Kim Muir Challenge Cup Tips : Mostly Bob and Qianshan Leader battle it out at Cheltenham
This handicap is the closing race on St Patrick’s Day and is a chase handicap run over three miles and about half a furlong. The entertaining race is seen by many punters as the make or break race in terms of a profitable or disastrous betting day.
With this race being an amateur jockeys event the runners go off at a break neck pace, and there is little let up in the gallop throughout meaning the field usually end up heavily strung out.
It has been thought that spending time reviewing the jockeys rather than horses can be a profitable theory as higher-calibre of jocks seems to flourish in the race rather than the ability of their mount – six of the last seven winners were ridden by non-claiming amateurs. The likes of Sam Waley-Cohen, Willie Twiston-Davies, Katie Walsh and Jamie Codd all have celebrated huge success in the race.
Kim Muir Challenge Cup Tips
Mostly Bob looks the perfect choice each way at 16/1 for victory in the Kim Muir Cup, but don’t forget to limit your risk by taking advantage of Bet365’s free bet ‘saver’ of £200/€200 for all visitors of Footybunker.com to spend on any race at Cheltenham! Claim here!
It’s probably best to stay clear of Irish horses for this kind of handicap as they are on a 28 race losing streak. British runners seem the way to go.
In recent years the stamina-sapping nature of the event looks to have made it an ideal trial for the Grand National. The 2010 winner Ballabriggs won the National the following year and Junior, ante-post favourite for the Aintree showpiece this season, won the 2011 renewal under a fine Codd ride.
David Pipe’s strapping youngster was part of a classic Pipe gamble for last season’s race and went off a very well-backed 100/30Fav. It wasn’t all plain sailing though as he looked second best with four to jump as Done Deal kicked eight lengths clear turning for home, but his stamina soon was found out and Junior’s kicked into overdrive.
The seven-year-old bounded over the final few fences to the delight of the crowd and cemented his place for the following year’s National.
As with many Festival handicaps knowing which horses are likely to run in a certain race is hard to predict, especially in the Kim Muir.
But one that has had this race as his option for a while is trainer Emma Lavelle’s classy sort Qianshan Leader.
Cottage Stables have already tasted success twice at the Cheltenham Festival with Crack Away Jack in 2008 and Clause And Pause in 2010 and Lavelle has been quite bullish regarding the chances of adding Qianshan Leader to that roll of honour this year.
This year’s fifth in the Sky Bet Chase at Doncaster has been threatening to break into the top-class bracket of chasing horses since the start of last season and could do that at Cheltenham.
Before his solid run at Doncaster, Lavelle’s charge recorded wins at Kempton. He looked a little unlucky behind Calgary Bay in the Sky Bet feature though and his rating of 134 could be a dangerous one to take on when March comes around.
It does normally pay dividends to stay clear of the big-hitting stables here – Paul Nicholls has had just one placed runner from 14 starters and Nigel Twiston Davies has never placed a horse in 13 runs. But respect does have to be given to Mostly Bob, who will be flying the Phillip Hobbs flag.
The nine-year-old has looked revitalised since the turn of the year, having dropped to a mark he should be competitive off. This was perfectly summed up by his most recent run over the same course and distance at Cheltenham, where he showed real top-class form to see off Mon Mome by four lengths. He looks an ideal type for a stint at the Scottish Grand National and should use this handicap as a prep-race. It will be disappointing if he’s not good enough to feature.
