Rishi Persad: my Lucky 15 for the Cheltenham Festival

The first bet in my Cheltenham Festival Lucky 15 comes in the Arkle and it’s a pretty obvious one, even though his last run at the Dublin Racing Festival was his worst: it’s

Marine Nationale

. 

His win in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle last year is perhaps one of the best bits of form on offer in the Arkle this year and he was mightily impressive here. Facile Vega travelled just in behind the pace but Marine Nationale moved equally as well, if not better, and the beauty about him is that he picked up so well at the end of the race. As we know traditionally, the Arkle requires horses that perhaps might be a little bit stronger in the latter part of the race than the majority of two-milers and I think that's in his weaponry. 

Marine Nationale made a sparkling chasing debut when he returned to action in December at Leopardstown and I'm prepared to forgive him that one bad run since. The ground has been put up as a potential excuse but I actually thought he jumped pretty well in the main so I'm prepared to put a line through that and I'm happy to take a price at around 5-2. 

If he's at his best, he wins. It's as simple as that for me. 

Connections have the option of running

Broadway Boy

in the Brown Advisory but I'm really hoping he goes for the National Hunt Chase, so I’ll put him in with the NRNB safety net. It's the race that I've felt he will be best suited to. 

Broadway Boy had an excuse for his poor run at Warwick last time out where it appeared he had ulcers and, if you take that run out, he has actually had a fantastic season.

He’s got an excellent record at Cheltenham - he won at the track in November and was then good enough to beat a horse of the ilk of Protektorat, so he is pretty high class for a young novice and certainly in comparison to some of his rivals. 

Yes, there are one or two horses that have very good profiles going in against him, such as the likes of Embassy Gardens, but this is the race that I think will really suit Broadway Boy and he's around the 10-1 mark. 

Obviously, there are a lot of familiar names in this line-up but I'm going for a fresher name on the scene and that's Crambo. 

Last season he progressed and progressed and progressed, proving a very good winner of some good races before ending the campaign behind Irish Point at Aintree. But if you look at his form this season he's continued that trajectory. The beauty about watching how he has got better with every run is that you still don't know coming into the Festival just what the limit on his ability is. 

Crambo beat Santos Blue in October before he was given just a bit too much to do in the Betfair Handicap Hurdle at Haydock. Even though he ran a race of great promise, he went one better in terms of proving he belongs among the elite staying hurdlers in this country when he edged out Paisley Park in the Long Walk at Ascot. Paisley Park is still a horse that is capable of very high-class form. 

Yes, Teahupoo is potentially a star amongst them, but we know a bit more of him at this level than we do Crambo and I'm looking for a horse that is still unexposed. That's what Crambo offers and I still believe there's more to come from him. He’s in at 11-2. 

I'm staying with the same stable for the fourth and final selection of my Lucky 15, and that's

Dysart Enos

who has just been brilliant so far for the Fergal O'Brien team. 

I remember being a big fan of Queens Gamble when she ran against Dysart Enos in a bumper at Market Rasen and Dysart Enos brushed her aside very easily. Now, I was taking solace as a fan of Queens Gamble that day that she gave Dysart Enos some weight on that occasion, but subsequent races have shown that Dysart Enos was just a better horse. 

Dysart Enos produced a telling turn of foot to win the mares’ bumper at Aintree, and while she travels well in all her races she's got that speed to quicken. She'll be getting 5lbs from the much-touted pair of Brighterdaysahead and Jade de Grugy since the campaign that O'Brien has got into Dysart Enos this season - including a win at Cheltenham against the boys - means that she goes into the race without a penalty. 

In terms of achievement, Dysart Enos is on a par with - if not ahead of - Brighterdaysahead and Jade de Grugy, considering her bumper form and what she's done over hurdles so far. I think she's got as much exciting potential as anything running at the Cheltenham Festival and just has to be included at around 4-1.