Cheltenham Festival - County Hurdle Preview

The County Hurdle looks to be one of the most competitive races at this year’s Cheltenham Festival and is likely to be one of the busiest betting heats in behind the Coral Cup and Pertemps Final.

Paul Nicholls’ Brampour is the highest entry in the race by quite some distance and his participation has led to a massive compression of the weights, potentially giving a number of horses further down the order a major chance.

Brampour himself has to be respected based on some of his efforts in top hurdling company, however the five-year-old currently looks trapped as he is just shy of top class yet badly held back at the weights to win a contest of this nature.

Nicholls could also be represented by Edgardo Sol and Empire Levant however that pair do not appear the most obvious winners based on the form book and the Ditcheat trainer’s main chance could well arrive through smart flat recruit Ted Spread who has been allotted just 10st after some decent novice displays this term.

Phillip Hobbs holds an extremely strong claim with Snap Tie, who will also race off a featherweight having been off the track for so long.

Punters may be discouraged by the fact that Hobbs stable hasn’t been firing for the majority of the season however Snap Tie is unquestionably well in if able to retain the kind of ability which saw him finish third in a Supreme Novices and sixth in a Champion Hurdle.

If able to go well fresh after the long lay-off, Snap Tie is potentially capable of giving Hobbs some degree of compensation following an indifferent few months.

Another horse dangerously weighted is Citizenship who arguably arrives as Ireland’s strongest challenger.

John Harrington’s six-year-old really caught the eye when going clear to win a 30-runner hurdle at Leopardstown in late January and is clearly unexposed with the best of him seemingly yet to come.

Starluck may be considerably higher in the weights on 11st 1lb however David Arbuthnot’s charge is conceivably the value pick at 25/1.

After a short spell on the side lines following an unsuccessful foray novice chasing, Starluck returned a well beaten third behind Binocular in the Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton.

That run hardly had people talking, nevertheless it is feasible to suggest that the run was badly needed and the seven-year-old will almost definitely improve for the experience.

Starluck has finished fifth in a Champion Hurdle and although it is fair to say he falls just below the cream of the crop, the grey can be a prominent player here in handicap company for the first time.

Get Me Out Of Here should be feared in the event that Jonjo O’Neill chooses this race over the Coral Cup, whilst Raya Star holds a definite chance for in form trainer Alan King.

And with previous Cheltenham form once again pivotal to the process of selection, Paul Flynn’s Moon Dice has to be thrown into the equation following his fine effort in the Greatwood Hurdle in November.

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09/03/2012     © Frixo 2024