Phelan’s Flame Could Burn Brightly At Cheltenham

I thought Cohesion ran a better race for us than his finishing position suggests last week in the November handicap as very little went right for him. David Bridgwater’s charge didn’t get as good a start as he would have liked and George Wood couldn’t get him into his preferred prominent position early doors. He raced on the inner, got shuffled back through the field and by the time George Wood switched him wide in the home straight the race was over. When he did find daylight he stayed on very well, and though he finished 14th he was only 8L behind the winner and 4l off a place.

 

Sean Houlihan's 7lb claim could be crucial.

My fancy for tomorrow at Cheltenham has form that ties in with Cohesion, and I think Pivotal Flame looks too big a price in the 16.5f handicap hurdle at 13.15. Pat Phelan’s 4yo daughter of Pivotal has improved with every run since going hurdling and her best effort yet came when 4th behind Highway One O One at Plumpton last time out. She was beaten just over 9L by the winner that day, but she was only a length behind the runner up Cohesion and on the evidence of that run I think her opening mark of 114 looks workable.

Now, she was admittedly receiving a fair chunk of weight from the majority of her rivals that day at Plumpton, but she pulled pretty hard early on and if she had settled better she could have finished a lot closer to the winner who is now rated 133. The runner up Cohesion is rated over 100 on the level and the 3rd home Trust The Man, a 200/1 shot, backed up his good run by finishing a decent 2nd behind the very highly rated and unbeaten Irish Prophecy on his next start.

Sean Houlihan, who almost guided Milrow to victory for us here at a monster price a few weeks back, keeps the faith and that looks a big plus as Sophie Leech has a couple of runners in this race. I am not sure if she has first dibs on Houlihan but presumably he had the choice between Pivotal Flame and her two entries. His 7lb claim means that Pivotal Flame makes her handicap debut off effectively 107 and I think she has the raw ability to be competitive off that rating.

The big worry for me with Pivotal Flame is her lack of experience over hurdles as this is just her 5th start in this sphere. Her jumping looked a little bit sketchy at times at Plumpton, but it got better as the race wore on and hopefully she has learned enough in her three completions over timber to allow her to hold her own in this big field. If she settles early and jumps well I think she is capable of putting up a bold show, and at the monstrous price of 66/1 I think she has to be worth a fiver each way.

I have also put up a trio of tips for Mybettingbonus tomorrow. Click here to see them.

STEVOS’ SELECTION: 13.15 CHELTENHAM-PIVOTAL FLAME E/W @ 66/1 (5 places PP)