All eyes will head to Prestbury Park next weekend as the Road To Cheltenham steps up significantly with a mouth-watering Festival Trials Day taking place at Cheltenham racecourse on January 26. It will give the chance for a plethora of horses to showcase their Cheltenham Festival credentials in an array of notable trial races and the seven-race card has often thrown up festival winners down the years.
We have picked out THREE horses that are set to head to Cheltenham next weekend as they look to cement their place at the Cheltenham Festival, which takes place between March 12-16.
1. Champ - Ballymore Classic Novices' Hurdle
Showing potential when winning a handicap hurdle impressively at Newbury, Nicky Henderson's Champ propelled to the head of the ante-post betting for the 2019 Ballymore Novices' Hurdle by storming to a two-and-a-half length victory in the Grade 1 Challow Novices' Hurdle at Sandown Park.
Talking about his premier novice hurdlers on Racing TV yesterday, Henderson outlined his excitement of running Champ at Cheltenham next weekend and while he will face some notable rivals in the Grade 2 contest he could cement his place at the head of the Ballymore betting with a win.
Named after the legendary National Hunt jockey AP McCoy, who was often referred to as Champ, the Ditcheat inmate will be aiming to make it five hurdle wins on the spin at GL50 next weekend, and Henderson will be keen to see how he deals with the undulations of Cheltenham as it will be his first time to line up at the Gloucestershire venue.
2. Black Op - Cleeve Hurdle
Tom George's Black Op ended last season landing victory in the Grade 1 Mersey Novices' Hurdle at Aintree, but was sent novice chasing at the start of this season. However, disappointing runs over fences at Exeter and at Cheltenham has seen the George team elect to switch Black Op back to hurdles for the rest of the season.
Runner-up to Samcro in the Ballymore Novices' Hurdle at the 2018 Cheltenham Festival, Black Op was one of the smartest British-trained novice hurdlers last season, and having now reverted to hurdles George will look to book his spot in the Stayers' Hurdle on March 15 by running in next weekend's Cleeve Hurdle.
A race that is regarded as one of the premier trial events for the Stayers' Hurdle, the Cleeve Hurdle is sure to see a host of classy stayers lining up and with the Stayers' Hurdle betting wide open then if Black Op can recapture his best form over the smaller obstacles then he could shape into a real contender for that Grade 1 three-mile Championship race on day three of the festival.
3. Frodon - Cotswold Chase
The 2019 Cheltenham Gold Cup has a murky look to it from a betting perspective with ante-post favourite Presenting Percy yet to have run this season, and a host of the leading British-trained runners failing to sparkle this season. So, Paul Nicholls could look to propel a left-field candidate into the picture and Frodon will aim to book his Gold Cup spot next weekend with a decent run in the Cotswold Chase.
Last seen storming to victory in the December Gold Cup, Frodon is still a huge price for the Gold Cup, but the Cheltenham specialist could be a lively outsider for the Ditcheat handler if he shows the three-miles-plus next weekend is within his capabilities.
A shorter price for the 2m 5f Ryanair Chase in March, Frodon has that race as a safety net, but Nicholls and connections will be desperate to give Frodon a chance in the Gold Cup, so his Cotswold Chase outing will point the Nicholls team in the right direction to the seven-year-old's festival destination.
Could he add some depth to the Gold Cup field this season?
