Albert Bartlett Novices Hurdle Tips & Prediction
The last of the Grade 2 novice hurdles to take place at the Cheltenham Festival, Day 4’s Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle is one for the stayers, and plenty of stamina is required to win it.
Stayers Hurdle winner Penhill and Gold Cup hero Minella Indo are on the roll of honour for this three-mile event and it’s another race which the Irish have dominated for the most part in recent years.
It’s going to be a bit of a cavalry charge going to the first, with a field of 20 declared and we’ve picked out three horses to follow in the race, and one is a nice each-way price.
NAP: Wingmen @ 15/2
Gordon Elliott resisted urgings from the media to run The Yellow Clay in this rather than the Turners on Wednesday because they have WINGMEN and the former’s cracking run on Day 2 means he was probably justified.
Wingmen was nominated by Elliott as a dark horse to follow for this season and his only below-par effort over hurdles came over 2m1f, which is definitely too short for him.
His staying on third behind the Yellow Clay in the Lawlor’s Of Naas was the perfect trial for this, and although he’s yet to run over three miles under rules, his impressive point-to-point success came over this trip.
He ran a similar race when runner-up behind Final Demand in a Grade 1 over 2m6f at the Dublin Racing Festival and the extra two furlongs could make a big difference.
The best is still yet to come from this son of Kayf Tara over hurdles, and the ratings suggest he may well be the one they all have to beat.
NB: Ballybow @ 11/1
Ballybow took a couple of starts to get the hang of things over hurdles, but this former bumper winner was an impressive scorer in a maiden at Naas in January.
Former Champion Bumper winner A Dream To Share was back in fourth and the second, Kalix Delabarriere, has boosted the form by winning over the same course and distance on his next start.
Gaining his revenge on Ballygunner Castle when upped to Grade 3 level at Clonmel next time, he took another step forward, and the three-mile trip was clearly a positive.
That experience is set to serve him well here, and this looks like the ideal test for him, as there is some three-mile form in the son of Flemensfirth’s pedigree.
You would imagine that there won’t be many capable of outstaying the Elliott-trained six-year-old and he should be doing his best work at the business end of the race.
Also consider: Intense Approach @ 14/1
Decent ground is going to be key to his chances and in fact he probably won’t run if conditions end up too testing, but fortunately that seems a little on the unlikely side.
John McConnell’s Intense Approach won a novice hurdle on the old course here back in October, and whilst the form isn’t out of this world, Millforce finished fourth and has won since.
He successfully made all the running to win a trial for this at Musselburgh last month and whilst probably not the most talented runner in the field, he should be staying on past beaten horses.
View all Cheltenham Festival markets
Odds correct at time of publication but subject to fluctuation