I’m blogging from my Blackberry today so will be brief;
Day 1 has become my favourite day in recent times as I like the Arkle as a betting heat and the Champion is a race that has been good to me in recent times. I’m just covering three races today.
I’ve studied historic Arkle form and from what I could see there are three things to look for;
– old horses (8+) have a poor record
– outsiders rarely feature
– hurdle form is a better guide than chase form
The last point is interesting – early chase heats are often run at a false pace but the Arkle is typically full on and will find out any horse in the race without an engine. It all points to Medermit who was a class apart to most of these over hurdles and is still backable IMO at 7/2.
In the champion I’m with Hurricane Fly who I have liked for a long time. He could be a special horse.
In the last I will be with Tullamore Dew. Nick Gifford’s horses are in great form and TD can get his campaign off to a good start.