Talking Horses: Nassalam can spring surprise in Paddy Power Gold Cup
UPWARD CURVE: Successful at Gowran Park on his first start over fences, Banbridge can strike at Grade Two level at Cheltenham on Saturday. Picture: Healy Racing
Given the record of Irish raiders to Cheltenham in recent times it’s no surprise that bookies are running scared of French Dynamite in Saturday’s Paddy Power Gold Cup.
The sole Irish contender in the line-up, the Mouse Morris-trained seven-year-old should be primed for a big run having scored over hurdles at Thurles last month.
He looks sure to run well for his shrewd handler but the Irish dominance at Cheltenham has not yet extended to this fiendishly tricky handicap. Tranquil Sea was the last Irish-trained horse to take this prize when scoring in 2009 and he was the first raider to oblige since Bright Highway in 1980.
That anomaly will be righted sooner rather than later but French Dynamite looks plenty short in the market for a horse who seems to prefer going right-handed.
As ever, a case could be made for several, a not-so-shortlist including the likes of Il Ridoto, Midnight River, and Stolen Silver.
Nassalam is a less obvious contender given he let down favourite-backers when a distant fifth on his seasonal reappearance at Ascot last month. However, his cause was not helped by jumping markedly to his left that day and he should be far more suited to going right-handed at Cheltenham.
Outside of that run, his record over fences is more than respectable, his three wins from five starts over the bigger obstacles last season including a Grade Two success at Newbury.
And with the Gary Moore team in excellent form of late, it’ll be no great surprise if Nassalam bounces back to form. At odds of around 18-1, he looks cracking each-way value.
Elsewhere on the card, it could be another good day for the Irish with Joseph O’Brien’s Banbridge fancied in the Grade Two From The Horses Mouth Podcast Arkle Challenge Trophy Trial Novices' Chase and Tony Martin’s Unanswered likely to go close in the Paddy Power Feel Like A Favourite Intermediate Handicap Hurdle.
Banbridge was an impressive winner of the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival last March and made the perfect start to life over fences when scoring in emphatic fashion at Gowran Park at the start of last month.
A considerably tougher task awaits on his return to Prestbury Park but Banbridge can rise to the challenge.
Unanswered gets in at the foot of the weights on his first start over hurdles since a Punchestown win in May. He was kept busy over the summer, running consistently well on the Flat, so fitness won’t be an issue. A big run seems certain.
The Paul Nicholls team is in red-hot form at the minute and the hat-trick-chasing Shearer should strike in the Paddy Power Games Handicap Hurdle.
Having won on his seasonal reappearance at Worchester at the start of last month, Shearer netted again over course and distance three weeks ago. Another bold bid is anticipated.
Nicholls can also strike in Cheltenham’s big betting heat on Sunday, the Unibet Greatwood Handicap Hurdle, where Sonigino can repel Irish raiders Thousand Tears and Dads Lad.
Sonigino failed to win in his first five starts for Nicholls but wind surgery at the end of last season seems to have transformed his fortunes and he built on a winning return at Chepstow last month with another more dominant success at the same track three weeks later. The Greatwood has been his target since the start of the season so Nicholls will have him primed to deliver.
Elsewhere on Sunday’s card, Arkle hero Edwardstone can make a successful return to Cheltenham by getting the better of Nube Negra in the Grade Two Shloer Chase. Nube Negra won this race last season but disappointed subsequently and is consequentially hard to trust, though he does generally go well fresh.
As for Edwardstone, it’s hard to envisage him being up to the task of beating the likes of Shishkin and Energumene later this season but he’s a very solid horse and this looks a good opportunity to start the campaign on a winning note.
The other Grade Two on the card is Sky Bet Supreme Trial Novices' Hurdle where Jonjo O’Neill’s Springwell Bay gets the vote while The Mighty Don can outstay his rivals in the Jewson Handicap Chase, a race in which he finished a close second last year.
1.45: Banbridge
2.20: Nassalam (Each-way)
2.55: Shearer (Nap)
3.30: Unanswered (NB)
1.45: Edwardstone (Nap)
2.20: The Mighty Don
2.55: Sonigino
3.30: Springwell Bay (NB)
