A small field with only two real protagonists that was won by a high class odds-on shot, Oscar Whisky. Fourth in a Supreme Novices and third in last Season’s champion hurdle, his class and speed has never been in question. He had also won this race in 2011 and last time out over course and distance. Understandably he was sent off the 4/6 favourite but the race was not a foregone conclusion, however, with Barry Geraghty’s mount giving the up and coming Nicholls hurdler, Poungach, 8lbs. In truth, Oscar Whisky was not tested at any stage through the race. With Richard Johnson on Cockney Trucker setting a decent pace in front there were no worries of the race becoming a sprint and Geraghty sat a few lengths off the leader biding his time before making his challenge rounding the final bend hard on the bridle. Then he hit the front as Cockney Trucker wilted, with the staying on Poungach, under Ruby Walsh, his only meaningful rival. I use the word meaningful loosely as Oscar Whisky was never out of second gear while Poungach was all out in trying to cut him down. As Geraghty sat motionless all the way to line, Oscar Whisky had managed to eke out a winning distance of two lengths that could conceivably have been 5 times that.
With regards to the future of Oscar Whisky and more pertinently his festival target it is hard to know what to take from the race. In its simplest form this race was little more than a very high class horse defeating inferior rivals comfortably. Despite this, Poungach is no back number and the way Oscar Whisky sauntered up the Cheltenham hill suggests there is no reason why a step up in trip would not suit. By the same token, the manner in which he travelled, and always travels, shows how much speed he has and that a drop back to 2m would be no problem. His connections, it seems, want to send him for the World Hurdle where he will have to tackle the extra half mile but more importantly the superior being that it Big Buck’s. It is highly unlikely Oscar Whisky will be able to overturn the reigning champion but I have no doubts he will make a race of it.
As for the rest of the 4 runner field, Poungach, in second, ran a somewhat unexpected race. His previous two runs over hurdles, at Ascot and Sandown, had been marked by him travelling all over his rivals and pulling away with a visually pleasing turn of foot. Here he did not seem comfortable through the race and was off the bridle passing the stands on the first circuit. A worry his trainer held after his Sandown run was that he did not jump his hurdles brilliantly and this was again the case, making a number of errors. This all meant he had to be cajoled along by Ruby Walsh for much of the contest but his stamina kicked in late and it looked as if he might throw down a serious challenge to the winner. He failed on that count but he did pull well clear of the third and on ratings this was his best performance so far. The way he ran this day points to a step up to 3m being in his best interests, however, if for some reason he wasn’t himself then he is well worth another go at this level over this trip as there are not many around in Oscar Whisky’s league. On looks, Poungach appears to be serious chaser of the future. He is bigger and stronger looking than Oscar Whisky and I can see him being a major player in the novices chase division next season. Hence for this season everything he does, as they say, is a bonus.
In third and fourth were Cockney Trucker and Drill Sergeant. They were both outclassed in this event but there were again signs of promise from the run of Cockney Trucker. Having finished third behind Oscar Whisky the time before he was entitled to run a decent race here and he did. Setting a reasonable gallop, he ran well for a long way before being swamped by two higher class rivals. He seems to run better in better races so a drop in class is unlikely to see him improve his modest strike rate but there is no reason to think he won’t show up well again in one of the fiercely competitive festival handicaps. Drill Sergeant travelled noticeably better than Poungach through the race but as has become the norm, recently, he found little in the end. He has become one to avoid and is unlikely to win a decent prize anytime soon.
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