Richard Hoiles' top tips for New Year's Day: Rely on Druids

Richard Hoiles' top tips for New Year's Day: Rely on Druids

By Richard Hoiles
Last Updated: Tue 5 Dec 2023
As the busy Christmas period draws to a close, a few thoughts on a week that contained plenty of surprises, with the only real exception being Altior who continued on his serene way towards a repeat success in the Queen Mother Champion Chase with another emphatic victory in the Desert Orchid Chase.
The horse that impressed me most was La Bague Au Roi, who jumped her way up to the lead at halfway in the Kauto Star and then showed great determination to repel the advances of the giant Topofthegame.
Her acceleration into a fence is a big asset for a novice but her targets may lie away from Cheltenham with the Flogas at Leopardstown in February followed by Aintree being touted as the preferred route to keep her to flattish tracks.
The biggest disappointment was Waiting Patiently being brought down at halfway in the King George. With Might Bite (reportedly bled) and Bristol De Mai (never finding any rhythm) the form is not the easiest to assess.
Clan Des Obeaux deserves credit for a clear career best and it will be interesting to see if he can hold his form better as an older horse while for Thistlecrack Boxing Day might have been his best chance of a major prize under conditions that suited well.
The main shock was Buveur D’Air’s defeat in the Christmas Hurdle but given the way Samcro performed a few days later it is likely Buveur D’Air didn’t achieve as much in his Fighting Fifth victory as it seemed at the time.
A feature of the first half of the season is how the bigger Irish names, like Samcro and Footpad, have largely failed to progress.
The most prominent Irish-trained horses in the Champion Hurdle (Laurina), Gold Cup (Presenting Percy) and Stayers (Penhill) markets have all yet to run and it is a massive contrast to the position 12 months ago when it was the UK horses that had been plagued by injury and disappointment in the first half of the campaign.
At that stage we had yet to see Altior or Native River, a reminder there is still a long way to go between now and the Festival
Hopefully the below can provide some New Year cheer.

cheltenham

14:40 Cheltenham - Tuesday March 10
The Druids Nephew wins at the Cheltenham Festival in 2015
A chance is taken with his fitness but similarly this represents by far his easiest opportunity for a while and the yard ended 2018 in good form. Dropped 6lb for his long absence, he is very well treated off a mark of 137.
Still with every chance when making a bad error three out at Newbury behind La Bague Au Roi, who gave the form a boost at Kempton. That form line looks stronger than Defi De Seuil and Black Op’s Exeter race and chief danger could be chasing debutant On The Blind Side.
Twice runner up in this race off higher marks, he should be better for his first up run at Kelso where he seemed to get tired in the closing stages. This is likely to have been his target for a while.
Back in calmer waters after making no show at Cheltenham last time and is worth another chance at a track where he showed promise in what looked a much stronger race than this the time before. The third, Reikers Island, has won since and might well have done so again but for an error at the last at Newbury on Saturday while the winner, Just A Sting, ran really well at Kempton.
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