Umbrigado: Another Pond House Plate maestro?
Umbrigado: Another Pond House Plate maestro?

Ben Linfoot's Weights & Measures | Cheltenham handicaps: First look


Ben Linfoot has an initial look through the handicap entries for the Cheltenham Festival, highlighting horses of interest including four Irish raiders.


From Tuesday’s reassessments…

  • UMBRIGADO (Grand Annual, Paddy Power Plate)
  • Umbrigado ⬆ 5lb to 144

David Pipe is one win away from becoming the joint-leading trainer in the Paddy Power Plate Handicap Chase along with three others, including his father, Martin.

Pipe senior dominated the race between 1997 and 2002, winning it four times in five renewals thanks to Terao, Majadou, Dark Stranger and Blowing Wind, while David had a burst of success himself in the contest when landing it with Great Endeavour, Salut Flo and Ballynagour between 2010 and 2014.

This year his big hope could be UMBRIGADO, a horse that is also in the Grand Annual, but it’s the extended two and a half mile race that makes most appeal for one that’s come from a pointing background and is already proven over the trip.

He did win over two miles at Wetherby last week, a win for which he was bumped up to a mark of 144 on Tuesday, his stamina coming to the fore following a strongly-run race in soft ground as he posted a clear career-best.

The signs are that he’s really getting to grips with chasing now and that bodes well after just three starts over the bigger obstacles, and he strikes me as a horse that is improving quickly at just the right time.

His owners, John White and Anne Underhill, won this race a couple of years ago with Siruh Du Lac, and they look to have another live contender this time around for a yard that has a tremendous record in the race.

Umbrigado (left) winning at Fontwell
Umbrigado (left) winning at Fontwell


  • DEMACHINE (Kim Muir)
  • Demachine ⬆ 2lb to 142

Talking of Pipe, his Remastered looks a lovely staying chase prospect and I don’t think there was any shame in DEMACHINE finishing second to him in the Bateaux London Reynoldstown Chase at Ascot on Saturday.

Kerry Lee’s horse was returning from a mini break and wind surgery, but he shaped very nicely in the runner-up spot, travelling and jumping so well under Richard Patrick that he looked the likely winner deep into the contest (he traded at 1.1 in-running on Betfair).

Bumped up 2lb to 142 on the back of his fourth run over fences, there is no doubt that he’s a novice on the upgrade and Lee is already talking about next season’s Welsh National as the ideal long-term target for this horse.

A soft-ground Cheltenham could well see him land a big prize before then, though, and his only handicap option at the Festival, the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Handicap Chase, could be the right race for him considering the more gentle step up in trip from three miles than the National Hunt Chase would provide.

Off 142, he’s on the radar if he takes up the handicap option granted his ideal ground conditions.


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Cheltenham Racecards


To watch out for this weekend…

  • HONNEUR D’AJONC (Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle)

We’re getting towards the stage of the season where pointers for the Cheltenham Festival are few and far between, but this Saturday’s Kempton card might well offer one or two final pieces of the puzzle.

All eyes will be on Tritonic in the Close Brothers Adonis Juvenile Hurdle and he could well enhance his JCB Triumph Hurdle claims in the race, but look out for Boodles Fred Winter clues, as well.

I’ll be keeping a close eye on HONNEUR D’AJONC for Jane Williams, whose husband Nick ran Flying Tiger to be fourth in Saturday’s race in 2017 before he landed the Fred Winter at 33/1 just under three weeks later.

Honneur D’Ajonc has his third run over hurdles this weekend, qualifying him for the Cheltenham handicap, and he might well have beaten Heross Du Seuil at Kempton last time but for falling at the last.

His performance and subsequent mark are worth keeping an eye on, although he’s not the only potential Fred Winter horse for the Jane Williams yard given she has Balko Saint, as well, a horse that could be well treated off a mark of 129 on a line through Adagio.


Irish raiders to look out for…

  • Champagne Gold (County Hurdle, Martin Pipe)
  • Coko Beach (Ultima, Paddy Power Plate)
  • The Shunter (Grand Annual, Paddy Power Plate, County Hurdle, Coral Cup, Martin Pipe)
  • Ragnar Lodbrok (Martin Pipe)

Finally, the handicap entries might be out but all eyes will be on the unveiling of the Festival weights next Wednesday (March 3) when we get to see how the Irish have fared in their annual battle with the BHA assessors.

There are loads I’m interested in, most of them trained by Gordon Elliott – a man who now has 14 Festival handicap victories to his name including nine in the last three years.

Two of his that are on the radar are COKO BEACH and RAGNAR LODBROK.

Coko Beach only won at Navan on Sunday, but that means he ran 23 days before the start of the Festival and that fits into Elliott’s preferred method of preparation – he’s had seven Festival handicap winners score off the back of a 21 to 35-day lay-off at a strike-rate of 19.44% (also a level-stake profit of +£46 to £1).

Elliott did say he might well miss Cheltenham and be aimed at the Irish Grand National, but he was entered in the Ultima Handicap Chase and the Paddy Power Plate today, so perhaps that was a red herring.

Either way, I’m sure he’ll see how he fares next week relative to his Irish rating of 150 before making any final calls.

Ragnar Lodbrok has just one Festival handicap entry in the Martin Pipe Handicap Hurdle but he’s really interesting after plying his trade in graded races all winter.

Fifth behind Bob Olinger in the Grade One Lawlor’s Of Naas Novice Hurdle when last seen, he didn’t fare so well that day but had earlier shaped nicely behind Sayce Gold in a Grade Three at Cork.

He wouldn’t get in the Martin Pipe off his Irish mark of 128, but it will be interesting to see if the English handicapper gives him a chance of getting in by bumping him a bit.

The Shunter (far side) overhauls Ballyandy
The Shunter (far side) overhauls Ballyandy in the Greatwood

Two other Irish entries that won’t have to worry about getting in their respective targets are Henry De Bromhead’s CHAMPAGNE GOLD and Emmet Mullins’ THE SHUNTER.

Champagne Gold has improved significantly with every run and looks a horse seriously on the upgrade for owner Barry Maloney.

He looked the likely winner of the valuable Ladbrokes Hurdle at the Dublin Racing Festival until he was mugged by Drop The Anchor and with that in mind the County Hurdle would be ideal – a race that he’d get in off his Irish mark of 139.

The Shunter is well known to British punters and handicappers alike following his easy win in the Greatwood Handicap Hurdle at Cheltenham earlier in the season, and Emmet Mullins has entered him in no less than five Festival handicaps!

Rated 135 over fences following his third in the Matheson Handicap Chase at the Dublin Racing Festival and a pound lower over hurdles, his new British marks could well determine whether he’s aimed at the Grand Annual or Paddy Power Plate over fences, or at the Coral Cup, County Hurdle or Martin Pipe over timber.

The way he’s performed in both disciplines on his last two runs marks him out as an Irish raider of huge interest.


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