @ 11/10
Johnny Dineen: Ballyburn @ 11/10 (Firefox the danger @ 7/1)
Gavin Cromwell: Ballyburn @ 11/10 (Firefox to chase home @ 7/1)
Robbie Power: Ballyburn @ 11/10
Tony Keenan: Ballyburn @ 11/10 (Mythical Power next best @ 5/1)
Supreme Novices’ Hurdle Preview
David Casey : “Ballyburn has it all. As a bumper horse, I would have had him down as a stayer but he jumps so well and the more he races the quicker he gets. You saw in the two-mile race at Leopardstown that he can go a good gallop and quicken off it and you need a stayer to win a Supreme. He has all the attributes.
“Tullyhill is a real good horse. He doesn’t jump as well as Ballyburn and that’s his Achilles heel. If he jumped as well as Ballyburn did, there would be no contest. He’d be in the Supreme and Ballyburn would be in the Baring Bingham. He’s got every bit of the ability Ballyburn does as well, he’s a real real good horse. I think he can improve loads on what he did last week and if he gets his jumping together properly, he could be very good. We had two horses going to the Punchestown bumpers and Tullyhill went to the Champion Bumper and Ballyburn went to a winner of one bumper, that’ll tell you.
Mystical Power isn’t in the league of the other two at home, he went to a bumper in Ballinrobe, which will tell you what we thought of him at the time, but he keeps producing it on the track and you like those horses. He’s in both races and I would have said he’s more of a stayer originally, but he’s getting better and getting sharper. He has the pedigree to go around Cheltenham and shows plenty on the track, he just wouldn’t show what the other two do at home.”
Johnny Dineen : “Ballyburn would win whichever race they want. I wouldn’t be overly keen on Tullyhill or Mystical Power. If Ballyburn goes for the longer race, I think Firefox is the one that could benefit most. He has beaten Ballyburn over hurdles who admittedly might have needed the run, but he beat him fair and square. He disappointed a bit in Naas but I don’t think that was the same Firefox as we’ll see in Cheltenham.”
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