"The potentially ferocious gallop should suit Marshal Zhukov ideally and he looks just the type to thrive in a contest such as this..."
Timeform suggest a trio of plays for the final day of Cheltenham 2013...
There are three that stand out on form in the opening race on the final day of Cheltenham 2013, namely Far West, Our Conor and Rolling Star, and our selection comes from that trio. The Paul Nicholls-trained Far West makes plenty of appeal with him being unbeaten in the UK but, for all that he showed more speed than anticipated when beating River Maigue at Ascot last time, this represents by far his stiffest task to date so he is left to one side. Fellow French import Rolling Star commands plenty of respect following his success in a Grade 2 at this venue in January, when beating Irish Saint by two and a quarter lengths, and he is clearly open to improvement but Our Conor boasts more experience over timber and is open to just as much progress, so he is the one for us. Our Conor, who was useful on the Flat, is unbeaten in three starts over hurdles and was tremendously impressive when taking the step up to Grade 1 company in his stride at Leopardstown last time, beating Diakali easily by five lengths. He is by no means short of speed but has plenty of stamina on the dam's side of his pedigree, being a half-brother to the useful staying chaser Gidam Gidam, so he should cope with the demands of this stiffer track and he rates as an exciting prospect.
The Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle is yet another seemingly imponderable Festival handicap, though there is a difference here as one makes an abundance of appeal. The horse we are quite happy to place our faith in is Gevrey Chambertin, a full-brother to Grands Crus who is unbeaten in three starts over hurdles and has improved with each outing. The five-year-old made his handicap debut at Wincanton on his most recent outing in January, making a mockery of his opening BHA mark of 130 as he slammed his rivals by seven lengths, winning easily and, such was the impression created that day, he is well worth marking up above and beyond the bare form. The Paul Nicholls-trained Salubrious, who is also lightly-raced and boasts some strong form lines, and Toner d'Oudairies, who finished second in this race 12 months ago off a 2 lb lower mark, head a plethora of dangers but the David Pipe-trained Gevrey Chambertin, who strikes as the type that will continue to improve, boasts leading claims and seems certain to go close.
The concluding race of Cheltenham 2013 will be the Grand Annual, a notoriously difficult handicap to solve. Nicky Henderson, who was successful in the race that is named after his father with Bellvano last year, has no less than six strings to his bow this time around, with Tanks For That and Kid Cassidy arguably the two most interesting. Alderwood, who landed the County Hurdle last season, has been touted by many as a likely winner of this race but we are quite happy to be against him here, as he is not certain to make up into as good a chaser as he was a hurdler and it was disappointing that he could not defy a mark of 135 (races off 140 here) at Punchestown last time despite being relatively well supported. Instead we will side with the Caroline Keevil-trained Marshal Zhukov, who was a fairly useful hurdler but has already shown himself to be better over the larger obstacles in just five attempts. The seven-year-old has been labelled in some quarters as headstrong, a description that is not far from the mark given that he has raced freely in virtually all of his races since switching to this sphere, but what he has also done is jump well, an encouraging sign given the demands of this race. The potentially ferocious gallop should suit him ideally and he looks just the type to thrive in a contest such as this.
Timeform SmartPlays:
All at Cheltenham
Back Our Conor @ 4.3100/30 in the 13:30
Back Gevrey Chambertin @ 6.411/2 in the 16:40
Back Marshal Zhukov @ 16.015/1 in the 17:15
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