As Cheltenham Approaches There Are Still Treasures To Be Found

It really is a waiting game for us now as Cheltenham approaches but there are still some decent prizes down for decision this afternoon on both sides of the Irish Sea.

Rocky road to Doncaster

The Kim Bailey-trained Rocky’s Treasure wouldn’t be out of place lining up at the Cheltenham Festival but connections have looked to bypass that meeting in favour of the Grimthorpe Handicap Chase.

Rocky’s Treasure was a beaten favourite behind the slick Ok Corral at Warwick in January and maybe that defeat led connections to bypass the Cotswolds.

But the eight-year-old is retuning to a track where he has posted good efforts and won a Grade Two novice back in December.

Ok Corral is a leading fancy for the four-miler at Cheltenham later this month so that form itself isn’t bad and Bailey is probably surprised he has just six runners to beat for the lion’s share of £55,000 today.

This will be a first tilt at an extended three and a quarter miles for Rocky’s Treasure but the point-to-point winner could well appreciate that step up in trip and despite having top weight he should be hard to beat.

It could be a good day for Kiely

The John Kiely-trained Goodbye Someday could be worth wait in the concluding bumper at Navan today.

Kiely would be a shrewd operator when it comes to bumper races and while he may not have had the type of ammunition to compete with Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott in recent years..

the Waterford handler has booked the services of Patrick Mullins for this son of Stowaway.

The five-year-old has only raced once but that was in a hot Leopardstown race and while he was beaten by 10-lengths into sixth, it was a run that could bring him forward and the race has certainly worked out very well since.

The well regarded Exit Poll won on that occasion for Jessica Harrington and while Two Shoe Tom was second and since beaten at the Dublin Racing Festival, the third placed Sempo, fourth placed Allaho and fifth place Fury Road have all won since that Leopardstown outing and it’s hard to argue with that type of form. 5/1 looks a good price about him in the finale.

Recommended bets
Rocky’s Treasure (9/4) – 3.35 Doncaster
Goodbye Someday (11/2) – 5.10 Navan