Ed Quigley has a long-term look with his Antepost Armchair column to begin the week, while Fridays are all about the biggest weekend action, covered in Ed’s Weekend Watch column.
Throughout the year, make sure you check out Ed Quigley’s thoughts on Freebets!
Ed Quigley Weekend Watch - Saturday, April 27
3:00pm Sandown - Jonbon
This should be an absolute belter, and if El Fabiolo arrives at the top of his game, then he will take all the beating.
However, coming off a poor jumping display at the Cheltenham Festival, taking cramped odds about him at a tricky jumping track like Sandown would get me nervous. Better ground will help, but I will take him on with the Nicky Henderson-trained JONBON.
The winner of this race 12 months ago is two from two over course and distance and three from three at Sandown overall. Jonbon got the job done in the Melling Chase last time out and should be firing on all cylinders here.
Nico de Boinville rides the eight-year-old, and the Nicky Henderson-trained gelding looks great betting value in what should be a memorable encounter.
3:35pm Sandown - Weveallbeencaught (Each-Way)
As you would expect, this looks fiercely competitive, where a case can be made for many horses.
As an each-way player, the Nigel Twiston-Davies-trained WEVEALLBEENCAUGHT has flattered to deceive on more than one occasion this season, but a thorough examination of stamina should suit him as he steps up to this marathon trip for the first time.
The seven-year-old showed some smart form over hurdles but has failed to take his game to new levels over larger obstacles so far. However, he has one very smart piece of chase form in defeat, and that was on his Chase debut at Cheltenham back in October when he was not beaten far behind Flooring Porter and stablemate Broadway Boy.
On some better ground here off a mark of 132, he could easily stay on when others have cried enough, and I think he can get involved at the business end of proceedings from an each-way point of view.
4:10pm Sandown - Sir Gerhard (Each-Way)
SIR GERHARD is a little bit of an enigma, but he clearly didn’t stay 3m at the top level on Soft ground when bombing out in the Stayers’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.
Since then, he has had a confidence booster back down in trip when hacking up at Cork last time out. Running here over the similar trip to which he won his Gallagher Hurdle at the Festival two years ago can see him run a big race, and underfoot conditions shouldn’t be an issue.
Impaire Et Passe is a class act and will be a warm order for this, but he had a hard race in a tussle with Langer Dan and Bob Olinger at Aintree only two weeks ago, and he will have to prove he can back it up.
This is an excellent race on paper, and Sir Gerhard has the class to mix it with the best of these.
5:20pm Sandown - Bad (Each-Way)
BAD can hopefully run to a description opposite to his name and is the each-way selection for the Ben Pauling and Ben Jones combination.
The tongue-tie goes on for the first time, and with good ground and the step back up in trip, he can make his presence felt. He never went a yard on testing ground in the Imperial Cup and should be much more suited to today’s assignment.
The cheekpieces are retained, and coming here off a nice break he can run up to his best form for a yard who have had a terrific season. It looks like a wide-open encounter on paper, but this can go the way of the team from Naunton Downs.
Ed Quigley Antepost Armchair - Tuesday, April 23
Ed is back, casting his expert eye towards the Punchestown Festival that gets underway next week.
Punchestown Gold Cup - Shishkin (Each-Way)
Obviously, there is plenty of intrigue regarding this weekend’s action, with Willie Mullins throwing everything from his yard beside the kitchen sink to try to clinch the UK Trainers’ Championship.
Naturally, quite a few of the markets look confused, with a slight uncertainty about who the Closutton maestro will give the green light to.
Instead, the Punchestown Festival, which would usually be a meeting with all the talk for ‘team Mullins’ can get disrupted by Nicky Henderson sending one of his flag bearers to the Emerald Isle for a successful swoop.
SHISHKIN is set to line up in the Punchestown Gold Cup, and I think he looks to have major claims. Initially, there was a feeling of disappointment after he could only finish fourth in the Bowl at Aintree, but Nico De Boinville said he was ‘just a bit rusty’ after a troubled preparation and setback which caused him to miss the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
I expect him to be a lot straighter for this outing and comes in here a relatively fresh horse compared to others, and don’t forget that Glopin Des Champs, for all that he is the best horse in the line-up, was beaten in this race 12 months ago.
This should be exciting, and I wouldn’t be shocked if the Seven Barrows charge could cause a minor upset in a race with a history of producing shocks.
I think the combination is a big each-way price, as I am not 100% sure that the horses ahead of him in the market will line up, and even if they do, can they bring their A-game to the table?
Ed’s Antepost Selections:
Shishkin @ 10/1 (Each-Way) - Punchestown Gold Cup (Tipped 23/04/24)
Firefox @ 14/1 - Arkle Challenge Trophy, Cheltenham Festival (Tipped 14/03/24)
Monty’s Star @ 20/1, Cheltenham Gold Cup Cheltenham Festival (Tipped 14/03/24)
* Betting odds correct at the time of publication. All odds are subject to changes.
About Ed Quigley
Ed Quigley grew up just outside Cheltenham & spent over a decade with the Racing Post, where he was best known for his Longshot Column, RPTV and as a weekly columnist in the Racing & Football Outlook.
Now a Freelance Broadcaster and Journalist, he is a regular on Sky Sports Racing and Ladbrokes TV, amongst other things.
He will contribute his insight to Freebets.com and, of course, will be the go-to guy for all things Cheltenham Festival-related!
We have an Antepost Armchair article from Ed every Tuesday looking at the bigger picture and long-term plans for many horses. He also brings us his Weekend Watch on Friday, looking at the feast of action taking place over the weekend.
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