Fil Dor can Triumph in rematch with Vauban
ONLY the 12 runners stand their ground for the JCB Triumph Hurdle (1.30pm), the curtain-raiser on Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup Day.
The betting suggests that the Irish hold all the aces in the juvenile division with five of the top six in the betting.
All of Tuesday’s rain will have been music to the ears of the Gary Moore camp with Porticello’s proven form on heavy ground a huge attribute.
However, I’m expecting conditions to continue to dry out a little and that 21mm of rain may have arrived a day or two too early for him.
The obvious place to start is Vauban who leapt to the top of this market with an impressive win in the Grade One Spring Juvenile Hurdle at the Dublin Racing Festival.
He had previously been pipped on his debut by Pied Piper, another of today’s rivals, but he left that performance behind him with a really taking performance last time.
FIL DOR just didn’t appear to have the gears to stay with him and Vauban had three lengths to spare at the line.
Vauban is likely to build on that and is just 15/8 with Star Sports to capture another Festival prize for the Willie Mullins team.
This track and trip on the ground presents a totally different challenge though and I can see why jockey Davy Russell has opted to have another go at beating Vauban with Fil Dor.
Gordon Elliott’s son of Doctor Dino headed into Leopardstown unbeaten in three starts with the most impressive of those coming on soft ground.
Conditions will be much more to his liking here with the famous Cheltenham hill likely to play to his strengths too.
It reminds me a little of the same stable’s Farclas who was beaten by a Mullins-trained hotpot in the Spring Juvenile at Leopardstown back in 2018 only to come to Cheltenham and reverse that form.
Fil Dor looks a rock-solid each-way bet at 5/1 and the tougher the conditions, the better his chances.
It cannot have been an easy decision for Russell to choose Fil Dor over stablemate Pied Piper who was so impressive here in January.
A former useful horse on the flat, Pied Piper beat Vauban first time out and then won on the bridle here in January on a decent surface.
Conditions are likely to be on the tougher side now and, with the emphasis on stamina rather than speed, I’ll stick with Fil Dor.
Knights Salute has been a revelation this season and is a huge price for trainer Milton Harris at around 16/1.
He is unbeaten in all five starts over hurdles and just keeps pulling out more when challenged.
If he was trained by Willie Mullins or Nicky Henderson, he would nearly be favourite.
I guess this will be the softest ground he has encountered though, so that’s a slight negative.
Another not without a chance is Dan Skelton’s Doctor Parnassus who has looked really good in his two starts to date and won’t mind the ground.
He looks a stayer too, and I was really taken with his hurdling technique at Taunton last time.
If there is an each-way bet in the race it looks to be him and I certainly wouldn’t put anyone off taking the 16/1 with Star Sports.
POINTER
Fil Dor e/w 1.30pm Cheltenham