'A key formline has gone under the radar' - an outsider for the Greatwood Hurdle

A Different Kind
2.55 Cheltenham, Sunday
1pt each-way at 20-1, William Hill

Dan Skelton and Paul Nicholls have both recently come out and decried jump racing's obsessive focus with the Cheltenham Festival recently and I can empathise with them.

This singular focus means spectators can often suffer for the remainder of the year, with fans and bettors increasingly surviving on a diet of small and uncompetitive fields.

Hopefully Cheltenham's November meeting at the end of this week won't fit into that bracket and in some ways I find it more enjoyable than the festival itself.

I am looking forward to attending all three days and I have done plenty of homework in a bid to fish out some winners.

In Saturday's Paddy Power Gold Cup we know where we stand with plenty of the runners and there doesn't seem to be a horse with loads in hand at the bottom of the weights.

The three to make my shortlist are Shakem Up'Arry, Fontaine Collonges and Coole Cody, but I will likely wait until nearer the time to firm up a selection.

Shakem Up'Arry looked to be in need of further when rattling home to be a distant third in the Red Rum at Aintree last season and he's been dropped 2lb since, but I'm not convinced he's good enough for a race of this nature and at around 14-1 I am happy to leave him.

Similar comments apply to Fontaine Collonges, who looked progressive last winter, but she didn't have any excuses when fourth to Vienna Court over this course and distance in December and she could be more effective once the mud is flying.

Coole Cody doesn't need much of an introduction as he won this race in 2020 and would have surely gone close if standing up at the second-last off 4lb higher last year.

He won twice on the New course afterwards, putting up a Racing Post Rating of 157 with an almighty effort in the Plate at the festival.

He will be fighting fit for this after a pipe-opener over hurdles and there doesn't appear to be much pace in the race either, so he could be advantaged by an easy lead.

This would be a huge ask off his current mark but Greaneteen and Frodon have proved class tells in these big handicaps in the past week and 20-1 is far too big for a horse of his quality.

It's unlikely I'll be able to emulate last year's 25-1 winning ante-post wager on West Cork for the Unibet Greatwood Handicap Hurdle but it isn't going to stop me trying.

Joint-favourite Sonigino has looked a totally different horse this season and the money is bound to come for the Emmet Mullins-trained Thousand Tears, but I'm confident there is value to be had at bigger prices.

A key formline appears to have gone under the radar and I don't think A Different Kind's recent Aintree second has garnered enough attention.

That 2m4f handicap hurdle is invariably won by some classy types, including Paisley Park in 2017, and this year's race was chock-full of interesting second-season novice hurdlers.

A Different Kind caught the eye travelling strongly in the closing stages, indicating he should be suited by the drop back to this trip, and the likely decent ground and fast pace are also in his favour.

He would have beaten Peking Rose in another stride and it's worth remembering that horse finished second to Saturday's Elite Hurdle winner Knappers Hill in a Listed bumper at the track, with Grade 1 scorer Stage Star in behind.

The third, Petit Tonnerre, also ran with promise and will surely be up to winning soon, while the fourth, Onemorefortheroad, has been consistent in top handicaps and gives the form some rigidity.

A Different Kind was only raised 3lb for missing out by a short head and he would probably be much shorter than a best-priced 20-1 if he had a '1' beside his name instead of a '2', yet in reality there was just millimetres in it.

He also boasts course form and was arguably travelling best at the bottom of the hill when third in a Grade 2 at the track in January, just getting outstayed by North Lodge and Balco Coastal in the final climb.

He should have more to give on just his second handicap start and five-year-olds have won four of the last eight runnings of this race, so he has a good profile.

Pipe can prosper in Friday opener

Astigar
1.10 Cheltenham, Friday
1pt win

The opening 2m5f handicap hurdle for conditional riders on Friday is always a competitive affair but it has been good to favourites over the last ten years, with four winning and just one scoring at double-figure odds.

David Pipe was responsible for that with 40-1 shot Home Run in 2013, while his two favourites, Unique De Cotte and Duc De Beauchene, delivered in 2014 and 2019.

He has also begun this season in excellent form as he plundered a valuable handicap hurdle with Remastered at Aintree on Saturday and is operating at a decent cent strike-rate.

His previous winners of this race came off absences of 159, 640 and 200 days, so the 606-day break Astigar has had isn't as big a concern as some might think and the form of two of his four starts reads very well.

He finished just a head behind the capable Solwara One (peak rating 134) in a bumper and only half a length separated him from three-time winner Patroclus (129) on his hurdling debut. Fellow winners Fletch (113) and last season's progressive chaser Brave Seasca (146) were behind.

He can be forgiven his pulled-up effort at Exeter afterwards as he never appeared to be travelling. He also wasn't disgraced on his most recent run behind Smurphy Enki, although he jumped scrappily there – an attribute he hadn't previously shown – and it may explain his prolonged spell away from the track.

The strapping grey is from the family of the Pipe-trained Graded winner Ramses De Teillee and looks open to plenty of improvement off a mark of 118.

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