French connection gives this juvenile the edge in fascinating Adonis

Weatherbys Cheltenham Festival Betting Guide Adonis Juvenile Hurdle (Grade 2) | 2m | 4yo | ITV4/RTV

The Adonis is a race that has launched careers, primarily as a Triumph Hurdle trial for latecomers. The likes of Soldatino, Zarkandar and Fusil Raffles all made winning British debuts in the race, with the first two going on to success at Cheltenham.

Solo comes into this year's running with a similar profile. He was a 15-length winner at Auteuil on his last run in France in November, stealing a march at an early stage and never looking like relinquishing that advantage.

He has since joined Paul Nicholls and the vibes have been strong for a while. It would be wise to take heed, but he looked an obvious chasing type when winning last time and it could be that we see the best of him further down the line, as is the modus operandi of his new trainer.

Also coming from France is Fujimoto Flyer, although her visit was just a sojourn as she has always been based in Ireland. She won a Listed race for fillies, in more impressive style than Solo managed there two months later. The nine-length winning margin was gained almost entirely from the last flight, by which point most French hurdles races are only just starting.

The caveat on Fujimoto Flyer is her free-going nature. A hood has been fitted to combat that and should it have the desired effect she would make more appeal than Solo, especially at slightly bigger odds.

In truth, it is a substandard running of the Adonis besides those two. Only Tremwedge has recorded a Racing Post Rating higher than 112 over hurdles so far, that coming when he was third to Cerberus in a Grade 3 at Fairyhouse on his final start for Ellmarie Holden. He faces a stiff task returned to juvenile company, although it is expected that Alan King will draw improvement from him.

King's other runner, Blame It On Sally, is the sole hurdles debutant. He was fairly useful on the Flat for Sir Mark Prescott. He has a stiff Flat pedigree and stays 2m, so it may be that a greater test of stamina will be required in this sphere.

Analysis by Keith Melrose

Key stat

Paul Nicholls has won this on four occasions since 2009, while Alan King won the 2017 and 2018 runnings.

What they say

Paul Nicholls, trainer of Solo
I’m looking forward to running him. It’s a new environment for the horse, but I’m expecting a very tidy run. I like him an awful lot.

Warren Greatrex, trainer of Earl Of Harrow
I like him, since we bought him he's always done well. He actually had a little blip before he ran at Catterick so there was always going to be improvement, but I think he would've won that day if he'd jumped the last and he's improved since then. He's in the Triumph and I want to see if we're up to that standard or not, so we'll see what he's like tomorrow.

Noel Williams, trainer of Fantastic Ms Fox
She won a maiden hurdle and then won a Listed race against her own sex so I thought we should see how she fares against a better batch of juveniles. If I do run her at the festival, it will give us a few pointers as to where I run her. She’s in good form, she's fresh and well and bucking and kicking this morning – I think she’ll put in a very good performance.

Emmet Mullins, trainer of Fujimoto Flyer
She seems very well and we're looking forward to seeing where she stacks up in relation to some of the British juveniles. She took to hurdles from day one and loved it. It was always the plan to give her a break after Auteuil and I've been very happy with her of late. We're not really thinking about the Triumph Hurdle yet and we will just see how she gets on here before making any further plans.

Reporting by Tommy Churchyard

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