Oh well!Today is a minefield with big fields and form that is harder to solve than a Rubik cube when you are blindfolded
The RSA Chase sees the return of Time for Rupert and he is a worthy favourite. I just have one concern and that is the length of time he has been off. The horse had a health problem and whilst fresh horses can do well at the Cheltenham Festival 95 days of absence is a concern and would prevent me from taking an interest at around 3.75. If the horse is fit and well then barring accidents he should win as he is class above these. The two horses of interest for an each way involvement would be Wymott if he is around 12/1 - 14/1 and Jessies Dream at around 10/1-12/1. Wymott has a likeable attitude and is a real battler. If the favourite runs below form then this horse could shake him up. Jessies Dream is a superb traveller in races and seems to eat up the ground with ease. A lot of people are writing this horse off because it ran a shocker in the World Series Hurdle at Punchestown but to be fair, connections stated the horse was not 100% tuned up and this showed when he tired in the closing stages. This horse beat Realt Dubh by 5 lengths in a Novice Chase and that horse ran a decent third in the Arkle yesterday. This horse does have a couple of issues; a long lay off since his last run and will he handle the left hand track? At the price you could have a small interest but if it was priced at 11/4 like Time for Rupert you would have to pass. I may Dutch the two larger prices and trade out in play - small stakes only.
The Queen Mother Champion race is my favourite contest of the meeting. There is nothing like watching 2 mile chasers go lickety spit around Cheltenham and manage to jump the fences. I gave Big Zeb in the race last year and he duly obliged. This year he is a worthy favourite but 3/1 is skinny in such a competitive race. I may trade this in running with a small pre-race interest and close out in running. Big Zeb travels like a dream in his races and turning for home he should be thereabouts barring injury or accident. The new kid on the block is Woolcombe Folly who ran a blistering race at Cheltenham to win impressively in a decent time. He's run some good races and if he can repeat that today he could go close. I opposed Master Minded last year and said we had probably seen the best of him. I know that raised a few eyebrows but I have to oppose him again this year. I have not seen anything from him that suggests he is back to his best and the times of his races reinforce my personal view that he needs further these days. Naturally I am happy to be proved wrong but I feel that once a horse has lost his speed and shown a liking for slightly further then it is hard to get that speed back.
Good luck to all in whatever you do today.