John Ingles, Ben Linfoot and David Ord answer the key questions following the publication of the six-day entries for day four of the 2025 Cheltenham Festival.
What’s your take on Inothewayurthinkin being supplemented for the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup?
John Ingles: I’m not sure I do know the way they’re thinking! He’s been shaping more like a Grand National type than a Gold Cup horse this season so might have had more of a shout if it was going to come up really testing but that doesn’t seem likely. He has also finished behind Galopin des Champs in all three of his races this season but has ittedly got closer to him with each run. He should certainly be staying on up the hill and could well run another nice race with Aintree in mind, but it looks another big ask against the title holder.
Ben Linfoot: It’s interesting isn’t it? JP McManus has finalised his Gold Cup hand, removing Fact To File who goes for the Ryanair and adding Gavin Cromwell’s Inothewayurthinking to Emmet Mullins’ Corbett’s Cross for a two-pronged attack. I think, in an ideal world, both of McManus’ Gold Cup horses would want proper soft ground to come into calculations and, while it gets cooler next week, significant rain looks unlikely at this stage. Inothewayurthinkin is improving with experience, though, and he could significantly boost his Grand National prospects with a good Gold Cup run, given he’s in that race off a mark of 160. I can see him running into a place but it’s difficult to envisage him beating hat-trick-seeking hero Galopin Des Champs.
David Ord: I like the way they’re thinkin. It was clear a month or so ago that Gavin Cromwell fancied having a crack at the Blue Riband with his last year’s National Hunt Chase winner and now JP and the team have stumped up the supplementary fee. With Fact To File bound for the Ryanair, he’ll Corbetts Cross in the Martinstown team. I think he’ll win that particular duel and can easily see him hitting the frame. But beating Galopin Des Champs? Not for me.
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East India Dock – play or lay in the JCB Triumph Hurdle?
John Ingles: He has achieved more than Lulamba who is pressing him for favouritism so on that basis makes the more appeal of the two. He’d be something of an ‘old-fashioned’ Triumph winner having shown useful Flat form in Britain, but he has taken to hurdles really well like his half-brother Burdett Road and looks the one to beat with more improvement to come.
Ben Linfoot: I think he’s a risky lay as it doesn’t look to be a Triumph Hurdle with a lot of depth or a strong Irish challenge. That’s partly why he’s such a strong favourite but his own performances have been impressive and he’s got the all-important track form, so I can absolutely see why he’s been backed into 2/1. Out of the two options I’d have to play but on the day if he’s a silly price I might be inclined to have an each-way bet against him.
David Ord: A play methinks. I wish I had a pound for every time someone told me he should be favourite for the Triumph since the turn of the year. He just about is and should be. Damn, that’s a quid I need to hand back. He’s already reached the sort of Timeform figure that would win a normal Triumph Hurde and the way he travels and jumps, you just wouldn’t want to guess where his ceiling lies. Lulamba looks exciting but East India has achieved more, has more experience and crucially at Cheltenham too. What’s not to like?
If JP McManus leased you one of his team for free for the day who would you pick?
John Ingles: He has the first two from last year’s Mares’ Chase in the race again, but I’d pick Dinoblue to turn the tables on Limerick Lace this time. Dinoblue came out the better mare at the weights last year and she might even have won had she not conceded first run to her rival. Dinoblue also comes here in much better form than Limerick Lace, having successfully given weight to Allegorie de Vassy (fourth last year) at Naas last time.
Ben Linfoot: I’d have to have a runner in the Gold Cup and I’d plump for Corbetts Cross. I’ve backed him antepost and while the drying weather has seen my enthusiasm for his chances cool I still think we are going to see a clear season’s best from the eight-year-old. He’s been trained for this day all season, it will be the most exacting test of stamina he’s had since he bolted up in the National Hunt Chase and I would not be surprised if he’s the one to get closest to Galopin Des Champs.
David Ord: On the basis he hasn’t already run him in the Coral Cup could I have Kopek De Mee for the Martin Pipe please? Ah yes, the handicap buzz horse, who Patrick Mullins feels “is better than his mark” but who must prove that at the very first attempt for the team on an undulating track and jumping different obstacles. He was bought to go novice chasing but as Plan Bs go winning a Fez handicap would do very nicely to bring a chunk of the purchase price back before Plan A is initiated next season. Gaelic Warrior got beat in a Fred Winter but the same faces who thought he was chucked in that day are telling me this horse is too. So, I’ll take him for all Dinoblue was the most solid option.
Final Demand is still in the Albert Bartlett… where does he run?
John Ingles: The way he stormed clear at Leopardstown last time suggests he’ll relish the extra couple of furlongs in the Albert Bartlett, so hopefully he’ll go there. The Turners might have made more appeal under more testing conditions but Friday’s longer option looks ideal.
Ben Linfoot: I wouldn’t entirely rule out a late Mullins switcheroo here as three miles on good to soft ground might just be more suitable for him than the same conditions over 2m5f in the Turners. The only thing is he doesn’t really have any viable alternatives in the Turners, while he’s got a few interesting entries in the Albert Bartlett, like Argento Boy, Fishery Lane and Jasmin De Vaux, so I’ll say he’ll stick with Plan A with a degree of trepidation.
David Ord: The Turners. Having backed him for the Rooster king’s race I was desperate for the team to go three miles but Willie Mullins laid out very clearly why he preferred the Turners option for the horse at the Jockey Club media visit last month. Yes, he’s left him in, but with not a rain drop in the forecast from Monday to Friday evening, it’s hard to think the ground will add a compelling reason for a late Closutton switcheroo. Willie’s first instinct the moment Final Demand crossed the line at the DRF was the Turners. I don’t think the man is for turning now.
Give us one on the radar for the Friday handicaps please?
John Ingles: Lark In The Mornin looks to have plenty going for him in the County Hurdle if he gets in. We know he handle can handle the demands of a big-field Festival handicap from his win in the Fred Winter last year and he looks to have been laid out for this after an eye-catching run at Leopardstown just after Christmas. He’s still lightly raced over hurdles and looks one of the best treated at the weights.
Ben Linfoot: Gary & Josh Moore have left Hansard in the William Hill County Hurdle and I’d be surprised if he doesn’t run a huge race in one of the spring handicaps. The Windsor race he was eighth in didn’t go well as he was hampered on a speed track and then he caught the eye when travelling strongly in the Kingwell Hurdle won by Golden Ace. His game looks suited to a big-field handicap and the County could be a lovely spot for him.
David Ord: This might not last long as he’s also entered in the Michael O’Sullivan Supreme Novices’ Hurdle on Tuesday, but I’d be very interested in Karniquet in the County. Willie Mullins has any number of leading contenders for this but the five-year-old has the large Timeform P and a thoroughly unexposed profile. He was a huge eyecatcher when second to Kopek Des Bordes at the Dublin Racing Festival, travelling smoothly and making strong headway to draw clear of the rest without threatening to land a blow to the winner. If he wins the opener and Karniquet stays in his nearby stable and waits for Friday, he’ll be favourite for the meeting’s finale.
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