Hare Hopes for Cheltenham Day 2 Sire Power Following Mullins-Walsh Treble On Day 1

by CANDICE HARE

Faugheen lived up to the hype when taking the Champion Hurdle on a day when the duo of Willie Mullins and Ruby Walsh’s short priced favorites dominated, scoring three wins on the day.

Other highlights of theirs included Un De Sceaux nearly making all en route to a comfortable win in the Arkle and Douvan dusting the opposition in the Supreme. One favorite that didn’t fare nearly as well was Annie Power, who fell at the last when well clear of the field in the Mare’s Hurdle, handing the win to Glens Melody, thankfully both horse and rider are OK.

Day two of the festival features the Queen Mother Champion Chase and a superstar matchup between Sprinter Sacre and Sire De Grugy. The legendary Sprinter Sacre hasn’t been up to his old standards since setbacks have forced him to spend substantial amounts of time away from the racecourse. We’ll instead side with defending champion Sire De Grugy, who erased memories of his struggles in his return race after injury when putting on a dominant display last month at Chepstow. For a bit of value underneath, we’ll look to Dodging Bullets, who defeated Sprinter Sacre at Ascot in January, and the veteran Somersby, who although tough to win with finds himself in the mix more often than not.

Another bet we’ll be looking to make is on Outlander, who should be suited by a good sized field, solid early pace, and the drying ground at Cheltenham, to win the Neptune -- a novices’ hurdle run over two miles and five furlongs.

Lastly, we’ll zone in on two runners in the Cross Country Chase: Any Currency and Sire Collonges, both of whom sport solid form on this course. We’ll box them in an exacta and play the likely higher price of the two, Sire Collonges, to win. 

Recommended Wagers

Race 1 -- Outlander to win

Race 4 -- Sire De Grugy to win and exacta Sire De Grugy / Dodging Bullets, Somersby

Race 5 -- Sire Collonges to win and exacta box Any Currency / Sire Collonges

Candice will blog each day of the Cheltenham Festival for TwinSpires.com. Follow her on Twitter @CHARE889 for real-time insights into the races, including 10% exacta bonus plays!