Cheltenham Festival NAP of the Week

The Brown Advisory or previously known as the RSA has always thrown up a smart horse and it has produced Gold Cup winners in the shape of Bobs Worth, Lord Windermere and Don Poli in the past. In recent years it has been won by Champ, Monkfish and L’Homme Presse so that tells you about the calibre of horse needed to win such a good race.

With the rain hitting Cheltenham just in time the momentum is really building behind GERRI COLOMBE now and I think he can remain unbeaten in the Brown Advisory on Wednesday. He has never tasted defeat even winning his point to point. He made it a perfect 3-3 over fences winning the Scilly Isles at Sandown last month. That came over 2 and a half miles so a trip on the sharp side and on quicker ground but his class really came to the fore and he stayed on strongly to win readily in the end. He is a horse still learning his trade and with improvement to come back up in trip I have him a cut above anything in this field.

Sir Gerhard looks like he is going to take his chance and he is the one I see emerging as the main danger. He obviously has Festival form to his name winning the Champion Bumper and then the Ballmore last year. He won his sole start over fences at Gowran Park back in January but hasn’t been seen since and he is going to need to jump more fluently to have a chance of laying a glove on this favourite. Thyme Hill is 2 from 3 over fences but that form from Kempton is hard to weigh up and I’m not convinced he is a natural in this discipline. The Real Whacker will be given a bold sight but he could help set it up for the selection who should relish that hill.