The Irish domination of the Cheltenham Festival was emphatic. Now, some of the Emerald Isle’s top trainers have the November Meeting in their sights. The biggest names among their contingent are previewed below, alongside an outstanding new customer offer from Sky Bet, where you can get £20 in free bets when you bet £5.
GIN ON LIME (Super Alloys Novices’ Chase, Friday, 2.20pm) 9/4
It would be an upset were favourite My Drogo to be beaten, but Henry de Bromhead has previous with less heralded novices at this meeting. Up against the well-regarded pair of Al Dancer and Getaway Trump, 2021 Champion Chase heroine Put The Kettle On defeated both in the Arkle Trial.
GIN ON LIME is a mare with a distinctly similar profile, having already been campaigned extensively over fences during the summer. She has won four times by a combined 74 lengths, beaten only in a Grade 3 at the Galway Festival. She most recently won for the first time at that level at Tipperary, in a race Put The Kettle On lost.
She’s incurred a penalty for that run, but she’s been very consistent so far over fences and will provide a stern test of My Drogo’s jumping credentials.
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BALKO DES FLOS (Glenfarclas Cross Country Handicap Chase, Friday, 2.55pm) 4/1
Another for de Bromhead, BALKO DES FLOS’ career has had some remarkable ups and downs.
Seemingly on a sharp decline, Gigginstown House Stud sold him on the eve of the Grand National, only for him to put in an outstanding performance in second. While not at the peak of his powers anymore, this is also a horse who has finished second in Leopardstown’s Christmas Chase, and won the Ryanair at the 2018 Cheltenham Festival.
Rachael Blackmore was convinced Balko Des Flos was revelling in the Cross Country experience at this year’s Festival before unseating and his relish for the Grand National thereafter almost certainly proves her point. He’ll have a lot of weight to carry in this handicap, but he could prove an able deputy to Tiger Roll in this contest.
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STREETS OF DOYEN (mallardjewellers.com Novices’ Chase, Sunday, 1.10pm)
John McConnell regularly sends runners across to these shores and STREETS OF DOYEN benefitted from that last season. He took a three-mile novice hurdle at the Showcase Meeting in October 2020 and was a very respectable third in the Albert Bartlett in March.
His campaign went awry later on, but a debut victory over fences saw him beat some useful types. Demonstrating his trainer’s eye for an opportunity, he was sent to Worcester in August, but failed to concede 10lbs or more to his domestic-based rivals.
Nevertheless, his Cheltenham form to date makes him very interesting back at Prestbury Park. On decent ground, he’s a thorough enough stayer and has more chase starts than any in this field. He’s dangerous.
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PUT THE KETTLE ON (Shloer Chase, Sunday, 2.20pm) 7/4
PUT THE KETTLE ON has won all four of her races at Cheltenham and in none of those was she the favourite.
Her extraordinary record at the course now includes both the Arkle and Champion Chase. She’s not beaten mugs either: Chacun Pour Soi chased her tail back in March, but ended up the highest rated jumps horse in Britain and Ireland. He also won every other race he contested last season.
Simply put, Put The Kettle On is no longer a plucky underdog when it comes to Cheltenham, but a seriously formidable opponent. Champion Chase runner-up Nube Negra, as well as former winner, Politologue, are both entered against her, making this race a true Sunday treat.
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