LAVELLE HOPEFUL OF
METEOR STRIKE IN BETVICTOR.COM TROPHY
Meeting - The Showcase -
Friday & Saturday, October 19 & 20
First race - 2.10pm
Friday, 2.00pm Saturday - gates open at noon both days
Day Two of The Showcase
promises a feast of racing action with over 100 runners at Cheltenham tomorrow,
Saturday, October 20, including maximum fields for both the £50,000 The
BetVictor.com Trophy (2.30pm) and the £50,000 Ryman The Stationer Handicap
Chase (3.40pm).
The BetVictor.com Trophy
has attracted a top-quality line-up of 20 horses, with the Martin
Keighley-trained Havingotascoobydo heading BetVictor's market at 6/1
following an impressive novice campaign that included a second in the
Paddypower.com On Mobile Handicap Chase at The Open.
Emma Lavelle is hoping
that Easter Meteor (11/1 with BetVictor) can also build on a promising
first season over fences. The six-year-old won twice at Exeter last season and
was placed in both his other starts, including when runner-up behind subsequent
Grade Two winner Sanctuaire at Taunton in January.
Lavelle, who trains in
Hampshire, said: "Easter Meteor is in really good nick. He went away for a
racecourse gallop and worked very well but he wouldn't the ground too soft.
Hopefully, Cheltenham won't get any more rain but he seems in really good
order.
"He has done really
well over the summer and he is definitely getting stronger as he's getting
older but we will have to see when he runs if he has improved.
"He looked really
good when he won at Exeter first time. The ground was quite wet there but he
didn't handle it when it was soft at Wincanton (Feb 18). Sanctuaire was too
quick for him around Taunton but he beat the rest nicely and then won well at Exeter
again.
"It's a big ask
running in a race like the BetVictor.com Trophy first time out but he is a nice
type and hopefully he will go and run well. He could be the kind of horse that
goes well fresh but he is a fairly straightforward horse and is not the hardest
horse to get fit.
"I think he can be
competitive off his mark (130) - I don't think they have killed him off that -
so hopefully he can run well."
Paul Nicholls sends out That'lldoboy
(15/2) and Rebel Du Maquis (10/1), while Tom George will be represented
by French import Triangular (9/1), who ran out an impressive winner of a
handicap at Newbury on his penultimate start last season.
Dr Richard Newland has his
string in good form and will be relying on the improving Bobowen (11/1),
who has won four of his last six starts and will be ridden by Barry Geraghty
for the first time.
BetVictor spokesperson
Charlie McCann commented: "We are delighted with the quality and quantity
of the field which features three Irish raiders including former Festival
winner Finger Onthe Pulse.
"Nigel Twiston-Davies
has saddled the winner twice in the last five years and relies on Mad Moose
while champion trainer Paul Nicholls is double-handed with Ruby Walsh riding
That'Ildoboy in preference to Rebel Du Marquis."
Last season's Hennessy
Gold Cup winner Carruthers and Chicago Grey, successful in the
National Hunt Chase at The Festival in 2011, head a maximum field of 20 for the
Ryman The Stationer Handicap Chase.
Other contenders for the extended
three-mile contest include Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup sixth Knockara Beau,
Grade Three Rewards4Racing Handicap Chase victor Galaxy Rock, progressive
novice Prince Tom and Balthazar King, who captured this race 12
months ago before striking in the Glenfarclas Cross Country Handicap Chase at
The Festival.
The £30,000 Masterson
Holdings Hurdle (3.05pm) looks set to be a fascinating clash between two of
last season's most promising juveniles. Dodging Bullets has yet to score
over the smaller obstacles but the Paul Nicholls-trained four-year-old ran some
excellent races in defeat last term, including when coming home fourth in the
Grade One JCB Triumph Hurdle at The Festival in March.
Baby Mix was ninth behind Dodging
Bullets at The Festival but Tom George's charge had previously posted a facile
success in the Grade Two Adonis Juvenile Hurdle at Kempton in February. The
five runners are completed by Captain Sharpe, Thegondolier and Hi
Note, who took a Stratford handicap hurdle by 25 lengths on September 28.
Nine runners are set to
line up in the £20,000 Royal Gloucestershire Hussars Novices' Chase (4.55pm)
including Peckhamecho, who made an exciting start to his chasing career
with a comprehensive victory at Stratford on September 28. Jump Cityalso
made a winning debut over fences at Newton Abbot, while Third Intention,
a Grade Two winner over hurdles, is set to make his chasing bow.
A seven-race card gets
underway with the £10,000 Edward Gillespie Hands Over The Reins Novices' Hurdle
(2.00pm) and a field of eight includes According To Trev, who is
unbeaten in two starts for Nigel Twiston-Davies. The contest marks the stepping
down of Cheltenham Racecourse's Managing Director, Edward Gillespie, after 32
years at the helm.
Last season's Grade Three
JLT Specialty Chase runner-up Fruity O'Rooney heads the 24 runners for
the £10,000 Marie Curie Cancer Care Handicap (4.20pm), while 17 horses have
been declared for the concluding £7,000 Guy Knights Memorial Standard Open
National Hunt Flat Race (5.30pm).
For the first time this
year, The Showcase will also host the Greatwood Charity Race, a Flat contest
over a mile and five furlongs after the final race on Saturday's card. The 11
riders raising funds for Greatwood's work with retired racehorses include
Georgie Nicholls, wife of seven-time champion trainer Paul, and Rodger Sargent,
owner of the 2004 Mildmay Of Flete winner Tikram.
BetVictor Trophy -
BetVictor prices:
6/1 Havingotascoobydo,
15/2 That'lldoboy, 9/1 Triangular, 10/1 Rebel Du Maquis, 11/1 Easter Meteor,
Bobowen, 12/1 Mad Moose, 14/1 Kauto Relko, Jamsie Hall, 16/1 Tartak, Nadiya De
La Vega, Gilbarry, Divers, 20/1 Lancetto, 25/1 Finger Onthe Pulse, Life Of A
Luso, 33/1 Idarah, Quito Du Tresor, Campbonnais, Mister Matt
Each Way 1/4 odds 1-2-3-4
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