Barry Geraghty’s William Hill blog: Doyen can be The Cheltenham Chief

William Hill ambassador Barry Geraghty previews the first day of Cheltenham’s December Meeting.

Cheltenham, Friday

FRENCH EMPEROR and Fortune De Mer head the market for the two-mile-one-furlong handicap hurdle (1:15pm) and their form ties in closely on a line through Jack Hyde. That horse finished over a length behind French Emperor when he won at Cheltenham last month, while he was a length further behind Fortune De Mer when he won at the Showcase Meeting in October. There doesn’t look to be much between then on that evidence, but I just thought French Emperor looked a little bit more progressive when he won at Cheltenham the last day. Sean Bowen is a positive booking too.

The Turners Handicap Chase (1:50pm) is a good race and sees the return to action of L’Homme Presse. He has a good Cheltenham record, including when beating Stage Star to win the Cotswold Chase last season, and the season before was fourth in the Gold Cup behind Galopin Des Champs. He does set the standard but he has to give a lot of weight away, with all his other rivals carrying less than 11 stone. The form of THE DOYEN CHIEF’s second at Bangor on his return to action was given a boost by third placed Richmond Lake finishing runner-up in a good race at Aintree last weekend. He then lined up in the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury, but he fell fowl of a standing start and lost many lengths on the field. He looked to shy away when the tapes went up and completely missed the start, and I think Tom Bellamy made the right decision to pull him up before he jumped a fence. He was progressive last season, especially after stepping up in trip and I think he looks nicely weighted here.

I thought FUGITIF might be the one in the Veterans’ Chase (2:25pm). He was beaten eight lengths into third in the December Gold Cup last season and he won it the season before, so he has good course form and does well at this meeting in particular. He needs to improve a lot for his first run of the season, but that was the case last year. This part of the season is probably the time to catch him and with this being his first run in veterans’ company, it represents a step back in class compared to where he was 12 months ago.

AMIRITE was fourth in the Galway Plate, finishing 10 lengths behind Western Fold, which is perhaps the strongest form in what is a competitive Cross Country Handicap Chase (3:00pm). He’s a horse with a lot of experience and one that jumps really well. This will be his first go over the Cross Country Course but he was fourth in the Topham over the Grand National fences last season, so he proved there that he can cope with an alternative jumping test. The ground on the Cross Country Course is currently good, which is ideal for him. I think he could be the classiest in this field.

KYNTARA looks to offer a bit of value in the three-mile handicap hurdle (3:35pm). I thought he ran well on reappearance when finishing fourth behind Impose Toi at Aintree. The last two hurdles were bypassed there, and I don’t think he benefitted from that. While he didn’t take to fences last season, his form the season before that was very strong, including when finishing second behind Monmiral in the Pertemps Final at the Festival. He’s back down to the same mark as that run, and with his reappearance behind him there’s a good chance he can go well here.