Of the two that were tipped up, the higher-priced selection ran the best and the favourite was horrendous.
Bill Joyce did a lot wrong at Cheltenham and still nearly won. He was keen throughout the early stages of the race, and his jumping was assured, but he was still pitching at the bottom of the hill. I thought it was a great effort considering the things which went wrong, and I will be keeping an eye on him moving forward.
As for Walk In The Valley, I'm not sure what to say about his performance. It was horrible to watch; he was a little keen, but his jumping was a disaster. If he jumped well for the majority of the race, he'd still have had a chance of winning.
Magnetude 8/1 (EW, 3pl) – Cheltenham 1.10
Over the last five or so years we have seen the Gredley Family do extremely well in juvenile races, so it's not a surprise to see their recent Listed winner Charles Donay at the top of the market. However, I am not siding with that horse, and I am going with their other runner, Magnetude.
It might seem a strange decision to opt for the second string based on silks and the fact that the favourite was a Class 1 winner on hurdles debut, but Jonathan Burke is on Magnetude. Burke has been the jockey that James Owen has gone to the most this season, and he has ridden the most, by a large margin. Obviously, Harry Cobden is regarded as one of the best in the saddle, so he might have been jocked off, but connections must feel like Magnetude can win this race, and I took the stance that Burke fancied him over the favourite.
In terms of flat performances, Magnetude potentially brings the best form from that style of racing and is rated 92 and had a career-high RPR of 98 on the flat. He made a few errors at Wetherby on his hurdling debut, but considering the yard and owners have Charles Donay, it would seem strange to send Magnetude for the race if they didn't fancy his chances. They will have trained together, and we're getting 8/1 rather than 13/8.
Slade Steel 3/1 – Navan 2.07
This is a tricky race to call, but I think Slade Steel is the most likely winner, and we're not getting terrible odds in backing him.
I thought that his career would kick on when he was sent chasing, but that wasn't the case. He was a Grade 1 winner as a novice hurdler, and then stalled over fences before winning over hurdles in a Grade 2 on his last start in April. I get very similar vibes to the 2023 winner of this race, Bob Olinger, as Bob was also a good novice hurdler and then struggled over fences, but returned to hurdles and was very useful.
This type of trip is ideal for Slade Steel. Ideally, I'd like the ground to be a little softer, but it's not rattling quick, so he should be perfectly fine. There are some solid horses in this race, but they do have their questions to answer over the trip, fitness and other things. Slade Steel is a solid horse and is 4/6 over hurdles.
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