Threeunderthrufive Teeing up for Cheltenham Tilt at Warwick
The Paul Nicholls yard remains a powerhouse within UK jumps racing. But the 12-time Champion Trainer does not mop-up the major races with the regularity he once did. Remarkably it is 13 years since he last won the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Adrian Heskin abord Threeunderthrufive winning easily at Cheltenham on his penultimate outing. ©GettyImages
Equally surprising, the Somerset-based horseman never trained a single winner at the 2021 Cheltenham Festival. Potentially one horse could return the trainer to the Festival’s winner’s enclosure and also give him an overdue fifth Gold Cup success. His name is Threeunderthrufive.
Threeunderthrufive Is Teed Up
Lining up in Warwick’s ITV Racing televised 1.50 pm, this four-time-winning hurdler is seeking his fourth consecutive victory over fences. On official ratings, he has the beating of Saturday’s field and winning ‘comfortably’ last time out, it is unlikely we have seen the best of him yet.
Threeunderthrufive is currently 12/1 for Cheltenham’s National Hunt Chase found at our William Hill review. Those odds could shorten dramatically should he win well in this final outing before the Festival.
Longer term, Unibet currently has Threeunderthrufive priced at 80/1 in a 2023 Cheltenham Gold Cup betting market.
Can Horn Jump Like a Stag?
Classy flat racers are not being sold for obscene six-figure sums and switching to hurdles like they once did. Nevertheless, a select few still change codes and when they do, it is worth taking note.
Stag Horn, a contender in Warwick’s Grade-2 Ballymore Leamington Novices’ Hurdle (due off at 2.25 pm), has not had a change of ownership or trainer. But he smoothly made the transition to jumps racing by winning a big-field Novices’ Hurdle at Hereford in December.
The Archie Watson trained horse reached an official flat rating of 108 following a fourth-placed effort in the Queen Alexandra Stakes at Royal Ascot. That is quality form and, if he were to meet Saturday’s rivals in a flat race, he would doubtlessly be an overwhelming favorite.
Nicky Henderson’s Surrey Quest has looked good in winning both starts this season, but horses from that stable are normally short in the betting and he serves to make our selection a tasty price.
The Crisford’s Run To Continue
As the weekend’s declarations were revealed on Thursday morning, five of the last six horses sent out by the father-and-son training team of Simon and Ed Crisford had won.
The most recent of those winners scored at Lingfield Park and their golden spell is predicted to continue at the Surrey track in the MansionBet Best Odds Guaranteed Handicap due off at 1.45 pm on Saturday.
Here they saddle Nankeen, a lightly raced four-year-old son of Dubawi who overcame a 211-day absence to score at Wolverhampton before Christmas.
The fancy only won by a narrow margin that day, but the John and Thady Gosden trained runner-up is likely to be a fair horse and the form could be a lot better than face value.
Recommended Bets
- 1.50pm Warwick Threeunderthrufive
- 2.25pm Warwick Stag Horn
- 1.45pm Lingfield Nankeen
Suggested Bet Type:
A win Trixie.
