the once great cheltenham festival, now a watered down shit heap of irish dominance that we can't walk away from. more races, smaller fields. now you actually have to understand the nuances of racing to be able to make good money but the twitter tout morons with three braincells and 5k followers complaining about the death of antepost betting because they're unable to find a 25/1 ew loser in a seven runner champion hurdle can't comprehend that you're actually allowed to bet favourites too. 

supreme

not a particularly strong renewal here and i think kopek is a very fair bet at 10/11 all things considered, make it closer to 8/11 after taking in to account the potential for pre-race antics. if you're happy to wait and see and willing to take a shorter price if all goes well then that's fair but do think it's priced in here right now and on ability i'd say this is closer to a 1/2 chance if he gets to the post safely. i had some jumping concerns the last day but he improved markedly from hurdles debut to the g1 win, a thoroughly impressive progression, tanking through that race and still pulling as he quickened three lengths clear round the bend. he's going to have a horse or two that can keep the pace for a bit longer today which will help him get up the hill with the likes of romeo coolio and workahead likely to make this a test. obviously that g1 he won the last day wasn't all that deep and you could use that as an excuse but i think competition aside very clearly this is the best horse while the other horses towards the head of the market have had some limitations exposed against inferior opposition.

romeo coolio isn't a horse i like very much. interesting to note that the plan early in the season was to run him over 2m6f as well as being a 3m ptp winner. he looked quite slow when getting beat by a pretty ordinary, exposed handicapper at fairyhouse and they realised that when sending him to out gallop them in leopardstown but that was another shallow race where he wasn't given a hard time out in front. tactically speaking he should be at an advantage and the track will suit what is likely the best stayer in the race so not without a chance but i think there are horses with a higher ceiling of ability at 2m. price is fine, don't think he should be bigger. would be a solid ew bet at 10/1 if it ever got there. 

would expect william munny to have improved beyond workahead despite the seven length gap between them the last day. workahead had the benefit of the run and tactics that day but when he quickened clear i was quite impressed by the way william munny made up ground, pulling away from the rest of the field himself, before getting a little tired. i do, however, believe he ran as well as we should expect him to behind kawaboomga the next day and that horse had very little trouble quickening by near the line after a bit of a jumping error at the last. the potential upside with william munny though is that the horse settled nicely for the first time when cantering home in a listed race in his first run with a full time jockey on board, and with the application of a hood here today there's every chance this horse improves on anything he's ever posted on a racecourse. 2.6 the place in an each way bet isn't unappealing and any 4/1 without the fav is decent enough too. 

thought tripoli flyer was interesting, concerned about the bleeding from the nose the last day but he stays well, the ground will be good enough to see him run his race. irancy looked like a nice prospect the last day, quickened up smartly when they straightened up but has had a setback since and they haven't managed to get a race in which is a concern in a race of this nature. one for the future, could surprise but will go unbacked my end.