Paul Kealy's play of the day at Cheltenham

Placenet
2.55 Cheltenham

The Paddy Power Games Handicap Hurdle (2.55) features a fair mix, with plenty from Ireland and a couple of decent chasers trying to take advantage of lower hurdles marks, but if there is one horse with the potential to blow the race apart it's surely David Pipe's Placenet.

It's a long while since the bookmakers treated any Pipe runner at this meeting with dread and it's ten years since Caroline Tisdall's Dell' Arca won the Greatwood on his British debut for her, but she surely has a hugely interesting runner in Placenet.

Admittedly his best form in France was over fences, but the six-year-old has won there four times under each code from 18 career starts and been runner-up on a further four occasions.

When last seen in September, he was beaten only two lengths in a Listed chase at Compiegne by Clondaw Castle, a horse no doubt nowhere near as good as he was when rated as high as 160 in Britain, but still pretty useful all the same.

The horse who finished third, just a head in front of Placenet, has since come out and won a Grade 2 chase from Gold Tweet, who earned a rating of 156 in Britain after beating Dashel Drasher over hurdles on Trials day last January and was sent off at just 7-1 for the Stayers' Hurdle.

Placenet's latest run was at just 2m3f, but he has won three of his last four starts at 2m6f, the furthest he has gone so far, so he should stay 3m here, and an opening mark of 124 in Britain could prove miles too low irrespective of what obstacles he's jumping. Racing Post Ratings say he ran to 144 last time.