Barry Geraghty
Barry Geraghty’s William Hill blog: Temps’ time in the Tingle Creek
William Hill ambassador Barry Geraghty previews a big weekend of top-class action from Sandown, Aintree, Cork and Huntingdon.
Sandown, Saturday
KIKIJO put in a good performance to win last time at Cheltenham and could be the one in the Pertemps qualifier (1:20pm). He had Supremely West 24 lengths behind him in fifth that day, so you’d like to think he will confirm that form. He’s only a five-year-old and I think he’s improving with experience and since the step up to three miles. He won like a horse that could improve further at Cheltenham and there’s a lot to like about him.
It looks a quality line up for the Grade 1 Henry VIII Novices’ Chase (1:50pm), but LULAMBA is potentially the real deal. He was really good on chase debut at Exeter, jumping well and winning as he liked. Looking back at his hurdles form, he was only beaten a neck in the Triumph and then was a good winner at Punchestown when reversing that form with Poniros on better ground, which I think helped him show his class. He’s getting the four-year-old weight allowance here, and as a horse with loads of scope for improvement that proved his jumping at Exeter, it’s hard to see past him.
In the two-mile handicap hurdle (2:25pm), KNICKERBOCKERGLORY makes his seasonal return in the race he won last season. We haven’t seen him since the spring when he was running competitively in some good handicaps. His run to finish third behind Secret Squirrel in a really deep race at Windsor is strong form, and while he was maybe slightly disappointing on his final start of last season, he has been largely highly consistent at this level. A reproduction of his best runs last spring would make him hard to beat. He goes well fresh and to me he is the one that stands out.
The Grade 1 Tingle Creek (3:00pm) is a fascinating clash, particularly with Jonbon lining up again. He may have needed the run when beaten 15 lengths by L’Eau Du Sud in the Shloer at Cheltenham, but to me he looked lacklustre. You’re going to need speed to win this, and last time he didn’t look like a horse who had that, whether that’s age or just not being at his best. It didn’t look like a lack of fitness that was the problem as he was on the stretch from a long way out. For me, it would take a big turn around for him to reach the required level to win this after that performance. He has first-time cheekpieces on here, so that could spark some improvement but he has a lot of ground to make up with L’Eau Du Sud. The Skelton horse won the Shloer well but he was beaten into third behind Jango Baie in the Arkle, so I think that shows his ceiling. Il ETAIT TEMPS is just so consistent and has won four of the last five Grade 1 chases he has lined up in. He was beaten by Gaelic Warrior and Found A Fifty in the Arkle last year, but Cheltenham might not be his track. He missed almost all of last season but came back to beat Jonbon in the Celebration Chase over this course and distance. This season, he returned with a smooth win at Clonmel and if he builds on that, he will be hard to beat, even if Jonbon returns to his best.
In the London National (3:35pm), I’ll side with TANGANYIKA who ran well for a long way on reappearance at Cheltenham. He took Protektorat on from the front that day and only tired late on. He has plenty of solid staying form from last season, including when second to Mr Vango in the Midlands National and prior to that when winning at Market Rasen and Carlisle. He’ll love the ground, and while Venetia’s [Williams] horses are probably yet to hit top form, he looks like he should be teed up nicely for this with improvement expected from his reappearance run.
Aintree, Saturday
EDELAK would be the one for me in the Listed William Hill Best Odds Guaranteed Wirral Juvenile Hurdle (2:05pm). I saw him win at Galway in July when he landed an amateur riders’ maiden on the Flat in good style. He won in first-time blinkers, and I’d say that he is probably just a little lazy, but he is a typical Aga Khan-bred, with a good staying pedigree. That was on yielding-to-soft ground so the conditions at Aintree should suit him well. I think he could build on what we saw on the Flat now going over hurdles.
One of the William Hill Half A Mill Becher Handicap Chase (2:40pm) field will be in line for a shot at the Half A Mill bonus in the National in the spring and I think that could be GABORIOT. He was second to Colonel Harry in the Grand Sefton, going one better than he managed in that race last year. He has plenty of course experience over these fences and last time he was ridden like a horse that was going to improve for the run. Although he was pulled up when racing over four miles in the Eider at Newcastle last season, I think this step up from the Sefton trip to this three-miles-three-furlongs is going to suit him. Down at the bottom of the handicap, he has a nice racing weight too.
Cork, Sunday
It’s all about MAJBOROUGH in the Grade 2 Hilly Way (2:50pm) at Cork. If he hadn’t made a mistake at the second last in the Arkle, he would be unbeaten over fences. This is a quality field, with Energumene, Found A Fifty and Banbridge taking him on, but Majborough has the potential to be a star of the future.
Huntingdon, Sunday
Charlie Deutsch gave DJELO a brilliant ride to win the Charlie Hall on his reappearance, which I thought was as far as the horse needed to go. I think dropping back to two-and-a-half miles here in the Grade 2 Peterborough Chase (3:00pm) will suit him. Huntingdon is a sharp track, so it suits a horse with speed, and it plays perfectly to Djelo’s strengths, as we saw when he beat Protektorat in this race last year. I think he’ll have to underperform here to be beaten.
