So far, almost so good for our ante-post e/w lucky 15. General Medrano and Harbour Lake were both confirmed for their races but Beat The Bat has been left in both the Coral Cup and the Martin Pipe. Hopefully he goes for the latter. However, Colonel Mustard will be heading for the Coral Cup so I am going to put up an alternative selection for our festival handicap e/w lucky 15.
The one I am going to recommend backing at odds of 33/1 is Stuzzikini for the 3m6f NH novices’ handicap chase. Trained by Gordon Elliott, who has won this four times in its former guise as a Grade 2, he is one of three runners for the Meath yard. The first string on jockey bookings looks to be Will Do but I am not sure Jack Kennedy has made the right choice.
Stamina Sapping
Stuzzikini is a horse that I believe may be made for this stamina sapping test. He showed how strong a stayer he is on his penultimate start in the Troytown at Navan, staying on dourly up the hill to beat the likes of Lucid Dreams, Yeah man and subsequent DRF winner Perceval Legallois. Incidentally, Jack Kennedy deserted him that day too.
That wasn’t the first time Stuzzikini finished strongly up a
hill. At Galway in October it was a similar story over an inadequate 22f on ground
softer than ideal. The farthest trip he has tackled was 3m2f on good ground in
a rated novice chase at Sligo, another track with an uphill finish, and he
stayed on strongly to win that race easily.
Sounder Surface
The assessor hiked Elliott’s charge up 9lb for his Troytown
win and he struggled off that mark in the Thyestes. However, it was very
testing ground that day and while he has won on heavy over hurdles, I believe
this son of Champs Elysees is better suited by a sounder surface. He’s had ten
starts over fences, so he has plenty of experience and while he pulled up at
the Festival last year in the Martin Pipe, the ground was heavy.
I think there could be more to come from this horse over
marathon trips and the ground should be absolutely perfect for him here. Sam Ewing
has been placed on three of his four previous rides on Stuzzikini, hopefully he
makes it four from five at odds of 33/1 on Tuesday.
2025 Cheltenham Handicaps e/w Lucky 15: Stuzzikini @ 33/1
(5 places); General Medrano (Grand Annual, 5 places) @ 20/1; Harbour Lake
(Pertemps, 5 places) @ 16/1; Beat The Bat (Martin Pipe, 5 places) @ 20/1.
-DaveStevos
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