THERE is an early morning inspection to see whether this year’s running of the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase (4.10pm) can take place this afternoon as the track is currently waterlogged.
If it is abandoned, as seems more likely than not, the race will be run as the first on Friday’s Gold Cup Day card.
Cheltenham only race on the Cross-Country Course three times a year and it hasn’t had the same level of investment in drainage as the more traditional courses have had.
That means it takes a lot longer to filter through and dry, resulting in plenty of areas of surface water.
With a dry night it may clear, but the most likely scenario is the planned rescheduling.
Cross Country racing was first introduced to Cheltenham back in 1995 with the advent of Sunday racing.
The runners have to negotiate 32 obstacles, including banks, ditches and hedges in a unique spectacle.
All eyes will once again be on Gordon Elliott’s DELTA WORK who will be bidding to join former stablemate Tiger Roll as the race’s only three-time winner.
The 11-year-old has won the last two renewals and will be best suited by current conditions should the race be given the green light today.
Conditions were bottomless when he outbattled Tiger Roll in a gruelling finish two years ago and were soft 12 months ago when he beat another stablemate in Galvin.
He blew the cobwebs away over hurdles at Navan last month which is a path his trainer used to navigate with Tiger Roll.
The application of first-time blinkers may just sharpen him up a little and he should take a fair bit of beating at a best-priced 11/4 with Star Sports.
CROSS COUNTRY CHASE 1-2-3
Delta Work
Minella Indo
Coko Beach
His biggest danger looks sure to be 2021 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Minella Indo who brings real quality to the event.
Henry de Bromhead’s runner caught the eye on his debut run over these fences back in December when finishing a close-up fourth.
That renewal was run as a handicap, so the 11-year-old was trying to give well over a stone to the three rivals that finished ahead of him that day.
This Festival prize is run as a conditions race meaning all 12 runners are set to carry the same weight of 11st 7lbs.
That gives a huge advantage to the classier types at the top of the weights who would have much stiffer tasks if this was run as a handicap.
A horse like Didero Vallis has a rating of just 112 which is nearly 50lbs below the best of these and he faces them off level weights.
The other interesting contender is another Gordon Elliott runner in Coko Beach who makes his debut in this race having won over the banks at Punchestown last month.
He’s a couple of years younger than his two market rivals and we saw when Delta Work lowered Tiger Roll’s colours a few years ago that relative youth can sometimes count for plenty.
He handled heavy ground really well at Aintree back in December when shouldering a monster weight in the Becher Chase.
There is every chance he is just getting going with his cross-country chasing career and he rates a huge danger to both.
It all comes down to price and the fact that he is just 3/1 is off-putting.
The market implies he has achieved as much as Delta Work over banks and that’s simply not the case.
It is also worth factoring in that both Minella Indo and Delta Work were both proven Grade One performers whilst Coko Beach never really broke through when stepping out of Grade Two company.
Looking at the others and last year’s runner-up Galvin is back for more.
He never got past the first fence in last year’s Grand National but shaped well in the same hurdle prep as Delta Work.
The positives are a really good Cheltenham Festival record and decent course form, but the bad ground is definitely a negative.
Foxy Jacks won the handicap at the track back in November and shaped alright over hurdles at Christmas at Leopardstown.
He’s another who could have done with the ground drying out a little although it would be no surprise to see another bold show.
It is always dangerous to rule out any Willie Mullins-trained runner and the Closutton handler relies on the quirky Stattler.
He was once considered potential Gold Cup class having won the National Hunt Chase here back in 2022.
However, he’s not won in six races since and has become a slightly difficult character.
The likes of Francky Du Berlais and Diesel D’Allier both have heaps of experience over these fences but have very little chance of troubling the big guns on these terms.
Diesel D’Allier loves it when the mud flies and has won over these fences in the past, but he has looked a shadow of his former self in recent runs.
POINTERS
Delta Work 4.10pm Cheltenham