Racing tips: Recent Grand Sefton winner Gesskille is tailor-made for the X-Country track

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It was always a risk going for Canelo hailing from the Ben Haslam yard as it's a guessing game when they're going to perform, the horse drifted out to 22/1 and was PU, but I'd recommend keeping an eye out for him and when the money does come he will win as his ratings is becoming ridiculous. However, it was a profitable day with Morfee winning at decent odds of 6/1 (Adv. 13/2), and he put in a strong staying performance. 

The other runner of the day was also pulled up, which was likely but I felt he was also on a very good mark and the yard has been in good form, but he isn't good enough as needing the run isn't a suitable excuse for that level of performance.

Cheltenham 12:40 – Trelawne 3/1 (1pt)

I put up Trelawne on chase debut at Carlisle, he won at short odds, but put in a nice performance on his seasonal and chase debut, backing up some nice runs over hurdles, proving that he is a very nice horse for the future.

This is without a doubt his toughest race to date, but I think he is more than capable enough of proving himself against today's horses. He is a big scopey horse who proved he can jump a fence when carrying 11st 11lbs to victory on testing ground. He is a strong stayer, so the trip isn't a concern with the ground being as bad as it is as you're going to need stamina in excess to stay up the hill. He is a 7yo and has been tenderly looked after during his hurdling career with just four runs over the smaller obstacles, resulting in three wins, but they clearly knew this horse was all about fences, so didn't want to run him into the ground during his first season with Kim.

For me, this is between the favourite (Grey Dawning) and my selection, I was debating backing him w/o the favourite, but eventually thought sack it and just go for the straight win as though the favourite is a good horse, I don't think the form is as good as it looks from last time out. Yeah, he beat a classy horse from the Willie Mullins stable and a Grade 1 hurdler into third in the form of Apple Away, who has since won nicely over fences this week, but the runner-up was carrying a huge weight and the Lucinda Russell horse was making her seasonal and chase debut. I thought Harry Skelton gave Grey Dawning a nice ride as he kicked on at the right time, applied the pressure turning for home, and the horse won as easily as you like. This race is different as he is carrying top weight against horses who are also on the up and have the same level of fitness.

I get the impression connection of Trelawne believes he could be a similar horse to Two For Gold. They both won the same race at Carlisle and Kim isn't one for sending horses to that track, so he must hold Trelawne in the same ability as Two For Gold. The latter-named horse went on to win a Grade 2 as well as some decent handicaps from huge weights over staying distances.

Cheltenham 1:50 – I Am Gonna Be 9/1 (0.5pt EW, Bet365 4pl)

Though there are thirteen runners for this Class 3 Mares' Handicap Chase, not many of them got my juices flowing as a candidate who could win this race. I ended up whittling it down to Walk In Clover, Lilith and I Am Gonna Be, and I opted for the latter.

I couldn't be touching the favourite at the prices with a barge pole, she is horribly priced and it's all due to Gavin Cromwell having plenty of success over the last few years when sending horses over to Cheltenham, but based on what she's shown, she has a lot to prove. She finished 3rd to a decent pair at Down Royal, but that was pretty much a flat race as more than half the fences were omitted and when you see her performances over fences the two times before, she jumped shoddy and finished 7th and unseated. She might be ahead of her mark against her own sex, but I think you're crazy if you're backing her at the prices.

I thought I Am Gonna Be looked far more attractive at the prices and though her jumping wasn't great on chase debut at Ayr, I thought she shaped nicely and with that experience and 41 days off the track since, she could easily improve on that run. She clattered one down the backstraight last time out, and it was probably enough for plenty of horses to call it a day, but she somehow managed to recompose herself, showed a nice turn of foot turning for home before the first fence in the straight, jumped that nicely and came challenging the eventual winner before probably being a bit tired as it was her first run in 224 days.

Patrick Wadge takes off 3lbs.

Cheltenham 2:25 – Storm Control 4/1 (1pt, Bet365/WilliamHill)

Storm Control doesn't have the best record when fresh, but it's noticeable that Kerry Lee has gone for this race with a new ‘Veteran' considering she won it last year with a winning tip of mine, Magic Dancer, who was also new to the Veterans' chases and landed this race on seasonal reappearance 12 months ago.

If I were to hope how this race would be run, it would be with Richard Patrick going from the front like he often has done on Storm Control and pinging the fences. I love to see him take the lead and get the horse into a rhythm as he is he a site to behold when this little fella does it, he was once a very smart handicapper in his pomp and off his current handicap mark of 129 he can do some damage in these types of races against the older horses.

Cheltenham 3:00 – Gesskille 9/2 (1pt, Bet365)

I really do think it's interesting that the dual training team of Greenall & Guerriero have opted for this race rather than the Becher Chase which happened just last week, and with that, I think it makes Gesskille a bet for this.

We all know how well this horse handles the Aintree National fences, he won the Grand Sefton in November and he was 2nd to Ashtown Lad in the Becher 12 months ago, so why wouldn't they opt for the same route and go a crack at the second race at Aintree? They must've thought this race was worth a crack, and is something he had a better chance of winning. The Becher is like four times the prize pool than today's race, so it's significant that they've brought their horse to Cheltenham for this race.

He handles the National fences with ease, he's ran around that course four times, resulting in two runner-ups, 9th and a win, so I highly doubt the fences and obstacles that he'll face today will be a concern to him. The main question is whether he'll stay or not, but given that they'll be jumping some crazy fences and obstacles, they won't be going a lightning pace, so I do think he has a very good chance of staying this trip. He runs off 10st 12lbs, which is a nice racing weight, he gets enough weight from the top rated horses and is better than the horses below him, with a few running from out of the weights. He's a very interesting runner.

Doncaster 1:05 – The Paddy Pie 20/1 (0.5pt EW, Bet365)

For the last selection of the thread, I am going with a previous selection of mine with The Paddy Pie.

If some can remember from about a month ago when I tipped this lad up, you'll probably be asking why am I giving him another shot, which is fair enough. However, the yard has started to get rolling over the last week or so and the winners have started to flow in, which is so often the case for Sue Smith. I thought it was interesting that Nick Schofield is onboard The Paddy Pie today as for this season, Nick looks like the main man for Sue when they want a winner. They have combined five times so far this season, resulting in three winners and a runner-up, which is a crazy strikerate, which has seen two winners in the last fortnight.

This horse is without a doubt on a very good handicap mark, he likes galloping tracks like Wetherby, so Doncaster is going to be right up his street and he handles the ground perfectly fine. There is a chance that he is gone at the game, but there is also a chance that with the yard being in form and he has had two runs under his belt this year, this could be the time to catch him right.

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