King set to strike again with Katchit in Triumph
His jumping problems are just too great and I’m not convinced he’ll get the trip. In fact, I’d nearly go as far as to say I’d lay him if I was a betting man.
That leaves us with a fierce open race. For me, Exotic Dancer is an improver but a handicapper, while The Listener wants softer ground.
State of Play is an improver while L’Ami was only beaten a neck by Kauto Star last time round in the Aon Chase at Newbury and look at the difference in their prices.
I’m going to have a couple of each-way bets, a fiver on State Of Play and another on Beef Or Salmon. I know Michael Hourigan’s horse has flopped in this race before but this year could be different. He’s always been a bad traveller, not liking the ferry ride one bit. This time, though, Hourigan has flown him over. He left his stable at 11.45 yesterday and was in his stable at Cheltenham at 3pm. It would have taken longer to get him to Leopardstown.
I fancy Alan King and ‘Choc’ Thornton to strike again with Katchit in the JCB Triumph Hurdle. They’ve had a great Festival with My Way de Solzen and Voy Por Ustedes coming up trumps already and Katchit can join them in the winners’ enclosure.
Katchit is proven around Cheltenham, loves the place and is a real terrier type, which is exactly what you need for the Triumph Hurdle, when they go at breakneck speed.
Lounaos, the favourite, is a class horse but won’t have faced what she’s about to face in this race. They’ll be more runners, faster ground and they’ll be going faster today, too fast for a horse used to running in smaller fields that’s spent the winter in Ireland running on bottomless ground.
I would also discount Mountain, a classy horse who finished eighth in last year’s English Derby but strikes me as gutless over hurdles. He just jumps too carefully for my liking, which is okay for an ordinary race but just not the recipe for Cheltenham success in this race, where he’ll be quaking in his shoes.
Instead, for value, I’ll turn to Duty as an each-way bet, an improving horse on an upward curve.
Wichita Lineman in the Brit Insurances Novices Hurdle has been Tony McCoy’s Festival banker for the last two months. He’s a half brother to Rhinestone Cowboy but the two are completely different. There are a few who deserve a mention such as Flight Leader and Black Harry but Wichita Lineman gets my vote. He’s so suited to this race, not especially fast but as tough as nails and he’ll gallop all day long. He’s a short price but I can’t look past him.
