Richard Johnson’s Cheltenham Festival Trials Day Tips

Here at BoyleSports, we caught up with Cheltenham Gold Cup-winning jockey Richard Johnson for his Cheltenham Festival Trials Day tips.

Johnson has given us his verdict on which horses to back in the big races at Cheltenham this weekend plus what Trials Day could mean looking forward to the Cheltenham Festival.

Cheltenham Festival Trials Day A Strong Card

We now have the Clarence House and I know Willie (Mullins) is not bringing anything over and so it won’t be the race we thought it would be last weekend, but just for people to be able to see Jonbon is great.

It will still be a good race to watch. Nicky [Henderson] could have said he wasn’t going to run him before Cheltenham, but the fact he is there is an added bonus for everybody.

Even the supporting races, the Triumph Trial for instance, look very strong. There’s definitely the best of the British there, Burdett Road and Sir Gino. 

Burdett Road from James Owen’s yard is favourite. He has looked very impressive. It is whether he can settle. They dropped him right last time and Harry Cobden was brave. At one time he looked quite a long way out of his ground. But he came through and won well. Hopefully it will be another experience day for him., If he can show that he has learned a bit more he is a very classy horse.

It is nice to see we have three or four proper Triumph horses instead of one or two against a huge Irish contingent. Hopefully that looks like quite a strong renewal of the race.

Cheltenham Festival Trials Day Tips

I’d love to see Ahoy Senor come back to a bit of form in the Cotswold (Chase). He was travelling really well in the Gold Cup last year. But it is difficult after a horse has pulled up twice.

Royal Pagaille after his Haydock win ticks all the boxes. I don’t think he’ll win a Gold Cup but I think he can win a Cotswold.

Venetia’s horses are flying, L’Homme Presse won on Sunday. Over two miles six the ground wasn’t hard work, it was a very good performance.

I’d also back Jonbon for the Clarence House. You can’t go against him.

If he runs, Noble Yeats could be a big price in the Cleeve Hurdle. They are getting older and older but that is a very open contest and Emmet Mullins could be using that as a stepping stone to the Grand National.

Running over hurdles wouldn’t be the biggest shock in the world. He hasn’t got very much to find on ratings. The handicapper wouldn’t move his chase mark if he won.

*You can bet on all the Cheltenham Festival Trials Day action courtesy of the latest horse racing betting odds at BoyleSports.

Horses To Keep An Eye Out For At Cheltenham & Dublin

Jonbon is the horse you just want to see a classy performance and a clear cut victory; neat jumping all the right things in the right places. We haven’t got Constitution Hill. I know he would have been a very short price but it would have been lovely to see him again in the flesh.

The really interesting horse in the Cotswold Chase is Paul Nicholls’ novice Stay Away Fay. If he can run a serious race against those older more experienced horses he has got to be one for the three mile novice and could cement himself very firmly at the top of that tree. Even if he finishes second or third and posts a mark above 160 that’s a fair effort for a novice.

Clarence House Move

El Fabiolo was going to come over and that would have been a real race. It is not going to be the spectacle it was because you’re going to have a very short priced favourite.

El Fabiolo you really would have been excited to see. That is not trying to be negative about the race. It would have been a spectacle.

Who will push Jonbon?

Gary Moore’s horse Editeur Du Gite loves Cheltenham but realistically he is not in Jonbon’s league.

It is difficult for people to understand that a top handicapper who can win off 155 or 158 to make that jump to grade one class. On the numbers it shouldn’t be a very big difference; but those championship races do just take everything to a different level.

Nico [De Boinville, jockey] has shown with Jonbon if there is no pace and people play a cat and mouse game, he will go forward on Jonbon. He is not going to be a dawdler. Nico seems to get on well with him and I think it will be quite a clear-z win.

Lossiemouth In Unibet Hurdle

Lossiemouth’s form was franked by Willie’s other horse (Gala Marceau) that won in France last May. You wonder if there has been something wrong because we haven’t seen him; but Willie often only starts to campaign his horses around Christmas.

The Triumph Hurdle form can work out really strongly and in other years it doesn’t. He is very impressive, travels really well, but he would have to win this impressively to offer any sort of challenge to Constitution Hill in the Champion Hurdle. There is quite a gap to bridge to the top two in the market.

Importance of Trials Day For Cheltenham Festival Pointers

It is another stepping stone on the way to March. Most of these won’t run again until after this. We know the Irish are very strong but they are not going to have many runners over here.

It will be nice to see who the leading contenders of ours are. It is definitely an indication of where they are and it is a chance for one or two of the horses that haven’t performed this year to get their season back on track.

One of those is Ahoy Senor, who you know is good enough. If he can get it all right on the day and he’s healthy he’s a real contender; but after pulling up twice you want to think he can show a bit more of his old self.

The Dublin Racing Festival will be the same for them. It will be the first time the Irish will take on each other in some of those bigger races.

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