Barry Geraghty’s William Hill blog: Jonbon and Chief to Lord it over their rivals

William Hill ambassador Barry Geraghty looks ahead to the final day of Cheltenham’s November Meeting and picks out his best bets.

Cheltenham, Sunday

In the opener (1:10pm), Ben Pauling’s TELLHERTHENAME is of strong interest. He was very impressive when winning his Irish point-to-point and was only beaten a nose on debut under rules by Jango Baie at Ascot earlier this month. The pair were well clear of the third and he should improve for that outing. This looks a race that contains a few potentially smart performers, including Kim Bailey’s The Kemble Brewery, who won here at the October Meeting.

In contrast, the following handicap chase (1:45pm) doesn’t look the strongest of contests. It might be best to look towards the head of the market and CREBILLY, who was a winner at Sandown at the end of last season over this trip. He progressed nicely last campaign and while this is his first chase start, he looks as though he could take well to fences. Railway Hurricane has a habit of running well, but he rarely gets his head in front. Colm Murphy’s mare Elle Perfecta looks to hold a chance, but her best form is on better ground and with the rain that’s forecast, conditions could go against her.

With Nicky Henderson’s horses in good form, CITY CHIEF was the one I landed on in the 3m3½f Premier Handicap (2:20pm). His jumping let him down in Ayr on his final start last season but he’s only had four starts over fences and as a six-year-old he must still have plenty of potential for improvement.

JONBON will be very hard to beat in the Schloer Chase (2:55pm). Reports from Seven Barrows are very good, and he looks the one in here with most potential. Edwardstone still has to be respected, but he lost momentum last season after his win in the Tingle Creek and needs to get back on track. Editeur Du Gite was beaten a long way in the Haldon Gold Cup at Exeter on his reappearance and Nube Negra won’t like the ground if it gets too soft.

Onlyamatteroftime for Willie Mullins and owner Paul Byrne heads the market in the Greatwood (3:30pm). You have to respect those connections, but on the bare form he needs to improve on what he’s shown to date. The one I like is IBERICO LORD, who was a very good second to Under Control on his last start at Sandown in April. He’s a French import that is still unexposed after only four starts in Britain and he’s proved that he has a liking for testing ground. Nico de Boinville looks to have chosen him over Luccia, but she could well still be worth siding with each way here. It’s interesting that Nicky [Henderson] has chosen to bring this mare back quickly after running in Wetherby two weeks ago and she’s sure to improve on that effort now.

It’s interesting to see Paul Nicholls run FIRE FLYER back in a bumper (4:00pm). He won a bumper at Ascot at the start of last season, but then disappointed in a Listed company at Newbury in February, so the fact he starts off again in bumpers this season is worth noting.