JLT Festival Handicap Odds : Hold on Julio Cheltenham Tips
As the first handicap of the meeting the Festival Handicap Chase (being sponsored by JLT this season) is the first real big betting heat of the four-day extravaganza.
The race itself is built for horses that have stamina in abundance and they certainly need to get the entire three mile trip. In the past it was seen as the perfect trial for the next year’s Gold Cup as Silver Fame (1950), Four Ten (1953), Limber Hill (1955), Kerstin (1956) and Charter Party (1986) all became Gold Cup heroes within the next two years. But in modern times it has been used by trainers as a perfect trial for the Grand National, although only Rough Quest (1995) has done the double recently.
This is a race where the big boys come out in force, both in the betting ring and on the track.
Punters have landed some real big gambles in this race as have many of the hard-hitting stables. The likes of Martin Pipe, Ferdy Murphy and Kim Bailey all have plotted up some real big betting coups in this race and the market usually is a good indication of what horses are likely to run a big race – nine of the last 11 winners have all been in the first four in the betting.
What’s particularly special about this gritty handicap is that, for some reason, it always produces a heart stopping and richly exciting finish.
Wichita Lineman’s last gasp victory in 2009 for owner J P McManus and trainer Jonjo O’Neill is famously known as one of the best rides of multiple champion jockey AP McCoy’s career and when you consider he’s had nearly 4,000 winners that speaks volumes of the importance of the race.
Other big winners for punters in the last few seasons have usually been sent out by trainer Alan King, who has a stunning record in this Festival handicap. Fork Lighting (2004) was the stables first ever Cheltenham winner and since then he has gone on to produce another 11 winners, two of them in this gruelling handicap.
Chief Dan George landed the spoils in 2010 before Bensalem continued King’s fantastic run in the race by getting up late in the day to snatch last season’s renewal.
The key to unlocking any handicap is to find a horse that loves the surroundings and is in some shape or form ahead of the handicapper. The Festival Handicap Chase (being sponsored by JLT this season) is no different and swearing by those aforementioned criteria would have found you the winner of this ultra-competitive handicap on plenty of occasions in the last 15 years.
The talking horse for this year’s race is the Alan King-trained Hold On Julio, who ticks a lot of boxes and also has a man in his corner that has won this race three times in the last eight years, including the last two runnings.
The lightly-raced nine-year-old stole the show at Sandown in January when he landed a massive gamble for King in what looked a hotly contested handicap. The former point-to-pointer came home a massive nine lengths clear of Neptune Collonges but looked as though the further he went the better he would be. Such was the nature of his win that there was some talk of him developing into as a potential Gold Cup contender, but that looks a little off the mark. King has revealed that he likely to keep his charge in handicapping company and has had this race earmarked for him ever since he was pulled out of the Sky Bet Chase at Doncaster after a dirty scope. All being well come March and it’s predicted that a meagre rise of just 11lbs by the handicapper isn’t likely to stop this potential top-class animal winning again.
Other potential interesting runners include the likes of Paddy Power Gold winner Great Endeavour and Hennessey Gold Cup victor Carruthers.
Martin Pipe’s charge won the Byrne Group Plate Handicap back in 2010 and has shown on plenty of occasions his love for the surroundings at Prestbury Park while the gallant nine-year-old Carruthers has looked somewhere back near his best this season and he still might be on a mark that could make him a real danger in handicaps at the Festival.
