Play it again Sam

A frustrating day of near misses that didn't really have much reward for those willing to take on the obvious choice. Still standing though and with an epic Gold Cup Friday on the horizon looking to add a little to the war chest ahead of that.

JLT Chase:
Hard to believe this is a Cheltenham G1with one of the poorest fields I can remember sifting through. Finian's Oscar has not looked a chaser this season and is proced up on his hurdles form. Benetar is closely matched with him on their last run and doesn't really excite. Modus seems to have found his way towards the top of the market by default without ever having beaten a total of 7 rivals in 3 average enough chases. Terrefort was getting weight from Cyrname when just prevailing the last day and that really shouldn't be enough to win this. Kemboy is a bit of an unknown having been lightly raced but a well beaten 5th in the Ballymore last year albeit having been kept overly wide the whole way around. I had been thinking of putting up Shattered Love before rewatching Kemboy's race from last year but seemed like she got taken off her feet very early last year before falling at one of the downhill hurdles - both pretty big negatives for this. So having eliminated pretty much everything else we are left with the obvious option - Invitation Only. Very close to Monalee the last day who ran very well in defeat today and Monalee could easily have started eye-wateringly short in this if re-routed from the RSA so hard to argue with taking 10/3.

1.5pts Invitation Only 10/3

Pertemps:
Time constraints meant I had to skip this one, however a guy I trust to back blindly on these types of race has put up Forza Milan and that is what I have done - a lot of extra place terms about if you look around

0.5pts ew Forza Milan 14/1

Ryanair:
Un de Sceaux is a great horse who is just unfortunate to be around at the same time as Sprinter Sacre then Douvan and then Altior. At another time he could be coming back here looking for his 3rd Champion Chase in a row but unfortunately that's not really how things worked out and instead he's coming back here to defend his Ryanair title. He's a 2m horse but had enough class to win this last year when the ground was good. With soft ground I think his stamina definitely becomes a doubt and at odds on once you factor in the Douvan R4 he's way too short for me. Cue Card winning would be the fairytale of the week and his last run would be good enough to win this IMO however at 12 its very hard to believe that he can reproduce such a phenomenal run with less than a 4 week turnaround. Cloudy Dream always seems to find one to good for him although I wouldn't entirely discount him given a lot of the horses he's come second to. Balko Des Flos seems a little inconsistent and not entirely sure will love the ground and with a fall at a down hill fence to his name I'm happy to bypass here. That only leaves Sub Lieutenant and Frodon. Frodon has had an up and down season but a very convincing winner at the course in Jan from the 1-2 in the Ultima on Tuesday and the last run against Cue Card was actually that bad despite coming a little soon off the back of that run. With a proper break he would be a confident selection here but I think he has been over-raced this season and hard to think he will be seen at his best here. That only really leaves last years 2nd Sub Liuetenant. Ran a great race last year and leaving aside the run at Down Royal's carousel course he actually has pretty decent form this season when you dig into it. In such a poor race 20/1 seems a gift.

1pt Sub Lieutenant 20/1

Stayers Hurdle:
Surprisingly easy one this one. Best 3m hurdle this season by a long way was the Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot where Sam Spinner and L'Ami Serge pulled well clear of a quality field. With plenty of horses here as a plan B or who have already proved themselves not quite good enough I think those 2 will fight it out again.

2pts win Sam Spinner 7/2
1pt e/w L'ami Serge w/o SS 10/1

Brown Advisory H'cap;
Ignore his last run when Saint Calvados blitzed everyone and go back to his run at Ascot. Watch that race and then try not to back Drumcliff here. The jockey couldn't hold on to the horse as he shot clear after the last. Looked the world like a JP plot horse that day and surprised he's 25s tomorrow

1pt e/w Druncliff 25/1

Mare's Novice:
Laurina a worthy favourite here but again too much between her and the second favourite. Maria's benefit very close to that standard and at 7/1 looks an e/w bet to nothing.

1pt e/w Maria's Benefit 7/1