Racecards
14:20 Cheltenham
Renault Trafic Novices' Hurdle (Class 2)
- 4 Runners
- Distance: 2m 1f
- Going: Good
- Surface: Turf
- £14,500 added
- Form 212P
- Age 5
- Weight 11-8
- Official Rating 127
- Trainer A King
- Jockey R Thornton
jumped badly right throughout, led, headed soon after 2 out, driven soon after, weakened between last 2
- Form F12
- Age 6
- Weight 11-4
- Official Rating 127
- Trainer P Hobbs & J White
- Jockey R Johnson
tracked leader, challenged, jumped right 2 out, soon led, pressed last, kept on well run-in
- Form 117
- Age 5
- Weight 11-4
- Official Rating 125
- Trainer J R Fanshawe
- Jockey A P McCoy
tracked leading pair, headway on inside, upsides winner last, stumbled soon after, hung left, no impression run-in
Sotelo
30- Age 5
- Weight 11-0
- Trainer S Gollings
- Jockey Timmy Murphy
always last, ridden after 3 out, soon lost touch, eased, tailed off
In depth
Verdict
Nobelix gets a narrow vote over Lead On and Self Respect in the opener on the card. Just the four runners line up here, but it promises to be quite a tight affair between the top three, with preference just for Nobelix. James Fanshawe's charge was all at sea on heavy ground at Haydock when last seen, but had earlier looked a most progressive sort when scoring at Leicester and Kempton. Rested since his Haydock exertions, and with ground to suit, he gets the nod with Tony McCoy in the saddle. Lead On has solid form, having just been touched off by Special Envoy at Newbury in March, and he should not mind the ground at all, while Self Respect was another that floundered on testing going when pulled up behind Overstrand at Sandown in December. He has to give 4lb away to the other two main contenders, and all in all we would rather side with Nobelix, on this occasion at least.
Formwatch
Self Respect (USA) 7-1 (11-0) In touch, ridden approaching 3 out, soon weakened and pulled up 2 out in race won by Overstrand (10-5) at Sandown 2m lst hcp hdl (1) hvy in Dec, 17 ran.
Lead On (IRE) 9-2 (11-6) In touch, headway to chase winner between last 2, every chance last, strong challenge flat, just held, 2nd of 18, nk behind Special Envoy (11-6) at Newbury 2m nov hdl (4) gs in Mar.
Nobelix (IRE) 16-1 (11-8) Held up and raced wide, lost place after 4 out, 7th of 8, well behind Amaretto Rose (11-1) at Haydock 2m nov hdl Grd 2 (1) hvy in Jan.
Sotelo 25-1 (11-0) Mid-division, ridden and weakened 4 out, 13th of 17, well behind Tritonix (11-5) at Warwick 2m nov hdl (4) gd in Mar.