Fergal O’Brien: “Hopefully, Imperial Alcazar can give can give us our maiden Festival winner”

CHELTENHAM- THURSDAY

1:55 Pertemps Final

Ask Dillon (Liam Harrison)

He took a nasty old fall at Cheltenham over fences through no fault of his own, or Paddy’s, and he did come back quite sore from it so we’ve given him plenty of time to recover and by the time we got him back right we were starting to run out of time because the season was getting on and I needed to give him another run to get some confidence into him which is why we decided to go back over hurdles and as it panned out he ended up in a Pertemps Qualifier at Carlisle where he finished second. I was slightly disappointed with the result at Exeter the last day where he just didn’t travel with his normal zest and Liam (Harrison) was always niggling away and trying to cajole him into the race, but to both of their credit he stayed on to finish fourth which didn’t look likely earlier in the race. We’ve freshened him up and hopefully he’ll bounce back from that and put up a bold show under Liam Harrison who hasn’t got many left until his claim goes down to 5lbs so if he has one more winner before this we’ll be putting the brakes on to utilise his 7lbs here!

Imperial Alcazar (Paddy Brennan)

We took him away to gallop in Lambourn last week which he really enjoyed and Paddy schooled him last Monday so we’ve done everything we can and he goes to Cheltenham in good order. I haven’t really followed the form of his Warwick race so not sure if anything has come out and won but I can only concentrate on my horse and couldn’t be any happier with this lad. He’s a big raw horse so this season staying over hurdles wouldn’t have done him any harm and he should make into a very nice chaser next year. We probably left him a little short for his first run of the season at Haydock and maybe didn’t ride him quite right, which was my fault because Paddy wanted him to be a bit handier and he was quite free so when it comes to this race, I won’t be giving any riding instructions because Paddy has ridden more winners than me! You’ve only got to go back through his form to see he’s always raced in good company and finished a very close second to Protektorat over the same course last season, so you’ve got to be looking forward to him going into this and if the Handicapper has got it right he won’t be far away and hopefully he can give us our maiden Festival winner!

15 To Go – £20 Free Bet Offer When You Back A Winner

We're running our 15 To Go winner on all races at Cheltenham next week, giving you the chance to net your stake as a free bet up to £20 when backing a winner. For more details and T&Cs, click here.