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The second race of the day sees the best 3m Novice chasers take their chance in the Brown Advisory Novices' Chase, which was previously known as the RSA, which is what a lot of people still like to call this race.
In recent years we've had some absolute cracking races take place in the Brown Advisory, with some belting rides as well. One of the most memorable moments for me was when Might Bite had the race in the palm of his hands for him to then hang badly to the right and practically throw the race away, but he then saw the loose horse and then battled back to get an iconic win.
Back in 2020, Champ was the winner of this race and Barry Geraghty gave him one of the best all-time Cheltenham rides. He jumped like a snooker table that day, was well off the pace jumping the last but found a second wind out of nowhere to go past Minella Indo and Allaho.
Many people believe this race is a prep race for the Gold Cup the following year, so for those Ante Post backers, be ready after this race if the winner tickles your fancy.
Cheltenham 2:10 – Stay Away Fay 10/3 (1pt)
Fact To File is the horse on everybody's lips for the Brown Advisory and will be in many of your accumulators coming in Day 2. He is a cracking horse with plenty of ability and is still very unexposed, he is arguably at a backable price of just under EVS, but with the ground being as it is and he still has to prove that he stays this far (sure he will), it is a risk to go for him, but based on what we know he probably possesses the most natural ability of this field. Willie Mullins hasn't messed around with this horse, he was a bumper horse last year, which saw him finish 2nd to A Dream To Share in the Champion Bumper which made him look like a serious horse for the future and one who would stay further than the 2m that day. The form of that bumper race has worked out well with many of the horses in behind winning plenty of races and making nice novice hurdlers. This horse has gone straight over fences and hasn't gone down the normal hurdling route after the bumper season, which is unusual for Willie Mullins, but they clearly didn't want to waste time with him as he is already a 7yo. He is 2/3 over fences, he was beaten by American Mike on chase and seasonal debut but then battered Zanahiyr before thumping Gaelic Warrior in a match race at Leopardstown. He is a PTP winner over 3m, and is bred to stay this trip, if he turns up in the form of last time out, he will be a tough nut to crack.
Arguably the strongest staying horse in the race is Stay Away Fay and fair play to Paul Nicholls for sticking him in this race as I thought the 3m 6f race which ends Day 1 would've been a shoo-in for this horse given that he has stamina for days. That might sound daft given he won the Albert Bartlett last year, but in hindsight, the form of that race hasn't worked out well, so he is probably just a Grade 1 horse in name only, without having the form to match up to that. He is 2/3 over fences this year and put in a career-best to finish 3rd/6 in the Cotswold Chase on Trials Day at this course. On that form, he will have to improve to beat the potential superstar that Fact To File is, but I really do get the impression Harry Cobden and Paul Nicholls are going to make this into a real stamina test. Cheekpieces are fitted, and with the small field size, I expect Cobden to go forward and get Stay Away Fay into a rhythm which could see him very tough to pass. Though this is a different race than the Turners, I get the same kind of ride that Harry did on Stage Star last year might be on the cards. If they do go from the front and set quick fractions on this testing ground and he gets beat by the favourite then that is fair enough, as the winner will have to be a serious player for the Gold Cup next year.
but he was behind The Real Whacker and Capodanno. The two ahead of him are good horses, but is Capodanno a superstar? I don't think he is close to that, and he was firmly put in his place by that horse. But with that said, other than the favourite, the rest don't look up to much either, so I can definitely see him finishing as runner-up at the very least.
I don't understand why connections are bothering with Giovinco for this race, he is far too keen to win a race on this ground at this trip at this track. He was well fancied to beat Stay Away Fay at Sandown, he travelled as the best horse, but he was far too keen and didn't stay up the hill. He was honking on his next run in the Kauto Star around Kempton which looked to suit him much better, and he won an egg and spoon race at Newcastle over 2m 4f last time out. I'd rather see him run at Aintree, as I get Ahoy Senor vibes from this horse.
Monty's Star turns up for the same connections as Gold Cup winner Minella Indo, but he surely lacks the class to win this race. His hurdles form looks decent, with horses coming out and winning Graded races since, but his overall form leaves him with plenty to do. He beat Three Card Brag last time out, but if we're honest, the runner-up is hardly a top-class performer and even going back to Monty's Star's PTP run, he was 6L behind Stay Away Fay.
American Mike might be in some of your forecasts with the favourite as he beat him earlier in the season and he won over 3m last time out on heavy ground. For me, though he showed that he stayed 3m last time out, he looked legless and only managed to beat Nick Rockett and the third was hammered in a Listed race. The stiff finish will probably catch him out, and he might travel nicely into the race, but whether he sees the trip out on this testing ground against much better opposition, I highly doubt it.
