Wednesdays A to Zeb

Well hope everyone got on for Hurricane before the news of Binoculars bloodtest broke - that said if you haven't the 4/1 on bet365 for him looks tasty and I've had another nobble at 4s e/w.

On to day 2 now. I'll try to get through as much as possible today because as the races start to cut up badly some of the best prices are disappearing fast.

Neptune Novices:
So Young is the 7/2 fav and the money keeps on coming for him with talk of him even being switched to the supreme. The stable obviously thinks a lot of him and given Willie has trained 4 of the last 8 winners he can't be dismissed lightly. However he has yet to be tried at the highest level and although he could be anything I couldn't back him at that price without seeing him involved in a proper race first.

Rock on Ruby and Minella Class are evenly matched based on a line through Megastar. Both of them should be held by Bob's Worth who has the course and distance form.

Bob's Worth is the best of the English challengers with course form and won a decent G2 here the last day - just think that the Irish have too strong a hand this time around but wouldn't be a massive surprise to see him involved in the finish.

Oscars Wells has the best form of any horse coming into this race. 3 wins from 3 including 2 G1's the last time very impressively beating Zaidpour. That said I think there is better value one of the other Irish raiders who seems to be a forgotten horse in the race.

FIRST LIEUTENANT won a G1 at Leopardstown over Christmas on ground that won't have suited him. He should be a better horse on the better ground at Cheltenham. He has been put away since Christmas with an eye on this race and should have some scope for improvement from the already impressive impression he made. Worth remembering the 3rd horse that day was Hidden Cyclone who has since thrived on the soft winter ground picking up several decent prizes. I managed to get a little of the 14s on offer last week however the 10s still available is a more than fair price.

RSA Chase:
I can't really get a handle on this race.

Time for Rupert looks the real deal on what he's done so far but has had a disrupted preparation and hasn't been seen since a comfortable win at the track back in early December. You would need to go a long way back to find a winner without a prep run from the turn of the year.

Hard to know what to make of 1833 - beaten a total of 7 horse in his 2 starts to date. Very highly thought of by his trainer who claims to have already backed him at 33's for next seasons Hennessey. Denman was the only winner in the last 10 to win this while still unbeaten.

Jessies Dream's form is hard to assess. His 5L victory over Realt Dubh in the Drinmore was probably due to Realt Dubh being below form that day. Maybe a more realistic reading of that form says he prob would have just been beaten by Mikhail D'Haguenet who has disappointed since. Then went on to be beaten by Magnanimity in a muddling 3 horse race over Christmas. Granted he will improve with the ground but may have a slight preference for right handed tracks and can't make a compelling case here.

Wymott has some reasonable form but will need to improve and probably hasn't been as impressive as his first start of the season since.

Wayward Prince's jumping would be a concern for me. Has the advantage of having to battle for his wins to date but not convinced he will show the necessary improvement both in jumping and speed to win this.

Mikhail D'Haguenet should be racing in the world hurdle - has fallen once and beaten well on his other 2 chasing starts. Makes no appeal here.

Boston Angel can be forgiven his flop in the Drinmore and has rock solid form that aside. A bit concerned though at how he flopped on his trip over here last year - maybe it was a once off in which case he has a good shout here but puts a doubt in my mind.

ON the whole not really a race I want to have too much in play but if you need a bet, maybe Aiteen Thirtythree at 8s or Bostons Angel at 16s might be the best value.

CHAMPION CHASE:
Finally an easy one! BIG ZEB 3/1 get on!

It may seem strange that I tip up a 10yo and then discount an 8yo for being too old but Master Minded peaked as a 5yo and has never reached those heights since. Not all of this can be attributed to him being French with injuries also taking their toll. He is running at a decent level this year but in his prime he nearly got turned over by Big Zeb at Punchestown, this year he has been consistently running 8lbs below that mark. Big Zeb on the other hand has improved his jumping since then and so long as he is lightly raced hasn't failed to produce his best. The race the last day came too quick for him but after a nice 6 week break we should see the best of him here.

Of the remainder Somersby and Mad Max will as usual come under pressure coming down the hill before staying on up the hill but by that stage they will have left themselves too much to do. Golden Silver didn't run his race here last year and is just below these guys anyway. Sizing Europe has been undone by spending most of the season training for the Gold CUp and is hard to fancy here. If there is a danger it is probably Woolcombe Folly who was burning up the track before encountering a hiccup in training and missing his prep race. If he is 100% he can give the big 2 something to think about.

1.5pts e/w First Lieutenant 10/1 (general)
2.5pts win Big Zeb 3/1 (bet365, 888sport)