Racing tips: Fences could bring out tonnes of improvement for chase debutante Unanswered Prayers

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Fantastic Lady was a winning selection for Thursday, which secured profit on the day. She might not be the best horse in the race on the day (Zambella probably still has that), but over 3m she was the best on the day as Zambella didn't see out the trip again as I expected. From that performance, I imagine there could be more from Fantastic Lady, potentially over a slightly longer trip as she saw it out well yesterday.

Cheltenham 2:20

To see UNANSWERED PRAYERS being backed into market favourite is a tad surprising as he is making his chase debut, but I can see why.

I was hoping for good odds for this horse, thinking I was being clever going for the Gordon horse in a race which looks like a good renewal, but no, it seems a lot of people have got on the same thought process as me. Despite being shorter odds, I think he is still worth backing on chase debut.

Chris Gordon is having a wonderful season already and has improved many of his horses with the transition to fences and I believe this could be another one. The early market support backs up the quote he gave to the Racing Post where he said “I think he's got a great chance” amongst other things, but to come out and say he's got a great chance on the back of no chase experience says a lot about what his work at home is like, and considering he is having a good time of things with his horses of late, I get the feeling he has been burning up the gallops at home against some higher rated horses.

Granted, this is his chase debut and it's different doing it at home with no pressure on his jumping to going to one of the most difficult places to jump a fence (Cheltenham), but I believe in the confidence of the yard, and to bring him here on chase debut suggests they are very confident on his ability to jump a fence.

Cheltenham 2:55

I'm not too confident in MAGIC DANCER as I do question whether he's on a good enough mark to win, but in a Veteran's race like this he could be too much for the older horses off his current mark.

I think focussing on 10-year-olds in races like this often gives you a good advantage as they are younger horses who aren't necessarily in the twilight part of their career and that can be said about Magic Dancer.

Though he has only won once on seasonal reappearance (last year) he has run well on multiple occasions after a break, so does tend to run well when fresh and for that reason the time away from the track isn't a concern. His most recent run where he won a Class 3 race at Ludlow, beating a horse called Red Happy by 11L. That horse has since won three times, so beat a horse who is definitely capable, and beat him with ease.

He gets in this race off a nice low weight due to the likes of Ballyandy and Elegant Escape who make an appearance and carry 12st and 11st 13lbs. I think the odds are fair for Magic Dancer, and I can probably see him drifting out slightly.

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