Nico de Boinville: “He has as good a chance as most in this handicap”

I'll be on Unibet's Cheltenham Preview Panel this Monday 8th March at 19:00. You can watch it on @UnibetRacing's Facebook page or the Unibet Youtube Channel – full details are here. 

Newbury

12.40pm

Haul Away

Hopefully stepping back in trip and returning to hurdles on better ground will see him be competitive here. He is certainly on a very fair mark if he returns to his best, but admittedly that was a while ago now.

1.50pm

Pistol Whipped

He probably has as good a chance as most in this competitive handicap. I thought he was all set to score at Kempton last time but the winner just kept finding. He has gone up 5lb for the defeat, which clearly makes life tough in a race such as this, but the third came out and won well at Leicester recently, so hopefully we are still in the mix.

2.30pm

Glynn

This looks another very open handicap. Glynn has to bounce back from a disappointing effort in the Lanzarote last time but that clearly wasn’t his true running and he had earlier shaped well at Doncaster after a long absence. Let’s hope he can return to form on this better ground. If he does, he has chances off his mark.

️ CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL PREVIEW NIGHT

Monday 8th March 2021 ⏲️ c. 19:00 Live on Youtube and Facebook

️ Mark Pougatch ️ Nicky Henderson ️ Fergal O'Brien ️ Paddy Brennan ️ Nico de Boinville

Featuring a number of boosts and specials only available on the night

— Unibet Racing (@UnibetRacing) March 2, 2021

3.05pm

Java Point

Competitive handicaps seem to be the order of the day at Newbury on Saturday. I rode him when he was second at Uttoxeter last time, and the winner has run well in defeat since. Kim has his team in good order and this horse mixed in some decent novice company last season, so a mark of 117 looks okay. And I think stepping back in trip is a plus, too.

4.15pm

Moonlight Flit

I didn’t ride him on his debut at Uttoxeter in November. He has a decent pedigree, and he is a nice stamp of a horse, and we like to think he is a bit better than he showed first time up. But there are at least a couple of decent ones in here by the looks of it, so this may take plenty of winning.