Binocular has made the final line-up for the Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, despite Nicky Henderson declaring him unfit to race only last month. Go Native is the favourite, heading the field of 12 at 10/3.

The green light was given to the gelding on Friday and he is now 7/1 joint third-favourite with Punjabi to win the race. Punjabi and 10/1 shot Zaynar are Henderson’s two other chances for the Champion Hurdle.

Meanwhile, 6/1 second-favourite Solwhit will also feature having recovered enough from a dirty scope last week. He arrived at Prestbury Park this morning.

Jumbo Rio (66/1), Won In The Dark (40/1) and Raise Your Heart (150/1) are also coming over from Ireland. Khyber Kim (8/1), Medermit (8/1), Starluck (12/1) and Celestial Halo (9/1) will also feature.

Meanwhile, the conditions are being described as perfect ahead of the race meeting. The going is good to soft, good in places on the Old and New Courses whilst it is good, good to soft in places on the cross-country course. The courses are being monitored and extra irrigation has not been ruled out as little rainfall has been forecast for the week.

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Andrew Tinkler has described Nicky Henderson’s Zaynar (7/1 ante-post) as having a “live chance” in Tuesday’s Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

Tinkler guided Zaynar to success at Ascot earlier this season and was thrilled to get the nod as part of a three-pronged attack including retained jockey Tony McCoy on board last year’s third Binocular and Barry Geraghty opting to ride last year’s winner Punjabi.

The JP McManus-owned gelding Binocular was a doubt for the race (Go Native 11/4 favourite ante-post) but came through a schooling session on Wednesday and was declared fit from a recent muscle problem.

“It’s brilliant news and he’s a horse who I obviously had a good win on at Ascot and he goes there with a live chance,” said Tinkler.

“His form is there to see and he’s obviously a Cheltenham winner.”

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As a bookie you always go into the festival with a battle plan, and I was at the Cheltenham preview evening at Towcester on Wednesday night sounding out friends from around the industry for the inside track.

First off here’s a couple of horses I’ll be laying big time next week.

My plan is to hit the ground running and lay Dunguib in the Supreme Novices. I think he’ll start odds against and not the silly odds you can get now. Why? Well he’s a soft ground bully, he can’t jump and his jockey’s a novice!

Another big lay will be Denman – it looks like nobody wants to back him this year after the AON so we might have to push the price out to get some money in the satchel.

Get the Value and Back Early!

The best tip I can give punters is to remember that totesport are going Non Runner No Bet.

This is great value for money and you’ll get prices that’ll be long gone by race day. Last year 24 out of 26 winners paid out more if you backed them early so it pays to get your cash on now.

Khyber Kim is a case in point. At 7/1 for the Champion Hurdle he’ll only get shorter. Same applies to Alfie Sherrin in the Pertemps Hurdle. He’s owned by Harry ‘the dog’ Findlay and won’t start bigger than 7/2 on race day as his connections are big players in the betting jungle.

On the other end of the scale I think Solwhit, Rite of Passage (ridiculous price), Long Run and Karaback will drift over the next few days.

Gary’s Bankers…

My banker for the week has to be Big Bucks to retain the World Hurdle. He’s 4/7 right now but looks more like a 4’s on shot to me.

Kalahari King (7/1) looks a great each way bet in the Queen Mother. Twist Magic can look very dodgy at the start, I don’t think Big Zeb will get round and Barker would have more chance with Ronnie Corbett on board!

For my last banker I’m backing Tataniano (7/1) to finish the week on a high in the Grand Annual. Connections have opted for this race over the Arkle and he’s sure to be popular in what is now the ‘get out stakes’.

Ones to Watch

For the Arkle I’ll be going for Sports Line. If he’s as big as 8/1 on the day you can find me in the Best Mate enclosure handing out free toffee apples. Later on it’s the Cross Country Chase – otherwise known as the JP McManus Benevolent Fund – where I expect Garde Champetre (2/1) or L’ami (10/3) to win another one for JP.

Another solid looking bet would be Character Building (11/1) in the William Hill Trophy. He also looks a good weight for the National and will be a big hope for David Pipe.

For the Albert Bartlett we’ve already seen money for The Betchworth Kid (8/1) and it’s fair to say we’ll be waving the white flag if that one romps up the hill!

The Fox Hunters Chase is usually a lucky race for me and last year I backed Cappa Bleu for a small fortune. This year I’m going for Kilty Storm (12/1). He didn’t perform well under Martin Pipe but went back to Ireland and has been burning it up in point to points ever since. If the ground is soft by Friday 12/1 looks great value to me.

And finally the big one…!

As I said earlier I’ll be laying Denman big time this year for the totesport Gold Cup while Kauto Star looks the class of the field to me. I think an each-way bet on Tricky Trickster (16/1) and Imperial Commander (10/1) will give you two great runs for your money. I was chatting with Paddy Brennan at Towcester and he tells me Imperial Commander is the fittest he’s ever been, unlike this writer!

Enjoy the build up to the festival and I’ll be back on Tuesday to give you some more thoughts on the day one action.

In the meantime, be lucky!
Gary

Punchestowns (10/3 ante-post) has recovered from a bruised foot and will run in the RSA Chase at the Cheltenham Festival on Wednesday 17 March, Nicky Henderson has confirmed.

Last season’s World Hurdle runner-up suffered a scare last Thursday and Henderson’s plans to check on his fitness were scuppered by frost.

Punchestowns is set to go up against stable mate Long Run (2/1 favourite ante-post) and the likes of Diamond Harry and Weird Al in the big-race line-up and Henderson reports his charge is now “back in good form”.

“We had a scare with Punchestowns last week when he had a bruised foot which held him up for a couple of days, but I don’t think has affected us dramatically,” Henderson told talkSPORT.

On his stable-mate and rival for the RSA Chase, Henderson added: “Long Run is something else. I’d like to think he might be something very special, but we’ll find out next week.”

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It is looking increasingly likely that Binocular will feature in the Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham despite his trainer, Nicky Henderson, ruling him out of the race a month ago due to a muscle condition. He is currently 9/1 seventh favourite for the feature.

Binocular finished third in last year’s event and Henderson’s hopes are high this time around. He is drawing confidence from Binocular’s performance against current favourite, Go Native (11/4), in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton.

“We weren’t happy with him on the day, it wasn’t him, yet he was still only beaten a length and a half by Go Native, so we only have to find two lengths and we are back where we are,” Henderson stated.

Binocular’s participation in next Tuesday’s race is dependent on him pleasing connections in a workout on Friday but he came through a tough test on Wednesday when Tony McCoy rode him over 13 flights of hurdles.

“He had a hiccup, but he’s back now. He’s in really good form, AP (McCoy) came down and schooled him yesterday and we think we are three-quarters of the way to getting him back to where we need him to be.

“There’s just one more bit of work to do tomorrow when again AP’s going to come and ride him. And if he’s happy there I think we’ll give him the green light.”

Henderson accepts that Binocular is not currently at his best but he is remaining optimistic about Cheltenham.

“He hasn’t impressed everybody all season. He won his last start very easily, but even so it wasn’t quite the same Binocular we know we can have.”

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Harry Findlay has admitted Denman’s task of beating favourite Kauto Star (4/6 ante-post) in the Gold Cup will be even more difficult if, as expected, the going is declared good for the Festival next week.

Denman’s chances have been hit by the good weather forecast for Cheltenham and his price has generally drifted slightly in the market in recent days (9/2 currently with totesport).

Findlay says the horse is still in good shape but conceded the going looks set to go against him.

“The Tank (Denman) is fine. It will be harder on good ground but not impossible,” he said.

Meanwhile. Findlay also says his Coral Cup favourite Beshabar (9/1 ante-post) is unlikely to run next week unless there is “genuine soft” in the ground.

Beshabar is in superb form, winning on his last two starts at Sandown and Ascot, but he is a major doubt at this stage for next Wednesday’s race.

“He won’t run unless there is genuine soft in the ground,” said Findlay.

“He’ll run next year in the RSA on soft ground and we’ll all be lumping on.

“Paul Nicholls, to be fair, has done a great job with him because he had a year out.

“He left him short at Chepstow but he looked like a fish out of water when he won at Ascot over two and a half miles and I don’t want to ask him to go for the Coral Cup on good ground so we’ll wait for the novice chases next year,” he added.

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Eddie Harty has described his 3/1 market leader Captain Cee Bee as “the best one in” for the Irish Independent Arkle Challenge Trophy at the Cheltenham Festival.

The talented nine-year-old won the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle two years ago but missed the Festival last year because of injury.

He will cross swords again with great rival Sizing Europe for the two-mile novices’ championship but Harty has stressed he would not swap his charge for any of the other dangers.

Long Run, Somersby and Riverside Theatre (9/1 ante-post) are also expected to run big races but Harty is convinced Captain Cee Bee is the one they all have to beat.

“I think he’s probably the best one in it but it’s racing and it’s competition and that’s what it is all about,” said the trainer.

He added on At The Races: “I thought Somersby was quite impressive at Sandown, he jumped well. Riverside Theatre was impressive at Kempton at Christmas but I wouldn’t swap my horse for any of them in it.”

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Sublimity has been ruled out of the Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham due to a leg injury, his trainer Robbie Hennessy has confirmed.

The 2007 winner was initially well fancied for this year’s race and appeared back to his best in a recent Leopardstown run but his absence means the likes of Go Native (10/3 ante-post favourite with totesport), Zaynar (8/1, pictured) and Binocular (currently 9/1) have improved claims.

The 10-year-old’s injury ahead of the big race a week Tuesday at the Festival has left Hennessy frustrated.

He said: “He’s got a suspensory injury. It’s just a knock and it’s hard to really know how he did it - it could have been rolling around in his box, getting cast or in a routine gallop.

“He’s lame and the vets have told us he needs three months’ rest so he won’t be back this season.

“We’re all gutted here. It’s a shame as he had a really good gallop at Leopardstown last week. It’s just one of those things. He could be sound again in two weeks’ time but he just needs the time off as he could end up lame again.”

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A decision on whether Binocular (10/1) takes part in the Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival will be left to trainer Nicky Henderson, Frank Berry, racing manager to owner JP McManus, has revealed.

The six-year-old, who was beaten by half a length in last year’s renewal of the hurdling showpiece (Go Native (10/3 favourite) when sent off favourite, is struggling to shake off a muscle problem.

Henderson felt the problem was bad enough to pull him out of the Champion Hurdle last month but his chances could now hinge on a workout next week.

Berry said: “He’s had some treatment and we’ll just see how he gets on next week before deciding where we’re going with him.”

He added: “There is also Aintree and Punchestown to think about but it’s in Nicky’s hands and we’ll call it next week.”

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Punchestowns (with a run 3/1) has a problem with his near-fore but will be given every chance to prove his fitness for the RSA Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, Nicky Henderson has confirmed.

Last season’s World Hurdle runner-up was given a run-out on Wednesday and reported no ill-effects until the problem surfaced late on Thursday.

Henderson, speaking at Newbury, said: “We have a problem with Punchestowns on his near-fore.

“A similar thing happened last weekend and we had to take his shoe off, but it cleared up quickly and he spent a couple of days swimming, so didn’t really miss anything.”

Henderson revealed he had hoped to school Punchestowns on Friday but his plans were hit by the frost and an X-ray has found no lasting damage.

Henderson, who also has stable-mate Long Run (2/1 favourite) entered, added: “The last time it happened he was sound within 24 to 48 hours and he loved going swimming, but I did want to get another run into him and that hasn’t happened and now there is this, so I am just warning people.”

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