Tips & preview: Timeform highlights and ratings at Cheltenham

The Ratings Choice

Gaillard du Mesnil – 17:30 Cheltenham

Constitution Hill appears to have a significant class edge over his six rivals in the Champion Hurdle, but perhaps more interesting for betting purposes is Gaillard du Mesnil, who is himself 12 lb clear of the other nine runners set to go to post for the National Hunt Chase on Timeform’s weight-adjusted ratings.

Trained by Willie Mullins, Gaillard du Mesnil failed to win in five starts over fences last season, but he still achieved a very smart level of form, producing his best effort when finishing third (beaten five lengths behind L’Homme Presse) in the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at this meeting.

Gaillard du Mesnil has been campaigned exclusively in Grade One company as a second-season novice this term and he didn’t need to improve to get off the mark as a chaser in the Neville Hotels Novice Chase at Leopardstown over Christmas, gradually drawing clear in the straight to land the spoils by seven and a half lengths.

Last seen finishing third in the Ladbrokes Novice Chase back at Leopardstown a few weeks ago, ultimately passing the post 10 lengths behind Mighty Potter, Gaillard du Mesnil will be suited by the return to further at Cheltenham and it looks an excellent opportunity for him to double his career tally over fences.

The Big Improver

Marine Nationale – 13:30 Cheltenham

Unbeaten in four starts, Marine Nationale only made his debut in a bumper at Punchestown in May 2022 and he’s certainly come a long way in a short space of time in the interim having ended the calendar year with victory in the Royal Bond Novice Hurdle at Fairyhouse in December.

That was a big step up in class on just his second run over hurdles and it’s to his credit that he was able to overcome that in the way that he did, particularly as things didn’t pan out ideally for him.

Indeed, while the official winning margin at Fairyhouse was just a head, Marine Nationale was value for plenty extra having conceded first run to the smart runner-up, Irish Point, and the most striking aspect of his performance was how well he quickened on the run-in when a mistake at the last could easily have cost him.

Marine Nationale has been given a break since and the feeling remains that we’ve only scratched the surface in terms of his true potential. An exciting prospect, he probably would have preferred the rain to stay away given his style of racing, though it shouldn’t be an issue given that the ground was described by Timeform as ‘heavy’ when he won at Fairyhouse.

The Timeform Flag

Into Overdrive – 14:50 Cheltenham

Horse In Focus, Timeform Top Rated

Into Overdrive has been one of the most improved horses in training since gaining his first success over fences around this time last year, now the winner of five of his last six starts and lining up here from a BHA mark of 147 having started his winning sequence off 112.

After meeting with his only defeat in that time in the Rehearsal Chase at Newcastle in November, when beaten just a length behind the top-class L’Homme Presse (who was conceding him 26 lb), Into Overdrive then took another step forward to resume winning ways in the Rowland Meyrick Chase at Wetherby on Boxing Day, typically proving most genuine when tackled after the last to land the spoils by half a length.

That appeals as very strong handicap form and the runner-up, Sounds Russian, who was conceding 15 lb to Into Overdrive, certainly did it no harm when going on to fill the same position in the Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham next time.

An enthusiastic, bold-jumping front-runner, Into Overdrive now faces his toughest yet following a further 5 lb rise in the weights, but his progress shows absolutely no signs of slowing down. He should be well suited to the test that this race provides and another bold bid seems assured as he tries to continue his remarkable rise through the ranks.

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