By Bill Esdaile
IT COULD be pretty desperate ground come the final few races today and you’re going to need a horse that really stays to have any chance of getting up the famous Cheltenham hill.
That described my fancy for the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle (4.50pm) Pacini perfectly, but rather frustratingly he hasn’t got in the race having been the first reserve.
I’ve had another look at it as a result and I can see why the money has come for MILAN TINO, so I do think he’s a very worthy favourite.
Connections must have been jumping for joy when they saw he got a mark of 126 given some of his form ties in with the likes of Sir Gino, who looks a potential superstar and is favourite for Friday’s Triumph Hurdle.
He’ll need to settle a bit better than he has in his two starts in this country, but he won’t have any issues with the ground and he should stay further in time which won’t be a bad thing here.
He’s the one I like at the top end of the market, but it’s never a bad call to have two darts in these big handicaps at Cheltenham and the other I’ll have a few quid on is KARIA DES BLAISES for that man Willie Mullins.
She split Miss Manzor and Ndaawi – both much shorter than her in the betting – and she’s now better off at the weights with them too.
We know she’ll like the ground and there might just be a bit more to come off a mark of 127.
Mullins often wins these races with his supposed second or third string, and I thought a price of 16/1 might underestimate his charge’s chances slightly.
POINTERS
Milan Tino e/w 4.50pm Cheltenham
Karia Des Blaises e/w 4.50pm Cheltenham
