Anna Bunina (second left) is produced late
Anna Bunina (second left) is produced late

Four handicappers to follow from the Cheltenham Festival


Ian Ogg selects four handicappers from the Cheltenham Festival that it may pay to look at in a forgiving light over the coming weeks.


Harper's Brook

Ben Pauling saddled two runners in the Magners Plate which may or may not have influenced his decision to run Harper's Brook in the Ultima but the shorter race, in hindsight, would have been the better option for this seven-year-old.

Harper's Brook has raced keenly in the past and was soon to the fore in the three mile one furlong handicap and posted an exuberant round of jumping in first time cheekpieces. The petrol gauge emptied quickly once he had straightened up approaching the second last and Tom Cannon sensibly pulled him up.

However, he'd looked on good terms with himself prior to that, bouncing back from a poor run in the Dipper on New Year's Day and, providing this race hasn't left a mark as ever, looks capable of gaining a second win over fences if returned to an intermediate trip.

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Tax For Max

'Held up in rear, never involved' is this website's in-running comment for Tax For Max in the Coral Cup and it's hard to argue too much with that but my eye kept being taken by how kindly Willie Mullins' runner travelled (as he often does admittedly) for Daryl Jacob, tucked away on the inside towards the rear.

Tax For Max did make some progress into midfield before weakening quickly and, another to have raced keenly in the past, he shaped like a blatant non-stayer on this first run beyond two miles. He has been well placed to win his two starts over hurdles and has regularly been found wanting in the competitive handicaps where he plies his trade.

His two wins, though, both came at Punchestown where he finished third in a decent handicap at the Festival last April and it wouldn't be a surprise to see him achieve something similar, or better, in a month's time at a venue that seems to bring out the best in him.

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Thyme White

One of the more obvious non-finishers to catch the eye as Thyme White looked to be travelling as well as anything when getting the second last all wrong in the Grand Annual, a race that had been on his agenda this season and last.

Obviously it was too far out to know what would have happened but he was in the process of running a big race and is certainly well enough handicapped to win a decent prize on this evidence.

The main caveat would be trainer Paul Nicholls' comments that 'he is always brilliant when fresh and then tends not to back it up' but with a longer gap to Aintree this year and to Ayr, it may give Thyme White sufficient time to come to himself.

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Anna Bunina

Anna Bunina's finishing position in the County Hurdle was similar to that achieved in 2021 although far more use was made of her in this season's renewal.

She was right there at the second last until the closers swept by but she stuck to the task to finish ninth, as befits a mare with form over further. Anna Bunina looks more or less handicapped to the hilt which is a concern with her last hurdles victory coming from 134 at Bellewstown in July (currently rated 139) but she ran two good races in February, finishing fourth in the Leopardstown handicap won by Gaelic Warrior before chasing home Queen's Brook over two and a half miles.

Anna Bunina is a five time winner over hurdles and those victories came in April (last year's Scottish Champion Hurdle), May, July (two) and August and none came on ground worse than yielding; indeed, she's only placed once in eight attempts (26 starts) on such ground whereas she's been in the first three 10 times from the other 18.

All of which is a roundabout way of saying that the next few months are her time of year and she's running as well as ever.

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