Cheltenham 2011 Top 10 Horses to Watch

Resident Cheltenham Blogger Emma Kerwin casts her eye over the forthcoming festival and picks out the top 10 horses to follow. Which horses will catch her eye? Do you agree? This is Part 1 of her report!

Sometimes Cheltenham Festival build up seems worse than Tesco and Christmas advertising, no sooner is it done, dusted and cleaned up after, are plans for next years being made.

However it’s not without good reason, and enough clues as to why lie in the fact that it’s called the festival.

Alongside the Grand National it is one of the few national hunt meetings people travel to go and see, and is of course, famous for the colossal numbers of Irish who descend on the small town for the week.

Although the National is the meeting that more people will watch and know about, Cheltenham is a week long showcase of the classiest horses and the best jockeys.

To win a Cheltenham Grade 1 you need a very good horse and a very good jockey, second best really won’t do.

I’m lucky enough to be going to the festival this year so won’t be doing any ante-post betting, however as many of you probably will (hence you reading this!), so as they are the done thing, here’s my ten to follow for the festival.

1) Cue Card, who burst into our consciousness when winning last years champion bumper at 40-1. The Supreme Novices hurdle looks to be the most likely for him at the moment, but whatever he’s entered into he commands a huge amount of respect. Expect a huge show from this horse next month, he’s got one hell of a future ahead of him.

2) Somersby – a classy Henrietta Knight trained gelding. He’s proved himself to be a serious contender of late, most notably when nearly upsetting Master Minded’s Cheltenham preparation when taking him right to the wire in the Victor Chandler and forcing a photo finish. I’d rather see him in the Ryan Air than the Queen Mother Championship chase as I think a longer trip would suit, but he’s proved himself and stands a good chance in either.

3) Hurricane Fly, who, if you follow Irish racing you’ve probably heard plenty of is part of the oh-so-slick Mullins/Townend partnership. He seems to have proved himself the best of the Irish hurdlers, and him against the likes of Binocular will make for an amazing Champion Hurdle.

4) Big Bucks, really won’t be one for people that don’t back favourites, but he utterly dominates 3 mile hurdling. Although he will inevitably start off odds on, and even if this puts you off backing him, make sure you watch, because he is utterly textbook.

5) Woolcombe Folly until recently would have been written off as a horse that simply can’t handle Cheltenham. However winning the Jenny Mould Memorial Handicap Chase there in mid December has prove he can manage it. Hopefully this is an indicator that he can carry his impressive form from other tracks over to Cheltenham.

Part 2 of Emma’s ‘Top 10 To Follow’can be found here