Which horse caught your eye with the spring festivals in mind? Our experts have their say

Are U Wise To That

Are U Wise To That looked the ideal Cheltenham Festival candidate when winning the 3m1½f novice handicap chase at the track and it was heartening to hear trainer Jonjo O'Neill agrees.

O'Neill mentioned the Ultima in March afterwards and that race should be tailor-made for the progressive six-year-old, who relished the return to a left-handed course and the step up in trip after a disappointing run at Ascot last month.

Novices have a good record in the Ultima – a race O'Neill knows all about winning having done so three times in the past – and there was a lot to like about the way Are U Wise To That recovered from a mistake at the second-last to charge up the hill.
Andrew Dietz, reporter

So Scottish

I have an instinctive aversion to marking down last-time-out fallers as unlucky but it was impossible not to have your eye drawn to So Scottish before he came down four fences from home in the December Gold Cup.

That impression is increased when you watch the race back and see where he was in relation to the winner, Fugitif, and it is hard not to think he would have played a part in the finish. 

Ridden more patiently than when flattening out in the Plate at the festival, So Scottish might very easily get put away again with March in mind, rather than risk a handicap hike if he puts it all together in between. I'll be waiting for him when he does break cover again.
Scott Burton, France correspondent

Broadway Boy: successful in the 3m2f handicap chase for Nigel Twiston-DaviesCredit: john grossick

Broadway Boy

There was plenty of well-earned praise for Broadway Boy after his success in the 3m2f handicap chase at Cheltenham and I think Nigel Twiston-Davies has got it right with his preference for the Brown Advisory (16-1) in March. 

He produced a handful of jumping errors yet readily held off Threeunderthrufive, and his slickness when on song and finishing effort makes the three-mile trip preferable over stepping into the unknown for the National Hunt Chase. 

He looks to have improved past Flooring Porter, who beat him in October, and if he can control proceedings he has every chance of repeating Sam Twiston-Davies's heroics from the front on The Real Whacker in the race 12 months ago.
Catherine Macrae, reporter

Read these next:

'I was lucky to escape' - fortune favours Fugitif as local trainer Richard Hobson ends Cheltenham curse 

'Racing can be cruel' - Bryony Frost rues narrow miss aboard Il Ridoto in December Gold Cup 

'You never have quite enough to repel the closer' - Ruby Walsh and company at their best in unpicking frantic feature 

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