Gavin Cromwell’s William Hill blog: Look no further than Triumph Hurdle hopeful

Ahead of this year’s Cheltenham December Meeting, William Hill ambassador guides us through this weekend’s runners as well as plans for some of his stable stars over the festive period.

Cheltenham, Friday

We have four runners over the weekend at Cheltenham with two of those in the Cross Country Handicap Chase over 3m5½f (3.00pm).

Keith Donoghue has picked Stumptown who is coming off the back of a nice win at Punchestown. Cheltenham is obviously a very different course but he schooled around there this morning and he’s taken to it well.

He’s run well at Cheltenham before and he certainly travels well which is always a big positive. Hopefully he has a good chance and if all is well and he does take to it again then we’ll have the Cross Country Chase at the Festival in our sights.

We also run Vanillier who heads here with less form under his belt. He was disappointing on his first run this season and we wondered whether he might’ve lost a bit of enthusiasm, but he was more promising the last day.

He ran better at Punchestown and has schooled well this morning at Cheltenham. If he can improve from Punchestown to this race then hopefully he’ll run well. The older he gets the harder he is to get fit, so having had a couple of runs this season should be a positive. Hopefully this Cross Country can bring about a new interest in him.

Cheltenham, Saturday

The first of our two runners on Saturday is Total Look who goes in the JCB Triumph Trial Juvenile Hurdle over 2m 1f (12.10pm). He was really good at Navan the last day, he jumped well there and he’s come out of the race well.

We’ve targeted him at this weekend’s race and we’re hoping he’ll put up a good show. The main aim for him would be the Triumph Hurdle at the Festival in March, but that all depends on how it goes on Saturday. There’s a long time between now and March and he’ll have to keep progressing, but hopefully come the Festival that’s the race he’ll be going for.

Theonewedreamof rounds off our Cheltenham weekend in the Mares’ Handicap Chase over 2m4½f (1.20pm). She had a run on the Flat to keep her ticking over back in August but hasn’t been seen since. She does run well fresh and we’re happy with her at home. She’s a nice weight and hopefully her mark of 111 will prove to be a workable one.

This race has been the aim for her for a while. She’s owned by a syndicate and getting to go to Cheltenham with the horse will be a great experience for connections. Off her current rating she’d struggle to make it to Cheltenham in March, so this weekend could be her Festival.

Ones To Watch over the Festive period

We could potentially have a few high-profile runners over the Christmas period, one of which is Limerick Lace. We were disappointed with her run at Haydock but she came home safe and sound and seems in good order since, which is the most important thing.

She’ll likely go back to mares’-only company and could potentially go to the John and Chich Fowler at Fairyhouse on New Year’s Day, or the Silver Vase at Doncaster which she won last year.

We have both Malina Girl and Hartur d’Arc entered in the Howden Silver Cup Handicap Chase at Ascot (Saturday, 21 December – 3.00pm). Both of them could potentially run and we’ll have to see what the ground will be like, but it’s certainly an option for both of them.

The Listed Chase at Leopardstown (3.00pm) on the 27th is another where we have a couple entered, with both Perceval Legallois and Yeah Man potentially going there. It’s a great pot and a race we’d love to have runners in, but nothing is confirmed yet.

Inothewayurthinkin will more than likely go to Leopardstown to run in the Savills Chase (Saturday, 28 December – 2.35pm) where he’ll have to take a big step forward from his performance in the John Durkan. It is a step up in trip which will help and hopefully we’ll see an improved performance.

There’s also a Listed hurdle on that Sunday (3.05pm) where we currently have four entered, one of which is Bottler’secret. He’s been a bit disappointing so far this season. His first run at Cheltenham we were blaming the ground and the fact there were a few hurdles out on the day, so he had his excuses when he didn’t appear sharp enough.

He was put in his place the last day at Fairyhouse so he’ll need to improve plenty here. It is a step up in trip so hopefully that’ll bring about improvement.