Cheltenham Festival 2010 Review - Conclusions

1. Be wary of novices that have shown jumping frailties over the winter. For example this year Dunguib, Captain Cee Bee, Bensalem, Petitfour, Punchestowns and Long Run had all made many mistakes in their season so far.

2. Hurdle form is often relevant to chase form at the festival. Sizing Europe became the top rated hurdler in the field to win the arkle for 6 of the last 10 years. Also Chief Dan George and Copper Bleu in the Handicap Chases were running off lower marks than they would have over hurdles.

3. The quicker ground at the the festival can catch out some horses as well as being a positive for others. For example this year short priced favourites Master Minded and Garde Champetre did not enjoy it, whereas, Chief Dan George, Weapons Amnesty, Great Endeavour and Albertas Run all improved massively for it.

4. Horses who have shown form around their current handicap mark recently should alaways be looked at. For example, Spirit River was going very well before nearly coming down in the straight in the Tote Gold Trophy, yet was allowed to run here off the same mark. Similarly Buena Vista and Pause and Clause both ran great races at the festival the year before, and were allowed to come back and race again off the same mark.

5. French 4 year olds have a great record in the juvenile events at the festival, as shown this year by the winning double Soldatino and Sanctuaire.

6. The use of aids should always be looked at aswell, both for the first time and the reapplication of. Copper Bleu won one of the handicaps with a first time tongue tie, and Buena Vista had his blinkers back on for the first time since his gallant second 12 months previously in the pertemps.

7. Value as always is the name of the game. This year looking through either collateral form or handicap marks there was obvious value in the markets. Imperial Commander and Bertie's Dream both had run races within 2lbs of the favourites in their races, yet were 10x the price. Likewise, Albertas Run wasn't the highest rated, but there were obvious reasons why the horses above them wouldn't run to form and as such was always going to be value at the starting price of 14/1.