Gavin Cromwell’s William Hill blog: d’Oroux can get back on the winning Path

William Hill ambassador Gavin Cromwell previews his runners ahead of this week’s Cheltenham Showcase meeting as he saddles seven horses over the two days.

Hoping for a similar start to last season

Cheltenham was a happy hunting ground for us last season, especially at the start of the campaign, and we’re hopeful of getting off to a similar start this year. It’s obviously very competitive there but we have a good few runners, so fingers crossed we can get off to a good start!

Friday, Cheltenham

Our first runner over the two days is Path d’Oroux (1.50pm). He was a bit unlucky not to win a race last year and came close to landing a good pot a couple of times, but he still gained plenty of experience. Based on ratings, he should be very competitive in this race.

It’s his first run of the season but hopefully he’ll take his chance. It’d be great for him to get on the board after last season and I could see him winning here.

Individualiste (3.35pm) is our only other runner on the Friday, but he’s certainly an interesting one. We picked him up from Paul Nicholls’ yard, where he’d pulled up on his last two starts. Paul is a very good trainer and it’s hard to improve his horses, but we’re happy with him at home. He’s stepping right up in trip and he’s shown signs at home that he could stay that far. We’ve got a good amateur on board in Declan Lavery, so hopefully he’ll be competitive and run a good race.

Saturday, Cheltenham

We’ve got a few more runners on the Saturday and we start the day off with Dutch Schultz (1.10pm). His last win came over 2m 1f and he’s back over 2m 4f here. He should be fine with the trip on good ground, the only downside might be his handicap. He’s not terribly well-handicapped but if he runs to his mark then hopefully he won’t be too far off.

Only five go to post in the three-mile novices’ hurdle and we’re hoping to be bang there with Millforce (1.45pm). He’s got some good point-to-point form and was only just beaten last time out after winning at the first attempt over hurdles. He’s proven over the trip and although we’re turning him back out quite quickly, he seems to have come out of the last race well. The conditions suit and we’re hopeful he’ll be right there.

We’re bringing one of our stable stars out in Vanillier (2.20pm) for his first run since the Grand National. He was in good order after the race and went on his summer break straight away. He was one of the first ones to come back in because he can get very heavy over the summer, so he’s been back for a while. He’s a tricky horse to get fit but he’s in good order at the moment and he should be ready to go.

He may not be very well handicapped for this race and good ground might not be ideal either. Hopefully there will be a little bit of moisture on the day and he’ll put in a solid performance. We’ll have to see how the season goes, but hopefully he’ll end up back at Aintree come the end of the season.

Al Gasparo (2.55pm) will follow that up in the three-mile handicap hurdle. It’s a huge step up in trip for him and we can’t be certain that he’ll stay, but he’s won a point-to-point and he seems well at home. We’re definitely taking a chance with the trip but, given it’s nice ground, we hope he’ll stay on.

We finish off our Cheltenham Showcase meeting with a good chance in the four-year-old hurdle race. Bottler’secret (3.30pm) is a nice horse and the ratings suggest that he should be winning, but they don’t always tell the full story. He was second in a Grade 1 at Punchestown back in May and he’s been in good form at home since then. No race is a gimme but we’re certainly hopeful that he’ll get the win.

There’s no specific target for him at the moment, we’re just going to take the season as it comes. It’s hard to look too far ahead in the year with these juveniles because it’s a tough ask when they have to step up and perform against older horses.