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The second race of the day is one of the tough handicaps which are rock-solid to find a winner in, this time it's the McCoy Contractors County Handicap Hurdle.
Dan Skelton built up a reputation when landing this race three times in four years between 2016 – 2019. His horses will always be shorter than they probably should be as a result of that, but he hasn't had a winner in a few years in this, so maybe it's best to look elsewhere with Willie Mullins sending his usual army to win this.
State Man won this race last year, being the best-handicapped horse of the week, if you think you can see something similar let us know in the comments.
Cheltenham 2:10 – Wonderwall 16/1 (0.5pt ew)
The class horse in the race is Sharjah who is a multiple Grade 1 winner, and has run well in Champion Hurdles in the past, and was generally the horse who finished second behind honeysuckle. He comes into a handicap off top weight, which will make this a tough ask for him, and at the age of 10 he is on the decline, but he has run well this season behind State Man. I fear horses are better handicapped than him at the weights and though he does handle testing ground, he is probably better on a quicker surface.
Pied Piper is the other horse towards the top of the weights and I couldn't have him in this, unless he was a ridiculous price like 100/1. He was a decent juvenile but hasn't kicked on this year. He is another who will prefer a quick surface, and the way Davy Russell is riding this week, no thanks.
First Street finished second in this race last year but runs in this off a 10lb higher mark. Based on that, I think he has a tough task, running off 11st 11lbs. He was apparently not fit last time out when hammered at Wincanton, and he's had his wind done, so there's reasons to be optimistic about a better run today.
Ballyadam ran well in this race last year, he made an encouraging return last time out when finishing behind Gaelic Warrior. The handicapper put him up 4 lbs for that run and that puts him on a 4lb higher mark than last year. Henry's horses are running well, but I think he is probably going to bump into a few better-handicapped. Could run well and definitely a horse who could fill the places.
Aucunrisque will run from the front in this as he did at the Betfair Hurdle. He's a lovely horse and is game as anything, and if he was to nick this from the front end it wouldn't surprise me but the rise in the handicap concerns me.
Hunters Yarn is the ride of Paul Townend and he will be fancied to run well in this considering Willie Mullins won it last year with State Man who has a similar profile. He has been impressive in his races this year and is a novice, but I don't think he is as good as State Man, but we'll never know until he races tomorrow. I think there's better value elsewhere, especially in a 26-runner handicap. If he was to win, it wouldn't surprise me at all though.
Pembroke is the main Skelton horse. He probably should've won last time out, but he didn't stay the trip over 2m 4f. He is a strong traveller and is definitely well handicapped off a mark of 136. He'll be fancied to run well and the bookies won't be pricing him up at stupid prices.
I landed on Wonderwall who has a lot to prove in a race of this nature. He made an okay chase debut last time out at Newbury which was won by Sebastopol, which Stage Star in second. He jumped like a snooker table that day, but there was a lot of money around for him, backed into 15/2 from 20's, so they were expecting a decent run. He didn't run badly considering it was on the back of a 288-day break. He hasn't been seen since, which isn't a surprise as he hasn't been very active in his career to date. He was running a good race in a Listed race last February until he fell. That run recorded an RPR of 136, and the winner Elle Est Belle was a good Mare and the runner-up went on to finish second in a Grade 1 at Aintree. This horse was a good bumper horse, finishing 3rd in a Listed race at Ascot behind Knappers Hill and Stage Star. He then went to Cheltenham and finished 7th in the Champion Bumper in a steadily run race, which I don't think suited. I think a good pace on soft ground will be ideal for him. He might run well at a price, or he might be pulled up, but I think he is worth a small bet.
In December 2020 we sadly 
