Trials clues

It was a throwback to the olden days at Cheltenham yesterday, when there were no hi-tech drainage systems to ensure decent ground almost all year round, and when sound jumping, endless stamina and enough courage to survive the cruel slog up the hill to the winning line were the qualities needed to win at Prestbury Park in the middle of winter.

At first glance, those conditions may have made Cheltenham Festival Trials Day relatively meaningless when it comes to identifying Festival winners in a few weeks time, but if you look a bit deeper there are still some worthwhile clues on offer.

For a start, we saw more evidence of Diamond Harry’s idiosyncrasies in the opener and, whilst he probably wasn’t at his best yesterday, he’ll have to improve significantly to justify his position at the head of the market for the Ballymore Properties. Even though he stays well, he may not have been entirely suited by the heavy ground.

Walkon and Reve De Sivola pulled well clear in the juvenile hurdle to apparently enhance their Triumph Hurdle claims. However, if we get decent ground at the Festival you just wonder whether either will have enough speed to trouble the likes of Starluck and Ebadiyan. In fact, it is arguable that we’ve yet to see a real star performer in this division, and there is still time for one to emerge between now and March.

The Cleeve Hurdle was a real cracker and the front three all ran with great credit. Add Kasbah Bliss to the mix and the World Hurdle could easily turn out to be one of the races of the Festival. Off level weights, and on a sounder surface, there must be every chance that Punchestowns can reverse the places with Big Bucks, albeit that the latter seemed to idle on the run in yesterday and was value for more than the official winning margin of four lengths.

However, for us the most eye-catching performance of the day was that of Star De Mohasion in the Letherby & Christopher Chase, a proven Gold Cup trial over recent years.

On the face of it, being beaten nearly 40 lengths into fourth, and crossing the line almost legless, doesn’t look like the most encouraging of performances. But this proven good ground performer would have hated underfoot conditions and he travelled like much the best horse until running out of gas after jumping the second last.

He loves the track, is a previous Festival winner (in the 2006 Sun Alliance Chase) and has always been held in the highest regard by his powerful connections. 50-1 was available in the immediate aftermath of the race, and there are plenty of worse bets on offer for those looking for some each way value with which to take on market leaders Denman and Kauto Star.