The latest news and best bets in our daily horse racing blog, plus this week's tipping competition
11.25am Pandorama only 50-50 to make the Gold Cup
Tony Paley: Ireland's leading Cheltenham Gold Cup hope Pandorama has suffered an injury and is only 50-50 to make the race at the Festival in March.
Noel Meade's eight-year-old, a general 14-1 shot for Cheltenham, has a bruised hock that connections are hoping will only keep him out for a matter of weeks but it has been confirmed that he will miss the Hennessy Gold Cup at Leopardstown on February 6.
Owner Robert Bagnall told At The Races: "We think he got a little bit of a knock in his box on Thursday and Noel brought him out on Friday for a small canter and he came home slightly lame.
"Over the weekend Noel walked him and he appeared to be all right, but he came back lame again this morning and we hope that he's just bruised his hock.
"We've done an X-ray and at first there appeared to be a little crack in his hock, but then we X-rayed the other hock as well and it was identical.
"We're just sincerely hoping it's only a bruise. It will mean resting him for a week and that obviously rules him out of the Hennessy.
"It's my lifelong ambition to get to Cheltenham and when I asked Noel on his thinking over the Gold Cup, he said the chances were a good 50-50 that we'd still get him there."
Paul Jones' daily Cheltenham Festival countdown stat
Saturday's Cleeve Hurdle has attracted a 19-strong entry and has usurped the Long Walk Hurdle as the most reliable guide for the Ladbrokes World Hurdle of late with three of the last four winners of the Festival's staying hurdling championship taking their chance in this Grade 2 event.
Upped to a three-mile contest in 2005, it is no coincidence that the Cleeve Hurdle's upturn in fortunes as a World Hurdle guide has increased since then, as the only real difference between the two races now is that there is a penalty structure in place as they are also both run on the New Course.
Inglis Drever used the Cleeve Hurdle as his final prep race for the second and third of his World Hurdles and, the following season, the 1-2 in the 'Cleeve', Big Buck's and Punchestowns, went on to fill the same positions at the Festival. Last season's World Hurdle runner-up behind Big Buck's, Time For Rupert, also contested the Cleeve, adding further lustre to its record since the race-distance change. Grands Crus, Bensalem and Spirit River look the pick of this weekend's 19 entries.
Paul Jones is author of The Cheltenham Festival Betting Guide published by Weatherbys
Today's best bets, by Chris Cook
Alas, the most interesting of today's entrants is already a non-runner, as Champion Court (prominent in betting on the Albert Bartlett at the Cheltenham Festival) has coughed this morning and will not take part in Leicester's opening novice hurdle. When a horse wins a Graded race at Cheltenham's November meeting on its hurdling debut, it's a little surprising that its next run would be on a January Tuesday at Leicester, but Martin Keighley was looking for a straightforward winning opportunity. We must now wait to see how seriously his horse is afflicted.
It may be a blessing in disguise, if the horse recovers quickly, because this is a tough race, as there are plenty of useful prospects in need of a race because of all the lost fixtures in the past six weeks. In the line-up is the useful Lord Liath, from the Alan King stable that has won this race twice in the last four runnings, as well as the mud-loving Uttoxeter winner Tornado Bob and the fascinating Glitzy D'Ocala (1.10).
Just so you know, Glitzy D'Ocala is the horse that, in a brief career, has managed to get Alison Thorpe into trouble twice. She was fined and Glitzy D'Ocala disqualified when a banned substance was found in his sample after he won a bumper last year, and then she was fined again when it turned out the horse (supposedly owned by the trainer at that time) was actually owned by Tom Malone, a licenced jockey and therefore barred from owning racehorses. Glitzy D'Ocala is now in new ownership and trained by Philip Hobbs, for whom he won a bumper earlier this month, and I feel he has the class to take this if his hurdling is in order.
Chilla Cilla (2.10) seems finally to be getting her act together over fences and is fairly priced at 7-2 for the conditional jockeys' race, in which Richie McLernon is among the better talents due to ride. Later on the card, Seasonselite (4.10) is tempting at 9-2 to sustain the fine form of Venetia Williams, who aims to peak at around this time of the season.
Pick of the card at Sedgefield may be Kosta Brava (3.30) from the in-form Howard Johnson yard at 2-1 in what seems an uncompetitive handicap chase. His main rival, Gavroche Gaugain, seems to have terrible trouble staying upright.
Tipping competition, day two
Maybe fresh eyes are a help when assessing the form. Talking Horses' veteran tipsters were put in the shade by a couple of newbies yesterday, as SepticPeg and grantyno1 went through the card, picking Work Boy (3-1), Poppy Golightly (7-1) and The Lock Master (15-2). Fixxxer, also new, missed only Work Boy.
Today, we'd like your tips, please, for these races: 3.00 Sedgefield, 3.40 Leicester, 4.10 Leicester.
This week's prize is a copy of McCoy, the Racing Post's recently published record of the great jockey's career.
As ever, our champion will be the tipster who returns the best profit to notional level stakes of �1 at starting price on our nominated races, of which there will be three each day up until Friday. Non-runners count as losers. If you have not yet joined in so far this week, you are welcome to do so today but you will start on -3.
For terms and conditions click here.
Good luck!
Standings after day one
SepticPeg +17.50
grantyno1 +17.50
Fixxxer +13.50
TL127 +9.50
xwireman +5.50
Templegate +5.50
moidadembums +5
erniemung +5
snowy81 +5
zizkov123 +5
Ormrod76 +5
BearRides +5
MikeytheEel +5
WalthamstowLad +5
pops2 +5
TheSquire86 +5
goofs +1
Mulldog +1
lonewolfmcquaid +1
irishbrumy +1
tom1977 -3
Brochdoll -3
melonk -3
ToffeeDan1 -3
TheVic -3
Sportingchad -3
MillieJ -3
millreef -3
JahLion -3
slackdad38 -3
Viejo -3
SussexRH -3
arunpaul -3
Copshaw -3
millario -3
curlycov -3
MauriceNL -3
chanleyman -3
londonpatrick -3
steve084 -3
chris1623 -3
scandalous -3
Mai11 -3
Moscow08 -3
23skidoo -3
William36 -3
Harrytheactor -3
diegoisgod -3
leannemarie27 -3
sandiuk -3
triggo321 -3
SmokingGun1 -3
Ellandback -3
Captain77 -3
StableLad -3
carl31 -3
Shrewdette -3
chiefhk -3
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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2011/jan/25/horse-racing-horse-racing-tips
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