Paul Townend previews the Gold Cup and Al Boum Photo on Day Four at Cheltenham
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It’s the final day of the festival and I have four rides to look forward to, starting with Burning Victory in the Triumph Hurdle (1.30).
Shewas a good winner at Fairyhouse. She did everything wrong to be honest andstill won so that is a good sign. We have worked on her jumping at home and sheseems to be jumping a lot slicker now.
Idon’t know how good that form is. I think the English form of the juveniles isa bit stronger than the Irish but the fact that she done everything wrong andstill won at Fairyhouse means there will be plenty to come from her.
I ride Aramon in the County Hurdle (2.10). He has a good profile for the race. He is a Grade One winner dropping back to handicap company. He carries plenty of weight though because of that.
Heis probably up against it going on recent form. He wasn’t beaten far byHoneysuckle at Leopardstown the last day in the Irish Champion Hurdle and thatwas a big improvement from his first run. However, he will have to have acareer best here to defy all the weight in this race.
In the Albert Bartlett (2.50), I ride Monkfish. He is a horse going the right way, learning on the job, and has been impressive in winning thus far.
I think he can still improve and this race will really suit him. It is a very competitive race but I am hoping he can hit the shake up.
The Cheltenham Gold Cup
I round off the week by riding Al Boum Photo in the Gold Cup (3.30) and I am really looking forward to this. He seems in great form and I wouldn’t swap him for anything else in the race.
He is the defending champion, he has been here and done it, and it is just really exciting to get back on him.
He took the same route as last year to the Gold Cup so hopefully he can be lucky for us again.
Chacun Pour Soi
Itwas very disappointing that Chacun Pour Soi didn’t make it to the ChampionChase. I was bullish about him before the race and thought even if Defi DuSeuil did fire, that he would have put it up to him.
As it transpired, he didn’t fire so it looks like it would have been ours for the taking. That’s racing I suppose. He is a very good horse and hopefully there are plenty of winning days to come for him.
Paul
