Racing tips: The Hollow Ginge can go one place better from 12 months ago at Cheltenham

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Found On found plenty when running up the Cheltenham hill. The Mare ran a blinder from the front and jumped big and bold throughout and was the best horse on the day, securing a 9/1 winner. She might not be the best horse in the race came this time next year, but she was the most ready for today and 9/1 was simply too big odds, hence why she went off as 9/2.

Saturday is back around and I will be putting up a few selections as I think I've found some horses who will bang there and some good value as well, hopefully, we can land some winners amongst my picks and your own fancies in the comments.

Cheltenham 1:30

Probably my least fancied runner of the day runs in the opener at Cheltenham and he might be outclassed but I will be taking a chance on the seriously unexposed Scottish raider SERIOUS OPERATOR.

Whenever Lucinda Russell sends her runners down this far they have to be respected as she doesn't send them to take part, she has intentions of coming back with a chunk of prize money and I can see why they fancy their chances with this runner today.

The current odds of around 11/1 are worth taking as I think he has a better chance than the odds suggest. He is 1/1 over hurdles since moving to Lucinda's stable and that win came over a decent yardstick in Mortlach who is a 130-rated runner over fences and in the 120s over hurdles, so to beat him on stable debut and off a 154-day break you'd have to say it was a useful performance. From that run I could tell whenever he was to go up in trip he would be better suited and more progression would be likely, however, I didn't expect them to pull the trigger already and send him over 3m, but I think that is a real statement of intent from connections who clearly fancy their chances today.

The rain which could arrive won't be a problem for him considering he has won on testing ground in a PTP in Ireland. Stamina seems to be his forte and I can definitely see him powering up the hill, as long as his jumping remains accurate and allows him to have the chance when turning for home. They had a fair amount of hurdles removed at Kelso so he didn't really gain as much experience over hurdles as they'd have liked, but being a PTP winner he should be fine.

Cheltenham 2:05

THE HOLLOW GINGE‘s price could be on the slim side based on the recent form figures of last year which read 9P4P, but you have to imagine this race has been the target since his summer break.

He ran in this race 12 months ago where he finished as runner-up, losing by a head to a Gordon Elliott raider. That day he ran off a 10lb higher rating than he does today, so with my idea that this has been the plan, he should be primed and ready to go for this after 196 days off the track.

Nigel Twiston-Davies is a good target trainer and can ready a horse first time out so the time away from the track isn't really an issue for me. If he bounces back to form then I'm very confident he will win this. Once again, if the rain arrives then this horse shouldn't have a problem with the ground, being a previous winner on soft ground.

Cheltenham 3:15

Somehow, I was on the losing end of when I backed CLEAR THE RUNWAY when that horse lost at Musselburgh off a mark of 105, considering he is running off 142 today it is quite unfortunate how I managed to be a loser on him that day, but it goes to show the progression this horse has made in the spring and on his return to racing at Worcester in September.

Fitness will not be an issue with this lad as he has already got a run under his belt this season and I can see how this race will be set up for him.

Editeur Du Gite is a classy horse on his day and shouldering top weight wouldn't be an issue for me but the time away from the track mixed in with a potential front-running burnup between him and Effernock Fizz could set this up for a closer, and I make that closer being Clear The Runway. Effernock Fizz apparently only has one way of running and the same applies to the Gary Moore horse, so if they get into a battle it will surely ruin both of their chances.

Clear The Runway is in the form of his life and even though the form doesn't really amount to much, he has won with authority of nearly every start so is a horse who has plenty of ability and we don't quite know where his ceiling is yet. Laura Morgan seems confident of a big run and has been quoted saying how much he has matured and learnt to settle in the past year, as well as mentioning how they think the stiff 2m will suit.

Saint-Cloud 2:50

Flat racing isn't really for me at this time of year unless it's a Class 1 race so with the good action coming over in France I thought I'd dip my toe in.

GLENARTNEY is an English raider coming from the Ed Walker stable and is a horse I've liked for a fair amount of time. I've always thought she was a Class 1 filly, not at the top level, but could mix it at Listed and Group 3 level. She won a Listed race at Pontefract earlier this year where I went against her and she basically stuck the middle finger up for doing so.

I've always felt that she would be better on ground with ease so going to France where the ground is soft is like music to my ears and odds of 8/1 make her a good EW bet in this. She has been keen in a few of her recent races which isn't ideal, but if Hector Crouch manages to settle her in this she has a fighting chance of coming away with place money at the very least.

Saint-Cloud 3:25

Sometimes you can overthink things in racing and often doubt yourself, especially when looking at the odds and thinking it doesn't quite add up. For me, I will stick to my gut and think that RUMI is a ridiculous price and should be winning this if she repeats the same level of form she ran to at Longchamp in the Group 1 which Nashwa competed in and finished second. Rumi was back in fifth that day and outran her odds of 68/1, but I don't think it was a fluke.

She probably should've finished closer than what she did that day as she didn't exactly get the clearest of runs through, so to finish where she did was a very good effort. But it's not the first time she's run well in a Group 1, as she finished 4th/7 at Deauville behind Arisitia the time before that, which goes to show she is more than capable of winning a race like today which is a definite drop in class.

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