Barry Geraghty’s William Hill blog: Don’t desert the Captain

William Hill ambassador Barry Geraghty looks ahead to the opening day of Cheltenham’s November Meeting.

Cheltenham, Friday

In the opener (1:10pm), I’d like to give a mention to Henry de Bromhead’s GENTLE AND KIND, who was a cosy winner at Tramore on soft ground last time out. She is a point-to-point winner and has only had two starts over hurdles, so I think there could be a good bit to come now starting off in handicaps. Mickey O’Connor, a very talented young Irish jockey, takes the ride.

CALICO (1:45pm) gave Jonbon a massive fright in the Kingmaker at Warwick last season and he was booked for second place when he came down at the final fence at Aintree in Grade 1 company last time. That’s a strong level of form to bring back into a handicap like this and he’s a second season chaser, so he still has a lot of potential for improvement.

In the Arkle Trial (2:20pm), I like the look of MIGHTY TOM. He has some smart hurdles form, including when only beaten five lengths into sixth in the Galway Hurdle, and has seemed to take well to fences. He ran a nice race on his chase debut at Cork last time, finishing second to Letsbeclearaboutit, where he looked to settle much better and travel well for Danny Gilligan. Trainer Cian Collins does well when bringing these sorts of horses over – winning the Welsh Champion Hurdle with Effernock Fizz last year – and is a very capable handler.

The Cross Country (2:55pm) looks a rematch between the two who fought out the finish to the Cross Country at the Festival. With current conditions being soft, it would point you towards DELTA WORK, who has the benefit of a run as well, but if the going was to improve dramatically, then that would bring Galvin back into it.

An each way alternative could be Dan Skelton’s Latenightpass. He finished fourth in the Foxhunters’ at Aintree last season and won that contest in 2022, so with that kind of form over the National fences, jumping shouldn’t be a concern for him here.  

Back On The Lash beat Delta Work in this race last season. He’s been pulled-up on his last three outings though, so while he has the ability, the difficulty may be catching him on a going day.

CAPTAIN TEAGUE (3:30pm) would probably be my nap of the weekend. He brings a very strong level of form from last season’s Champion Bumper and was good when starting off over hurdles at Chepstow this season. There’s a lot of improvement expected on that run – he should improve for that first jumping experience and fitness wise. He’s a standout horse among a nice bunch of rivals that perhaps lack star quality.

TINTINTIN (4:05pm) makes his first start after a wind operation. He won on hurdles debut at Ffos Las last season and was then placed in three races, including when a good second behind Spirit D’Aunou in Huntingdon. He looks open to plenty of improvement and should be capable of a good run.