Are There Are Any Genuine Festival Trials On Cheltenham Trial’s Day?

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Paisley Park

Saturday's fixture at Cheltenham is called . It is the last meeting at the track before the Festival in March. There have been at least two winners at the headquarters of racing on the last weekend in January who have won at Cheltenham in the March. However, Trial's Day is something of a misnomer.

The Grade 2 Cleeve Hurdle this Saturday over three miles is a genuine trial for the over the course and distance six weeks later. The provides fewer clues for the Gold Cup.

The handicaps on Trial's Day are not too informative when it comes to assessing the Festival handicaps. The gap between the two meetings means there are few relevant handicap form guides. The Cleeve Hurdle often paints some pictures for the Festival. Paisley Park won the race last season and then won the Stayers' Hurdle at the Festival. Two winners of the Cleeve Hurdle have completed the double in the last five years and two other winners have been placed. The race truly is on ‘the road to Cheltenham'.

Big Buck won Saturday's race in two of the four he won the Stayers' Hurdle. Gran Crus was the Cleeve Hurdle winner in 2011 before being placed behind Big Buck's at the Festival. Indeed, there is no doubt the Cleeve Hurdle is a major prep-race for the Stayers' Hurdle and history is about to repeat itself in 2020.

Paisley Park can do the double again by winning another Cleeve Hurdle and defending his staying hurdlers' crown at the jumps meeting that matters most. The horse can confirm his status as the highest rated hurdler over three miles by winning the trial and the main event at Cheltenham.

The trained runner provided one of the best sports-related stories in 2019. The owner is blind and seems to get as much from racing as a sighted person. The experience for Andrew Gemmell is all heart and hearing, the other senses are more acute because he has no visual appreciation of the action. Paisley Park can give him the winning buzz again this weekend.

As a past winner of the Cleeve Hurdle, Paisley Park has won at the grade and over the distance. The horse also has a winning record on the ground which is projected to be soft. Paisley Park won the at Newbury 57 days ago and he has won his last six races. He can be backed at -137.49 with Bovada to win the Cleeve Hurdle and is a standout bet at that price.

See More Business in 1998 and 2000 and Looks Like Trouble in 2002 are the last winners of the Cotswold Chase to also win the Gold Cup. See More Business won the Gold Cup in 1999 and Looks Like Trouble won the Gold Cup the following year. Therefore neither horse won both races in the same year so the Cotswold Chase's status as a Gold Cup trial is questionable.

The Giant Bolster won the race in January 2014 and was placed in the Gold Cup in the March. In fact, the Cotswold Chase has pinpointed more winners over the last 10 years. Neptune Collonges (2011) and Many Clouds (2015 and 2017) also won the National.

Definitely Red won the Cotswold Chase in 2018 and can be backed at +3300 with Bovada to win the National. Frodon won this race last year and didn't run in the Gold Cup but did win the Ryanair Chase. Smad Place won a Cotswold Chase and .

So, the Cotswold Chase provides clues for major upcoming races but not usually the Gold Cup.

Santini could be the exception in 2020. The horse was one of the leading novice chasers of last season. He finished second behind Topofthegame in the RSA Chase and was too strong for Delta Work in the race but that horse had no luck in running. That form line suggests Santini could be the first horse this century to win the Cotswold Chase and Gold Cup in the same season.

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