Cheltenham Day 3

A quick look back on Day 2’s selections. American Mike was a bit of a swing at a price , but failed to fire yet again ; chances are he is not going to achieve what he promised as a bumper horse. Sir Gerhard was well backed , but ran an odd sort of race. The jockey reported that he jumped poorly , which was not really the case to my eye , it was more likely he was set too much to do sitting out the back in a Championship race. He travelled well up until two out when the jockey just gave up , an odd ride but he is not one to give up on just yet. Beacon Edge never threatened to get involved and looks a shadow of what he once was as he should have been making more of an impact off this mark. Editeur Du Gite was done no favours by the second cutting him up on the home bend , but was just third best on the day. Delta work was the one highlight for us given how easily he got the job done , both he and the second look decent Grand National types for the spring ( Delta Work given too much to do in last years event ) Galvin would want decent ground if he was to go close. Global Citizen gave it a great go out in the lead and rewarded our ew support with a game third place. The biggest disappointment of the day was Fun Fun Fun who was anything but , never sighted and just ran flat. This can happen with mares and it would be no surprise were she to bounce back to form next time out. Another so , so type of day but we are only half way through and we move on to Day 3

1.30 Mighty Potter 1pt win @ 10’11 – Bombed out at last seasons meeting , but ran into a rail on the way down to the start that day so a line can be but through that. He has looked imperious since being stepped up in trip and soft ground is ideal & should take the beating

2.10 Maxxum 1/2 pt ew @ 6’1 / 11’2 firms offering 6 places – Gordon Elliott has his usual strong hand, with the selection taken to provide him with a fourth win since 2018. This 6-y-o looked firmly on the up with 2 wins at the end of last year and it’s easy to forgive his latest run at Leopardstown as he was badly hampered on the home turn

2.50 Janidil 1/2 pt ew @ 13’2 – Creditable second to brilliant Allaho in this contest last year; strong contender given the form he showed last time out when accounting for a smart stable mate

3.30 Flooring Porter 1/2 pt ew @ 11’2 / 5’1 firms offering 4 places – Has won the last two runnings and has obviously been prepped for another repeat win , will be tough to catch if producing his peak form

4.10 Shakem Up’Arry 1/2 pt ew @ 20’1 firms offering 6 places – Shaped better than bare result in the C&D event won by Midnight River ‘ paying the price for been asked for the effort way too soon. Hopefully the jockey will have learned from that experience and wait for a while longer as there is certainly a good pot to be won off this mark

4.50 Magical Zoe 3/4 pt ew @ 12’1 firms offering 4 places (NAP) – Goes for glory in the race named after the trainers son who so tragically died last year. She looked very impressive when winning last time out ( form worked out very well ) & is one that will go onto make a high class mare in my view

5.30 Fontaine Collonges 1/2 pt ew @ 25’1 ( Bet 365 offering 6 places ) – Goes for a trainer that usually pops one in at the festival at decent odds. I have had my eye on this one for a while and with the ground very much in her favour ( all she does is stay ) big chance on late-2022 soft-ground runs

ITV Double 1pt ew Magical Zoe ( 4 places ) & Fontaine Collonges ( 6 places ) both available with Bet365