Cheltenham Festival: Off The Fence Team Barry Geragthy and Tony Keenan pick Albert Bartlett and Coral Cup tips | Racing news
With two weeks to go until the ongoing Cheltenham Festival, the Off The Fence team targets the Albert Bartlett Novices Hurdles and the Coral Cup.
Host Vanessa Ryle is back with former Cheltenham Festival prize-winning jockey Barry Geraghty and racing expert Tony Keenan to examine the latest clues to the big race.
Keenan was particularly intrigued by Emmet Mullins .’s performance Cross Corbett in the Johnstown Second Grade Beginner Hurdles Competition in Naas on Sunday when the six-year-old defied a significant drop in the ride (two miles) to beat the helpful Found A Fifty.
Corbetts Cross currently has just one entry at the Festival, more than three miles away in Albert Bartlett, and Keenan believes his current 5/1 price tag is still great value.
Keenan said: “I can’t stress how great this performance was and I couldn’t be more positive about this horse.
“For Found A Fifty, you couldn’t find a better race in the calendar, but Corbetts Cross was able to approach him, ride with him without issue and then pass him in no time. ie.
“There’s no other horse in the Albert Bartlett field that can do that – they’ll be run over.”
Corbetts Cross with owner Paul Byrne and coach Emmet Mullins
Geraghty was also impressed with the performance, but cautioned against whether the horse would line up in Albert Bartlett.
“That’s what I was expecting to see from an Albert Bartlett candidate because they were running around beating each other and didn’t get far,” Geraghty said.
“We’ve been waiting for something to get his head out of the water and now he’s standing hip height above everything at this stage.
“However, they mentioned they could add him to other races and going is a concern so that could work. Ballymore could be an option if they go under. That direction.”
Spotlight: Coral Cup Selection!
Geraghty and Keenan also nominated the Coral Cup selection ahead of the handicapped weight classes being released this week.
Geraghty said: “The person I am about to mention is Run for the Oscars. He finished third at Haydock on weak ground and beat Cesarewitch on good ground before.
“He has a 145 record in England so that’s worth remembering. He’s in better form on the better pitch and is in the Coral Cup so I’ll keep an eye on him for that.”
Coral Cup field away from the stands in Cheltenham
Keenan, meanwhile, has a crush on a team member Jessica Harrington. “One thing I’ve been thinking about for a while in Coral Cup is He himself“he say.
“I think he’s been running too far for him in recent starts and has lost weight.
“He made very few mistakes then won by a margin at Punchestown last time. He’s going there with a good chance and hopefully a good price on that day.”
