Nick Luck’s blog: Seems like a Good Time to back Jonny

Day two of the November Meeting at Cheltenham and four more cracking races to enjoy. Nick Luck guides us through the action…

Cheltenham

MICK PASTOR might not be the worst idea at 5/1 in the Novice Chase that opens up Cheltenham’s Saturday ITV offering (1.40pm). Clearly, he’s nowhere near as exciting as Third Time Lucki, but he’s quite a big priced second favourite considering his form is not that significantly inferior and he could get the perfect trip behind three confirmed front runners, including his Wincanton conqueror Captain Tom Cat. What’s more, I’m pretty sure he wants to go left-handed.

CARIBEAN BOY is confidently expected to run very well in the Paddy Power Gold Cup (2.15pm). He was very slick in an excellent time at Newbury first time out last year, before he slightly lost the plot. He did, however, run well enough at the Festival to think he could be competitive here and off this mark, and given that he’s now fresh and has his favoured ground again, he looks the one to be with at 12/1.

KANSAS CITY CHIEF was an unlikely hero in the Pertemps Qualifier here last time, but he won with a bit to spare and I don’t think his rise in the weights is too harsh in the Listed handicap hurdle (2.50pm). He clearly gets on very well with his rider, will be well suited by conditions, and could very easily get an uncontested lead in this smaller field. It’s true that one or two of these might be ahead of the curve, but I expect the veteran to be showing them the way right to the business end at 17/2.

GOOD TIME JONNY looks a Tony Martin special in the Intermediate handicap hurdle (3.25pm). He was a nice bumper horse and even ran pretty respectably in mid-division in the Champion Bumper of 2020 behind Ferny Hollow. That level of ability was always going to make him of interest off this lowly mark, particularly now he’s got his act together over hurdles, hardly coming off the bridle at Gowran Park last time. He has plenty of experience now, and needs to be backed each way at 9/1. 

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