Devastating news broke on Sunday morning that Binocular would not be returning to Cheltenham to defend his Champion Hurdle crown. Nicky Henderson does not seem to have managed the situation very well, but surprisingly a number of bookies have. If you backed Binocular antepost, do check with your bookie - many are returning stakes.
Unfortunately, Salmon followers took a Betfair price and now feel rather green about the gills. It seemed inconceivable that Binocular would not run just a month ago....
Anyhow, on to a spectacular first day's racing at Cheltenham. The big race of the day is The Champion Hurdle, but as our antepost selection no longer runs, we are going to sit back and enjoy the race without a betting suggestion. For the record I would take Menorah or Mille Chief, but do not think there is sufficient value in what could be a hugely open race.
The banker of the day (and possibly of the festival) looks to be Quevega in the mares race. We're always hesitant to tuck in to short prices, but Sportingbets 11-10 looks very reasonable indeed. With 2011 profit/loss at +12.63 points, we'll use up some loose change with 1.63 points on the nose.
The race I'm most interested in is the curtain raiser - The Supreme Novices. Short priced favourites have been beaten in the last two renewals of this contest, and although Cue Card is a worthy favourite, I'd like to take him on with forgotten horse Zaidpour. This animal has undoubted class and were it not for a couple of below par runs (both of which were slightly unfortunate) I would expect the price to be half the size. 0.5 points e/w could prove just the tonic. I would usually suggest backing with Bet365 as they pay out on fourth, but Paddy Power will return the win part of your bet if Cue Card does take it and for that reason will chance only the first 3 places.
The Arkle betting does not look to have an awful lot of value, but I really like Medermit for this, so will take a small plunge at the widely available 3-1.
Finally, in the Cross Country Chase, I have to have a little sentimental bit on L'Ami. We all know that Enda Bolger knows how to win these races and I would love to see L'Ami get the better of rival and stablemate Garde Champetre.
Quevega (4:40 Cheltenham) 11-10 Sportingbet [1.63 points win]
Zaidpour (1:30 Cheltenham) 10-1 Paddy Power [0.5 points e/way 1/4 odds 1,2,3,]
Medermit (2:05 Cheltenham) 3-1 Bet 365 [0.5 points win]
L'Ami (4:00 Cheltenham) 7-1 Sportingbet [0.25 points e/way 1/4 odds 1,2,3,4]
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