Meeting - The Showcase -
Friday & Saturday, October 19 & 20
First race - 2.10pm
Friday, 2.00pm Saturday - gates open at noon both days
The Showcase, Cheltenham's
opening meeting of the season, continues on Saturday, October 20, with an
exciting seven-race card headed by two £50,000 handicap chases - the
BetVictor.com Trophy (2.30pm, 35 entries) over two and a half miles and the
extended three-mile Ryman The Stationer Handicap Chase (3.40pm, 29 entries).
Among the entries for the
BetVictor.com Trophy are Martin Keighley's promising second season chaser Havingotascoobydo
and Darna, trained by Kim Bailey, who finished last season with two easy
chase wins at Exeter and Ascot, while Ferdy Murphy could run Divers.
Ixora won a handicap hurdle at
The Showcase last year before finishing seventh to Quevega in the OLBG Mares'
Hurdle at The Festival and the six-year-old has made a promising start to her
chasing career.
The daughter of Milan won
her first two chases at Huntingdon and Worcester in good style before finishing
a narrow second to Nataani at Bangor-on-Dee in July. On her latest start, she
proved no match for Prince Tom, whom she had beaten at Worcester, in a two-runner
race on soft ground at Newton Abbott.
Snowden, who trains in
Lambourn, said: "Ixora is entered in the Betvictor.com Trophy and she is
also entered in the squareintheair.com Novices' Chase over the same trip the
day before. I think we will go through both races and decide which one we would
have the best chance in but she is definitely running at Cheltenham.
"She has been in good
form since her run at Newton Abbot but it was a bit of a waste of time because
it was very soft ground and as we know, she prefers much better ground. That
was the only class three novices' chase around at that time that she could run
in, so we had to go.
"Before that I
thought she was very progressive over fences. She jumped well and enjoyed the
quicker ground when she won at Huntingdon and although she has the speed to win
over two miles, she also appreciates a step up in trip.
"I thought her win at
Worcester was excellent when she beat Prince Tom and we know she likes
Cheltenham so we are very positive.
"I always thought she
would make a nice chaser because she is a bit flippant when it comes to
hurdles. She showed that when she fell at Cheltenham on her final start over
hurdles and she definitely respects her fences more.
"After Cheltenham I
think we will pop her back over hurdles to try and get a bit of black type -
there is a race at Wetherby at the start of November - and then we will give
her the winter off like last year before coming back for The Festival."
BetVictor has opened
betting on the Betvictor.com Trophy, with Astracad and Havingotascoobydo
heading the market at 7/1.
Spokesperson Charlie
McCann said: "We are delighted to be sponsoring at The Showcase meeting
for the first time and are thrilled with both the quality and quantity of the
entries which has enabled us to bet a quarter odds four places on the race
which has been won by some top-class horses in the past.
"Local trainers
Martin Keighley and Nigel Twiston-Davies have their strings in good form ahead
of the two-day meeting and we make Havingotascoobydo and Astracad out 7/1
market leaders."
BetVictor.com Trophy
7/1 Astracad,
Havingotascoobydoo, 9/1 Triangular, Rebel Du Maquis, 10/1 Darna, Prince Tom,
12/1 Easter Meteor, That'lldoboy, 14/1 Mad Moose, Bobowen, Jamsie Hall, Spock,
Royale's Charter, Rob Conti, Kauto Relko, 16/1 Tartak, Nadiya De la Vega,
Ixora, Tiger O'Toole, 20/1 Divers, Lancetto, Buck Mulligan, Gilbarry, Wessex
King, 25/1 Finger Onthe Pulse, Takeroc, Life Of A Luso, 33/1 Idarah, Quito Du
Tresor, Mister Matt, Politeo, Forget It, Campbonnais, 40/1 Got Attitude,
Each Way 1/4 odds 1,2,3,4
The entries for the Ryman
The Stationer Handicap Chase include last season's Hennessy Gold Cup hero Carruthers,
Alan King's dual Sandown scorer Hold on Julio and Festival winner Balthazar
King, who triumphed in the Glenfarclas Cross Country Handicap Chase.
The action gets underway
with the Edward Gillespie Hands Over The Reins Novices' Hurdle (2.00pm, 15
entries) over just shy of three and a quarter miles which marks the stepping
down of the racecourse's Managing Director after 32 years.
Rebecca Curtis could
saddle Rendl Beach, who won scored by 24 lengths on his hurdling debut
at Fontwell on October 5.
Some early season Stan
James Champion Hurdle clues could be revealed when the four-year-olds take to
the track for the £30,000 Masterson Holdings Hurdle (3.05pm) over an extended
two miles.
The 13 entries include Tom
George's Grade Two scorer Baby Mix and Alan King's Grade Three Fred
Winter Juvenile Handicap Hurdle third Vendor, while Paul Nicholls could
be represented by Grade One Triumph Hurdle fourth Dodging Bullets and
dual hurdle winner Ranjaan.
The card also includes the
£10,000 Marie Curie Cancer Care Handicap Hurdle (4.20pm, 47 entries) and
the £20,000 Royal Gloucestershire Hussars Novices' Chase (4.55pm, 17
entries) over two miles in which Mouse Morris could saddle Baily Green,
who is chasing a six-timer.
The final race is the Guy
Knights Memorial Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race (5.30pm, 22 entries) and
Irish champion trainer Willie Mullins could send over Great Jones, who
scored by 12 lengths on debut at Tramore in August.
The Showcase offers racegoers
the chance to go behind the scenes at the home of Jump racing.
The weighing room and
parade ring will be open to the public before racing and there will be chances
to win some wonderful racing experiences, such as presenting a trophy, watching
a race in the commentary box or seeing the jockeys weigh in after a race.
GOING
The going at Cheltenham is
currently Good.
Simon Claisse, Clerk of
the Course at Cheltenham, said: "The going is currently Good. The forecast
is unsettled and we are expecting between 15 and 17 millimetres before The
Showcase starts."
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