Might Bite Has Not Shown Gold Cup Form

We’ve been very lucky so far in Jessica Harrington’s yard regarding Cheltenham plans.

John’s on the double
We couldn’t be happier with the horses. Hopefully the cold snap of weather expected this week won’t affect us too much.

I’m still pretty confident that Sizing John (6/1) has a big chance in retaining his Gold Cup crown. Obviously Might Bite is unbeaten in the last two seasons and he has put some decent form together this year. You can pick holes in his King George form just beating 50/1 shot Double Shuffle.

In my opinion, that’s not Gold Cup form.

So I still think the best line of form for the Gold Cup is Sizing John winning the race last year beating Minella Rocco by two and three quarter lengths. He also beat Native River who finished third in last year’s Gold Cup and was very impressive when he ran at Newbury a fortnight ago.

We’re very happy with him, he’s going great. He will be a fresh horse going to Cheltenham this year which will be a help. It’s going to be a very competitive race so fingers crossed we can do the business again.

Champion Hurdle Challenge
Buveur D’Air is a deserving favourite for the Champion Hurdle. I think his price is more of a reflection of the opposition he is going to face; I don’t actually think he is a worthy 4/9 favourite. There isn’t much strength and depth in the race this year.

Obviously if Faugheen comes back to anything like his best, he’ll be a lot closer. I wouldn’t write Willie Mullins off in having him close to his best again. Apart from these two, it’s very hard to see anyone else in contention.

You can see My Tent Or Yours being placed in it yet again but that’s it. I think if Supasundae had gone down the Champion Hurdle route he would definitely be second favourite.

Supasundae
Hopefully if we get good ground it will suit Supasundae perfectly in the Stayers’ Hurdle where he is currently 3/1 favourite with BoyleSports. Good ground is key for him; he bounces off it just like Galileo.

He’s just a different horse this year.

He was good last year and won the Coral Cup at Cheltenham so he has course form. He was beaten a length by Yanworth in Aintree where he was bit flat after Cheltenham I thought. He has seriously improved which is a lot of Galileo’s doing.

Super Samcro
Samcro has been the standout horse this season in the novice ranks. He’s been extremely impressive and is definitely the Irish banker going to Cheltenham. I’m not so sure that Getabird is banker material in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle on Day 1. It looks to be a very competitive race.

I’ve been lucky enough to be riding in England a few times this year riding against some of the English novices and they look quite strong over two miles. If I had to pick one Irish horse to ride at Cheltenham this year it would definitely be Samcro who I think would get me on the winners’ board for the week!

*Prices correct at time of publication