Five horses to take out of The Showcase meeting at Cheltenham

It was great to see racing return at Cheltenham on Friday and Saturday as the 2019-20 jumps season notched up a gear.

We certainly saw some impressive performances over the two days, most notably from Slate House who bolted up in the Matchbook Best Value Betting Exchange Novices’ Chase.

The seven-year-old showed plenty of promise in novice hurdles and was a Grade Two winner over the smaller obstacles in 2017 but had proved a shade disappointing since.

However, he looked back to his best on Saturday and is an exciting prospect for the season ahead.

Another who impressed was last year’s Betfair Hurdle winner Al Dancer who made a successful debut over fences in the 2m novices’ chase on Friday.

Nigel Twiston-Davies’ six-year-old looked as though he would come on for the run beforehand and is expected to improve bundles for the run.

He also jumped well for a novice having his first start over fences around a track like Cheltenham, so is likely to take high rank in the novice chase division this season plus was slashed for the Arkle at the Cheltenham Festival afterwards.

Our experts analysed all the key races from last week in The Verdict and you can watch all the segments from the show here.

Below are five who caught the eye in defeat at The Showcase meeting and are worth adding to your Racing TV tracker.

Minella Warrior has certainly had his problems during his career, but this was a promising effort to finish third on his chasing debut and his first start since a wind operation.

It is not the first time the seven-year-old has shown promise, either, as he produced a number of useful efforts in bumpers and in novice hurdles, and also when successful in a handicap hurdle last season.

Kim Bailey’s gelding shaped as though he would benefit from the experience behind two useful rivals and looks a staying chaser in the making.

Minella Warrior should strip fitter for this run as well with it being his seasonal debut and there is likely to be plenty more to come from him this season.

A French recruit who joined Nicky Henderson over the summer, Fred was weak in the market before his British debut in the 2m maiden hurdle but there was plenty to like about the way he shaped and is potentially another useful performer for Simon Munir and Isaac Souede.

The four-year-old was travelling well before he made a mistake at the second last and got outpaced but kept finding under pressure and a step up in trip is certain to suit.

He will have learnt plenty from this experience and is an exciting youngster for his powerful connections.

Having landed back-to-back victories in handicaps at Cheltenham and Wetherby at the beginning of last season, Storm Rising had become a shade disappointing before having wind surgery ahead of his seasonal debut where he finished last in a Listed contest at Market Rasen.

However, he had clearly improved considerably for that effort here as he raced up with the pace and was in the lead when he sprawled on landing and eventually fell at the last.

Whether he would have beaten the winner or not is questionable as Benny’s Bridge ran out a convincing winner and is clearly ahead of the handicapper, but Storm Rising was in the process of producing his best effort since winning at Wetherby in November.

Providing he is none the worse for this mishap, he ought to go close next time out given he has come considerably down the handicap after a string of below-par efforts.

A horse who has always been held in high regard by connections, Onefortheroadtom produced some useful efforts without getting his head in front last season.

Making his seasonal debut in this 3m1f contest on Saturday, the six-year-old raced up with the pace but became unbalanced and lost his position coming down the hill on the run to the final two fences before staying on again.

He probably did not enjoy the ground either given he showed his best form on better going last season and this run should have blown the cobwebs away.

He is now nought from eight over fences, but he should be capable of getting off the mark over the larger obstacles sooner rather than later.

Soviet Pimpernel had a bit to find with the leading protagonists – Quel Destin and Torpillo – ahead of this contest but found only Paul Nicholls’ Grade One-winner too good when posting a career-best effort on Saturday.

He travelled well throughout and the ground probably just found him out towards the finish, although he did seem to handle conditions fine throughout the race.

Having had only five starts, there should be an awful lot more to come from Soviet Pimpernel who should be capable of landing another novice hurdle before going on to bigger things plus is likely to be suited by better ground.