Cleeve Racing's 2020 Jumps Ten to Follow
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Cleeve Racing's 2020 Jumps Ten to Follow
Contents Welcome to Cleeve Racing's 2020 Jumps 1 Ten to Follow How to Set Up Your Free ATR Tracker 2 Captain Guinness 3 Latest Exhibition 5 Minella Indo 7 Easywork 9 Your Darling 11 The Big Getaway 13 Eric Bloodaxe 15 Third Time Lucki 16 Abacadabras 17
Welcome to Cleeve Racing's
2020 Jumps Ten to Follow
These lists are primarily designed to whet your appetite for the coming season
and a to have a bit of fun, it is extraordinarily difficult to make long range
forecasts about horses, never mind the weather!
We have tried to avoid the more obvious choices like Envoi Allen, Shishkin,
Epatante and Al Boum Photo, and have instead gone for some that seem on
the face of it to be a bit darker… although all of them could easily turn out to be
top class!
It is very hard to be confident about which 2021 Festival targets horses will be
aimed at but we have tried to avoid those that are declared for multiple events
and have come up with horses that are currently quoted at double figure prices
for the races we think they are most likely to line up for.
Why not set all ten up in a free tracker, there are plenty available and you'll get
an email sent to you every time one is due to run so you can watch how they
develop over the season. If you don't know, don't worry I'll tell you in the next
section how to do it… it's dead easy!
Anyway, we hope that you enjoy our guide and that it brings plenty of
enjoyment and hopefully a few winners over the season.
Best of luck,
The team at Cleeve Racing
Copyright of Cleeve Racing Limited 2020 Page 1
How to Set Up Your Free
ATR Tracker
Go to www.attheraces.com and either login to your account or register if you
don't have an account. You can register for free and it]'s quick and easy to do.
Once you are logged in click on the 'pair of binoculars' icon in the top right hand
corner… this will take you to the ATR Tracker page.
Click on 'search for horse' and add the name of the first horse in our Ten to Follow
list.
You will see that the horse you have just searched for has now been added to your
list, now repeat for each horse in the list until you can see they have all been
added.
You will receive an email every time one of them is due to run to the email address
you registered with…
ENJOY!
Copyright of Cleeve Racing Limited 2020 Page 2
Captain Guinness
Age - 5yo (19 Apr 2015 b g)
Trainer - Henry de Bromhead
Sex - Gelding
Sire - Arakan
Owner - Declan Landy
Captain Guinness starts our list and looks to be one of the most compelling ones to
follow. He is relatively unexposed with just three runs under his belt and they all
came in his first season over timber as a novice hurdler. He looks open to plenty of
improvement this coming season, especially if the transition to fences has the
desired effect and is very much one to keep on the right side during the campaign.
Providing all goes to plan with him, the Arkle Novices' Chase will be his main season
target. Having looked at the early ante-post markets, Henry De Bromhead's star
youngster looks very decent value at odds of 20/1. A lightly raced five-year-old, he
proved himself to be a horse with bundles of potential going forward with the ability
to develop into a genuine Grade One contender for connections.
He made his debut at Navan over 2 miles and was somewhat overlooked in the
betting market being allowed to go off 20/1 and the outsider of the field. However he
easily defied his double-digit odds with an authoritative seven-length success. He
jumped safely throughout and showed a good turn of foot in soft ground to go clear
from the runner-up Belfast Banter, with the remainder of the field well beaten in
behind. His next stop was in the Grade Two Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle at
Punchestown where he was a creditable second to Gordon Elliott's star Andy
Dufresne. He still looked far from the finished article that day, being keen early and
looking rather green. Having pulled his way to the front at the half-way stage,
Rachael Blackmore was left with no other option other than to let her mount do
things the hard way on the front end, but to his ultimate credit, he showed plenty of
tenacity to make Andy Dufresne work extremely hard to get the better of him. The
pair had a terrific duel over the final obstacle with Captain Guinness only going
down by ¾ lengths at the finish, with a yawning 15 lengths back to the third.
Copyright of Cleeve Racing Limited 2020 Page 3
Cleeve Racing's 2020 Jumps Ten to Follow On his next outing Captain Guinness lined-up for the Supreme Novices' Hurdle at Cheltenham Festival and was the subject of some pre-race support which saw him go off the 14/1 clear fifth favourite. Held-up mid-division, he was still travelling noticeably strongly and making eye-catching ground approaching three out until suffering interference caused by Asterion Furlonge diving to his right. Despite that, he was still able to travel as well as anything just behind the leaders going down to two out before having nowhere to go when the horse right in front of him Elixir D'ainay suffered a heavy fall and in turn, brought down Captain Guinness, who was right in behind. That was rather frustrating, but it might be a blessing in disguise for his longer-term ambitions. Based on his Moscow Flyer performance, he looks like he stays 2½ miles well so the JLT will also be an option. Whichever race awaits him at the 2021 Festival he will have a real chance to put his luckless run in the Supreme behind him. The Irish have farmed the Arkle in recent years, providing 5 of the last 6 winners and Captain Guinness can make a bold bid to emulate stars like Un de Sceaux, Douvan and Footpad and last year's winner Put The Kettle On. Update: Captain Guinness was pulled up early in his Beginners Chase when sent off as the odds on favourite, there is no news as to why so a watching brief is recommended. Copyright of Cleeve Racing Limited 2020 Page 4
Latest Exhibition
Age - 7yo (10 Mar13 b g)
Trainer - Paul Nolan
Sex - Gelding
Sire - Oscar
Owner - Toberona Partnership
One horse in particular put Paul Nolan's stable back on firmly back on the map last
season, namely Latest Exhibition - who quickly developed into one of Ireland's best
novice staying hurdlers and he certainly has the potential to become a real star for
connections in years to come when sent chasing. His novice campaign saw four wins
and three second placed efforts from seven starts all against top-class opposition,
and there is every reason to believe this promising seven-year-old will be a force to be
reckoned with when he goes over fences this season and if everything develops
according to plan who's to say he won't be one of the leading Gold Cup fancies in
2022.
In the races that Latest Exhibition finished second, he lost little in defeat, with the last
of those coming in the Grade One Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle, for which the
ground was by far the quickest he had encountered, but he overcame that question
mark with an titanic duel up the home-straight with Fury Road and the eventual
winner Willie Mullins-trained Monkfish who just got the better of him in one of the
finishes of the week.
He is a typically battle-hardened horse, who wears his heart on his sleeve, and with all
things considered, I can envisage Latest Exhibition emulating his Grade One hurdles
form when campaigned over fences. Latest Exhibition jumps very effectively, travels
well and can knuckle down and show plenty of courage if he needs to battle. And it's
great to see Latest Exhibition helping Gold Cup winning rider Bryan Cooper to
resurrect his career last season after losing the number one role at Gigginstown and
first pick of Alan Pott's horses, this horse might just emulate his blue riband victory
aboard Don Cossack.
Copyright of Cleeve Racing Limited 2020 Page 5
Cleeve Racing's 2020 Jumps Ten to Follow Paul Nolan will very much target him at next year's RSA Novices' Chase and his current odds of around 16-1 look very attractive indeed. He looks the type to keep on improving, especially with a set of fences put in f ront him and given his professionalism and mentality he has demonstrated he can handle the big occasions. The level of form he's shown to date, his ability to act on all types of ground and his undoubtedness toughness means he's a must for our horses to follow this campaign and Latest Exhibition certainly has claims to be one of, if not, Ireland's leading novice staying chaser this season. Copyright of Cleeve Racing Limited 2020 Page 6
Minella Indo
Age - 7yo (18Apr 13 b g)
Trainer - Henry De Bromhead
Sex - Gelding
Sire - Beat Hollow
Owner - Barry Maloney
Minella Indo representing one of Ireland's leading stable's, Henry De Bromhead. He
is a clear example of a consistent top-class chaser with Festival winning form. Minella
Indo showed he was a top-class novice hurdler finishing second behind the Willie
Mullins-trained Allaho when stepped up to 3 miles for the first time in a Grade Three
at Clonmel. However, he burst onto the scene by winning the Grade One Albert
Bartlett Novices' Hurdle at the 2019 Festival. He wasn't really fancied in what looked a
decent renewal, but he proved his odds of 50/1 to be all wrong and in the process
reversed form with the Willie Mullins horse to stay on strongly and prevail by two-
lengths on his first visit to Prestbury Park.
He gained a huge amount of experience that day and looked much improved for
that run when he cemented himself to be one of the leading staying novice hurdlers
of the season by completing the Cheltenham and Punchestown Group One double
with an authoritative victory in the Irish Daily Mirror Novice Hurdle at Punchestown's
Festival confirming his superiority over Allaho.
The stayers novice chase division looked particularly strong last year, but Minella
Indo confirmed himself to be the one of the best of the Irish bunch. He finished
second to Laurina in his first attempt over an inadequate trip, then opened his
account in a Beginners chase at Navan where he was sent off 2/5 favourite. Initially, I
felt that he wasn't that impressive but his accurate assured jumping saw him win the
race with a bit more in hand than the 1 ½ length winning margin over Captain CJ
suggested that day and after watching back a few times it had the look of a perfect
prep before heading into open class.
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Cleeve Racing's 2020 Jumps Ten to Follow Lining up as a strongly fancied second favourite for the RSA, he was only collared in the shadow of the post by the unbelievable late run of Champ, but despite being beaten I thought that was a performance out of the top-drawer considering he raced keenly throughout against arch rival Allaho matching strides at most fences. It had the look of an repeat of their Albert Bartlett clash twelve months earlier, but Minella Indo gained the upper hand and looked to have the race at his mercy when he blundered at the last losing momentum and the race itself. Minella Indo seemed to relish every yard of that 3 miles and was actually coming back at the winner as the line approached. With another year on his back and more experience he can prove himself to be a very lively outsider for the Gold Cup especially over an extra 2 furlongs and is of some interest at the current odds of 14/1, given that Minella Indo has yet to reach his full potential having ran just three times over fences so far, we can expect him to be and he will make a bold showing in all the major 3 mile plus staying chase races this season for sure. On his season return, Minella Indo ran over an inadequate 2m7f but was able to cruise home by 25 lengths. "I'm delighted with him, Rachael gave him a brilliant ride," De Bromhead said. "He looked sharper than a couple of his runs last year. He's needed his previous first runs, although they were over two and a half miles, which he doesn't have the pace for. He was cut to 8/1 for the Gold Cup. Copyright of Cleeve Racing Limited 2020 Page 8
Easywork
Age - 6yo (23May14 b g)
Trainer - Gordon Elliott
Sex - Gelding
Sire - Network
Owner - Gigginstown House
Stud
Without a doubt, to my mind one of the most underrated novice hurdlers from last
season was the Gordon Elliott trained Easywork, who developed into one of
Ireland's top middle-distance novice hurdler Ireland had to offer, underlined by his
fine second placed effort behind Envoi Allen in the Ballymore Novices Hurdle.
He could only manage third on his course debut back in February, but made good
use of that experience when comfortably going two places better with an
impressive 9 ½ length-victory at Down Royal on heavy ground. He made his
hurdles debut at Gowran Park when jumping well and travelling smoothly, his bare
winning-margin of 1 ½ lengths didn't do any justice to the fluent performance
Easywork produced beating the well-regarded Mount Leinster with over 20
lengths back to the third. Significant improvement than followed where with a
step up to 2m4f he blitzed his four rivals by 22 lengths. Easywork than tasted his
first defeat at the hands of Willie Mullins's Asterion Forlonge, but given that was his
first attempt at Grade One level he still showed plenty of promise,
His final race of the season saw him line up in the Ballymore at Cheltenham. Sent
off 12/1, Easywork raced keenly throughout the 2m5f contest, and having tracked
The Big Getaway for the majority of the race, initially, I thought he was going to
weaken out of contention when they quickened, but to his credit, he stayed on
really well and was only beaten around 4 ¼ lengths by Envoi Allen… and even
seemed to have the winner in trouble for a moment as they turned for home. There
is a strong possibility that he could have been even closer if he'd settled better, and
considering it was only his second start at the highest level we can expect more
improvement to come this season.
Copyright of Cleeve Racing Limited 2020 Page 9Cleeve Racing's 2020 Jumps Ten to Follow He's such a fluent jumper that my reckoning he will be a serious force over fences this season with the JLT probably his most likely Festival option, but saying that a well- run Arkle could also suit… but whatever happens he'll be looking to avoid Envoi Allen! Copyright of Cleeve Racing Limited 2020 Page 10
Your Darling
Age - 5yo (21Apr15 b g)
Trainer - Ben Pauling
Sex - Gelding
Sire - Shirocco
Owner - Lord & Lady Vestey
After enjoying a fantastic start to his career, it's fair to say trainer Ben Pauling hasn't enjoyed
the best couple of years. In 2017 Willoughby Court who was his first Festival winner taking
the JLT, died after surgery at the start of the following season. That loss was softened when
Le Breuil won the National Hunt chase in 2019, but last season his star novice chaser Bright
Forecast was found to be suffering from a fibrillating heart, and Le Breuil, who disappointed
at the Festival when favourite for the Kim Muir missed out on being the yard's first Grand
National runner when it was cancelled due to the pandemic. On the other hand, Ben has
made a bright start since racing resumed and he could just have another top-class novice
hurdler to go to war with this campaign named Your Darling, who must be followed having
run just twice in NH flat races.
He's a big-raw sort with “chaser” written all over him, but it's his debut victory at Newbury
when beating Flinteur Sacre (a full-brother to Sprinter Sacre) that should be acknowledged
and his performance can even be marked up given how keenly he raced prior to winning in
authoritative fashion by 3 ¼ lengths.
Following on from that impressive debut, Your Darling drew plenty of praise from former
trainer Henrietta Knight who was involved with developing him and she said “He's the best
I've had since Best Mate, I think he could be top class, and I know the family well" Knight
further said. “We had a hell of a job to get him. I knew he was good. I am excited by this horse”
Your Darling was quoted as one of the leading fancies for the Champion Bumper but
connections decided to bypass the Festival and run him at Warwick where he was sent off
hot 4/6 favourite, but he was pulled up at an early stage which was probably down to the fact
that the stable were completely wrong at the time and he clearly wasn't the horse we saw at
Newbury.
Your Darling is expected to take high rank among the novice hurdle division despite his
career being aimed at a set of fences and he has already reportedly schooled exceptionally
well.
Copyright of Cleeve Racing Limited 2020 Page 11The Big Getaway
Age - 6yo (08May4 b g)
Trainer - Willie Mullins
Sex - Gelding
Sire - Getaway
Owner - Mrs J Donnelly
Envoi Allen led the 2 1/2 mile novice hurdle division last season, winning at the
Cheltenham Festival in the Ballymore Novices' Hurdle. He would be too obvious a
one for our list of horses to follow, but the horse who finished third that day at
Cheltenham jumped straight on to my radar, namely the Willie Mullins-trained The
Big Getaway, who possibly didn't get all the recognition he deserved.
He is well named being a massive son of Getaway and he must still be growing into
his frame. He started life in a NH Flat races finishing second twice, but both races
have worked out extremely well with the winners Fury Road going on to finish third
in Albert Bartlett and Fiddlerontheroof winning the Grade One Tolworth Hurdle.
His hurdles campaign kicked off at Leopardstown over 2m4f but he was beaten
when sent off the strong 11/10 favourite. He raced far too keenly in the early stages,
but still looked the winner jumping the last only to make a complete mess of it on
the landing side, which knocked the stuffing out of him and caused him to lose all
momentum. Nearly a month passed before his second start and he made no
mistake making all the running to score by 17 widening-lengths at Naas looking a
much more fluent jumper. His final race was in the Grade One Ballymore Novices'
Hurdle and it saw him improve markedly when beaten just 8 lengths in finishing 3rd
behind arguably the horse of the season; Envoi Allen and another horse on our list;
Easywork.
He cut out most of the running on the front-end but still looked a bit novicey over his
hurdles but looked to be going best of all jumping the third last hurdle with the
eventual first and second being niggled along. His lack of an turn of foot saw him
drop back to third over the final flight, but he stayed on well up the stiff uphill finish.
Copyright of Cleeve Racing Limited 2020 Page 13Cleeve Racing's 2020 Jumps Ten to Follow I am mindful of the fact that the novice chase division looks potentially very high- class this season but this six-year-old has the credentials to reach the very top. He has proved he is effective with plenty of cut but should also act on decent ground with his optimum trip looking like 2m4f with a a good chance of staying 3 miles so he should develop into a strong contender for races such as the Marsh or the RSA, for which he is priced up as a 16/1 chance and 20/1 respectively. Copyright of Cleeve Racing Limited 2020 Page 14
Eric Bloodaxe
Age - 5yo (22Mar15 bl g)
Trainer - Joseph O'Brien
Sex - Gelding
Sire - Saint Des Saints
Owner - Gigginstown House
Stud
I am a huge fan of the Joseph O'Brien trained Eric Bloodaxe, he won his first two
bumper races impressively, so it was a real shame connections had to bypass the
Champion Bumper at the Cheltenham Festival with what was, on the face of it, a
disappointing run on his final start… but it was reported by connections that he
finished lame and the way he went from travelling strongly out to dropping out in
the space of half a furlong explains that.
Nevertheless, this giant long-striding horse has plenty of ability and potential to
reach the top of the staying novice hurdle division, that is clearly supported on his
defeat of Ferny Hollow which was in no small way franked when that one went on to
win the Champion Bumper in authoritative fashion at the Festival. That gives us an
indication of just how good Eric Bloodaxe.a key-player in the Festival Bumper had he
been given the chance to run.
The fact connections decided to give him plenty of time to recover and ended his
campaign could reap big rewards and it will be intriguing to see how Eric Bloodaxe is
campaigned over hurdles because based on his size, scope and pedigree, we can
expect him to be a long-term staying type. I would be more optimistic about him
turning up in the Ballymore than the Supreme at the 2021 Cheltenham Festival and
his odds of 50/1 for that look far too big to me… he's well worth following this season.
Copyright of Cleeve Racing Limited 2020 Page 15Third Time Lucki
Age - 5yo (05Mar15 b g)
Trainer - Dan Skelton
Sex - Gelding
Sire - Arcadio
Owner - Mike & Eileen
Newbould
The Supreme Novices' Hurdle is a tricky race to evaluate at this early stage, but one
horse who is expected to come under the microscope at quoted double-digit odds
and is worth following this season is the Dan Skelton-trained Third Time Lucki, who
put in a courageous run in defeat in the Champion Bumper, finishing fourth of 23
runners.
Third Time Lucki made an eye-catching debut where he finished a close third in a
decent bumper at Ascot when he was tenderly handled, he then mopped up two
weaker races at Market Rasen and Huntingdon, so on the book he had a very tough
task stepping up into a championship race for the first time. But he outperformed
his odds of 16/1 comfortably, held up in last place for most of the contest, he seemed
to lack the necessary tactical speed turning into the home straight, but kept on well
under Harry Skelton's urgings to stay on strongly past all but three talented Irish
horses.
The time figures underlined that this was a top-class performance in defeat, and he
finished best of all the home-trained participants in the race.
Given the Festival Bumper's long-time reputation of producing the best first season
novice hurdlers, connections will have plenty optimism going forward especially if
he can translate his bumper form to obstacles. I can see Third Time Lucki developing
into a stayer at some point in his career, but the pace of the Supreme Novices' Hurdle
will definitely be a plus for him as he's already given the impression he won't be short
of stamina, as well as having plenty of speed, and with all-important course
experience under his belt so if he does take up this option, one can assume Third
Time Lucki won't be available at his current odds of around 33/1 for too long.
Copyright of Cleeve Racing Limited 2020 Page 16Abacadabras
Age - 6yo (15Apr14 b g)
Trainer - Gordon Elliott
Sex - Gelding
Sire - Davidoff
Owner - Gigginstown House
Stud
Gordon Elliott hasn't exactly gone under the radar with his high-class novice
hurdlers and his long awaited Champion Hurdle ambitions could become a reality
this season with one of Ireland's star novice hurdlers of last season… Abracadabras.
A a top-class bumper-horse for connections, despite only winning once. He was a
bit unlucky when running out at Leopardstown when putting it up to Envoi Allen in
a graded bumper His excellent fourth in the 2019 Champion Bumper behind the
same horse was followed up by a second in the Irish equivalent behind Colreevy less
than two months later, and put the seal on a top class campaign.
He made his eagerly awaited hurdles debut in a moderate Maiden Hurdle at
Gowran Park, but was visually impressive strolling to a five-length success. His next
assignment was a to step up to a Grade Three event at Navan, but it was arguably a
much deeper race than that on paper, even so, he was sent off 9/10 favourite and
duly obliged, demonstrating a decisive turn of foot to beat one of our other horses
to follow; Latest Exhibition. He was always travelling and jumping well and crept
into the race as the pace quickened round the turn for home. He joined the leaders
still pretty much on the bridle between the last two flights and took it up jumping
the last, quickly putting the race to bed and winning in pretty authoritative fashion
from Latest Exhibition.
Copyright of Cleeve Racing Limited 2020 Page 17Cleeve Racing's 2020 Jumps Ten to Follow The form of that race had a lot of substance to it with the runner-up going on to win a Grade One before finishing second in another top-level race at the Cheltenham Festival. His unbeaten record over hurdles came to an end when he stepped up to Grade One company next time out, but he lost little in defeat when getting to within one-length of the superstar Envoi Allen having travelled really well before throwing down a persistent challenge over the last hurdle. The form was exceptionally well- advertised by the winner romping home in the Ballymore and the third home placing in the Champion Hurdle! His fourth career start over hurdles saw him get back to winning ways when comfortably winning the Future Champions Novice Hurdle at Leopardstown, albeit a couple underperformed. His next assignment was the Supreme and Captain Guinness was not the only unfortunate horse, so was Abadacadabras who found himself in a terrible position after the standing start shuffled to the rear of the field. To his credit, Abacadabras travelled beautifully into the race and was the only one still on the bridle turning for home. He jumped the last clear but seemed to either lose concentration (or maybe the ground was a bit sticky as mentioned beforehand by connections) and was outstayed by Shiskin. But he confirmed himself to be a lethal weapon in a strongly run contest here by clocking a fast time figure, and the way that the Champion Hurdle is normally run will surely play right into his hands next year. Gordon Elliott mentioned soon afterwards that he would stay over hurdles, and with Grade One form, course form, and the way he travels through a race Abacadabras should be a huge player in the feature race on day one. Most firms are offering 10/1 at the moment, and that could look very big in due course. Copyright of Cleeve Racing Limited 2020 Page 18
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