Cheltenham’s two-day December meeting closes on a top Saturday of racing. Here are Andrew Mount’s top tips across all the cards.
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Posted: 2.10pm, Friday, December 13th
1.13 Cheltenham – GAME ON FOR GLORY (1pt ew – 14/1 bet365, 12/1 generally)
GAME ON FOR GLORY was only fourth of six (beaten by 14 lengths) when 13-2 for a handicap chase at Market Rasen on her comeback in mid-October but she wouldn’t have been suited by the right-handed track. Lucy Wadham’s eight-year-old tends to jump out to her left and her full record right-handed reads 2P214 (1-5) with the win at odds of 6-4 in a four-runner mares’ novice handicap chase at Ludlow where she jumped poorly but not as poorly as her three rivals. When racing left-handed her record stands at 2221144232 (2-10) suggesting each-way claims. She’s only raced here twice before, finishing second by three-quarters of a length in a bumper and second in the Grade 2 mares’ novices’ limited handicap chase final.
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1.50 Cheltenham – MADARA (2pt win, 4-1 William Hill, Ladbrokes, and 0.5pt reversed forecast with IN EXCELSIS DEO)
MADARA was a massive eyecatcher in the Paddy Power Gold Cup on the Old Course here at Cheltenham last month, finishing fourth under tender handling to go down by less than eight lengths at 16-1. That was his first run for Dan Skelton, he went without his usual cheekpieces (back om today) and he won the 2m handicap chase for Sophie Leech on this card last year having also prepped at the November fixture. It’s also worth remembering that the five-year-old went to the Dublin Racing Festival last season and comfortably beat the Irish handicappers in their own back yard and he remains open to plenty of improvement.
Six of the last seven winners of this race prepped in the Paddy Power and IN EXCELSIS DEO also ran in that contest, unseating when sent off at 8-1. The return to the New Course will suit – he won over course and distance in April and chased home Madara in the 2m handicap chase on this card 12 months ago. A clear round should see him run a big race and the Madara/In Exclesis Deo reversed forecast could provide a spot of value.
2.05 Doncaster – ERNE RIVER (1pt ew – 18/1 William Hill)
ERNE RIVER arrives here on the back of three pulled-ups but they came at Aintree (twice) and Bangor and Nick Kent’s nine-year-old will be far happier back at Doncaster where his record reads 11215 (3-5), with the runner-up effort by just three-quarters of a lengths and the fifth place by just under seven lengths when 12-1 for the 18-runner Great Yorkshire Handicap Chase last term. He’s 5lb lower today and, having won in first-time cheekpieces here in December of last year, I like the switch to first-time blinkers as well as the return to his beloved Town Moor. I’ve saved on FORWARD PLAN.
Andrew Mount’s Best Bets
1.13 Cheltenham – GAME ON FOR GLORY (1pt ew – 14/1 bet365, 12/1 generally)
1.50 Cheltenham – MADARA (2pt win, 4-1 William Hill, Ladbrokes, and 0.5pt reversed forecast with IN EXCELSIS DEO)
2.05 Doncaster – ERNE RIVER (1pt ew – 18/1 William Hill)
Game On For Glory
Andrew Mount’s tips for Saturday, 14th December 2024.
Andrew Mount’s Myth Busters – Does Cheltenham Form Translate from the Old Course to the New Course?
We have a two-day Cheltenham meeting to get stuck into at the end of the week (Friday/Saturday) where the action switches from the Old Course – used during October/November – to the New Course. Last month, the Racing Post published a ‘Walking The Course With Aidan Coleman’ article in which the jockey highlighted the differences…
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