Festival trials this weekend

Another huge weekend of Festival trials.

Newbury hosts its biggest National Hunt meeting of the season tomorrow (Saturday 9 February) and some of the stars on its cast list include Denman and Voy Por Ustedes, who complete their preparations for the Gold Cup and Champion Chase respectively in the AON Chase and the Game Spirit.

Look out for Denman’s stablemate, Master Minded, in the Game Spirit. If he runs well his current price of 16/1 for the Queen Mother could look huge.

The Totesport Trophy is also run at the Berkshire track tomorrow and it is likely to throw up plenty of clues for the County Hurdle. Blue Bajan is also well fancied for the Supreme Novices Hurdle and even holds a Champion Hurdle entry, so expect a good run tomorrow.

Finally, the current shortest priced English trained runner for the Festival Bumper, The Old Pretender, puts his Cheltenham credentials to the test in the final race on Newbury’s top quality card.

Warwick also stages some decent events tomorrow, with Moon Over Miami, one of the leading attractions. He is well fancied for the Arkle, a race we’ll look at in more detail on the Blog next week.

On Sunday, Leopardstown stages a whole a host of Festival trials, with the Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup taking centre stage. It features a fascinating clash between The Listener, Snowy Morning, Nickname and Beef Or Salmon (to name but four).

However, don’t miss the Deloitte Hurdle or the Dr P J Moriarty Chase earlier on the card. J’y Vole is a really exciting prospect and could enhance her reputation further in the latter race, whilst last year’s Festival bumper winner, Cork All Star, clashes with other Festival fancies Forpadydeplasterer and Whatuthink in the former contest.

If you needed any evidence that our reviews of last year’s races at the Festival are worth reading, then here’s a pertinent quote that was posted by us on the site last year when we reviewed the Triumph Hurdle:

“J’y Vole was another who could be spotted travelling smoothly for much of the race. She only ran twice on the Flat and this was her first start over hurdles on anything other than very soft ground. It didn’t seem to inconvenience her and she is certainly worth keeping an eye on.”

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