Barry Geraghty’s William Hill blog: Don’t Lookaway from Destiny at Cheltenham

William Hill ambassador Barry Geraghty casts his eye over Saturday’s card from Cheltenham and picks out his best bets.

Cheltenham, Saturday

From what I’ve seen of the runners in the Triumph Trial (12:35pm), I thought EAST INDIA DOCK was the most impressive. Plenty of his form on the Flat looks strong, including when winning a competitive handicap at Goodwood in September, and he ended up being rated 96. He looked to take to hurdles well at Wincanton on his debut for James Owen and he should have learnt a good deal for that introduction, so he could take another step forward here.

L’Eau Du Sud looks a worthy favourite in the Arkle Trial (1:45pm), having been a good runner-up in both the Betfair and County Hurdles last season, but the thing that worries me slightly is that all his best form is on softer ground. I thought there was potential in LOOKAWAY, who jumped really well on chase debut at Uttoxeter when beating a good rival in Personal Ambition. He has some good form over hurdles too, having finished third behind Mystical Power and Firefox at Aintree in the spring. His best form is on better ground, which looks key, and if he can get into a good jumping rhythm out in front, he should go very well.

The Paddy Power Gold Cup (2:20pm) as always is competitive and you can make cases for all of the top four in the market. Imagine is a horse that is very unexposed over fences and has lots of potential. Ga Law is a top performer and has won this race in the past, but has edged up in the weights after his good reappearance second at Chepstow. Il Ridoto finished a good way behind Ga Law on reappearance at Chepstow and needs to improve a lot for that run. I was going through them all and kept coming back to GINNY’S DESTINY. Paul Nicholls’ eight-year-old has good form, having won three chases in a row at Cheltenham last season, before finishing second in the Turners and then again bumping into one at Aintree. Both those defeats were good performances and I think there could be more to come this season. Protektorat being in here helps to keep him down the weights, meaning he has a comparably light weight of 11st 2lb to shoulder. He has Grade 1 form to his name and if he can reproduce his Aintree run, I think he will be hard to beat.

NOBLE BIRTH (2:55pm) caught the eye when finishing third in a chase at Cork on his reappearance last month. He reverts back to hurdles here, having finished down the field on his last start over the smaller obstacles in the Pertemps at the Festival. That was a highly competitive race though and before that he had been a good winner over hurdles at Naas. Last time out he raced on good ground at Cork, so similar conditions should suit him well, and I can see him running a nice race.

The mares’ Listed bumper (4:00pm) features many runners that are coming here on the back of wins last time, but the form on offer isn’t easy to weigh up. Willie Mullins won this race last year and runs Korinthia, but the race she won at Limerick last time didn’t looks a strong event. It could well be worth looking to a newcomer and Dan Skelton’s point-to-point winner SETTLE DOWN JILL may be worth chancing. The rival she beat when winning her point in convincing style has gone on to finish second in a bumper, so that gives the form a bit of substance. The Skeltons always save their best for Cheltenham, so with nothing immediately standing out on form, their mare could be the one.