EXCITEMENT is building with the Cheltenham Festival now just two weeks away, thoughts are turning ever more to the biggest meeting on the national hunt calendar.
Moone’s Jessica Harrington is probably Ireland’s leading dual trainer at the moment and she is no stranger to success at the Festival. She has won seven races in Cheltenham and trained the brilliant Moscow Flyer, the dual Champion Chase winner and one of the greatest two mile chasers ever. This year she is travelling over with a small but select team of horses.
Steps to Freedom
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| Steps to Freedom image: horse-racing.ie |
He is currently vying for favourite with Dermot Weld’s Galileo’s Choice for the opening race of the festival, the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, and is probably Mrs Harrington’s best chance of adding to her Cheltenham winners.
He is unbeaten in three starts over hurdles. Steps to Freedom won his maiden hurdle in impressive fashion at Fairyhouse back in September. He was then upped in class and took on second season novices in a Grade Three at Punchestown in October. He took it all in his stride and showed he had star potential, defeating Sailors Warn.
Mrs Harrington then took him to Cheltenham in December to see if he would handle the track and the journey and he passed the test with flying colours, defeating Paul Nicholls’ well regarded Prospect Wells in a Grade Two.
Steps to Freedom was due to run in a bumper on the all-weather at Dundalk last week but Jessica Harrington decided not to run him. He is reported to be in good form and working well. He has a great chance of getting the week off to a flying start for the Irish.
Oscars Well
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| Oscars Well image: irishracing.com |
This horse was desperately unlucky at the Festival last year. He looked to be every inch the winner of the Neptune Investments Novices’ Hurdle but he sprawled on landing after the last. He did well to stay on his feet but he lost all chance of winning and ended up in fourth.
This season he has run four times and been placed in each race. Oscars Well will run in the Champion Hurdle and although this race looks to be at the mercy of the imperious Hurricane Fly, Oscars Well will love the fast gallop and quicker ground he should get in that race. At 12/1 he is definite each way value and probably the horse to chase Hurricane Fly up the Cheltenham hill.
Citizenship
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| Citizenship winning the Boylesports.com hurdle image:irishracing.com |
He was an impressive winner of the Boylesports Hurdle at Leopardstown a month ago and holds entries in the County Hurdle and the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Hurdle. Although festival handicaps can be tricky to plot a course through, Citizenship’s trainer knows what it takes having won the County Hurdle with Spirit Leader in 2003. She is leaning towards that race with Citizenship and he is currently 14/1 for that race.
Jetson
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| Jetson (left) irishracing.com |
He won a competitive handicap hurdle at Leopardstown’s Christmas Festival and holds an entry in the Pertemps Handicap Hurdle. He is a best priced 16/1 shot for the listed contest.
Her Cheltenham entries are completed by The Quiet Hawk in the Fred Winter Juvenile Hurdle, The Bull Hayes in the County Hurdle and Saludos, who was third to Seabass at Naas on Sunday is entered in the Grand Annual Chase.
*This article first appeared in The Nationalist 28 February 2012
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