WITH the Cheltenham Festival next week I will dwell on the weekend action briefly before going through my selections for the four days of the big meeting.
As far as tomorrow is concerned, I make former smart flat performer NATURAL HISTORY (NAP) the best bet of the day in the feature betting event, the Imperial Cup Handicap Hurdle at Sandown Park.
He was a progressive middle distance charge on the flat last year culminating in a cracking second to Euchen Glen in the Group Three St Simon Stakes at Newbury.
On his three starts to date over timber, the lightly raced six-year-old has finished second twice on unsuitably deep ground and then finally grabbed his first gold medal when hacking up on good ground at Plumpton last time out.
Owner Andy Stewart is confident Barbados Buck’s can spark celebrations at his home in the Caribbean with victory at the Cheltenham Festival in the Albert Bartle
BOOL CONFIDENT OF NEAR-NORMAL MAY CARNIVAL CROWDS
March 3, 2021 12:23 pm
By Matt Stewart, Racing Editor
The Warrnambool Racing Club has allayed fears that the upcoming May carnival might be severely crowd-capped, saying it expected a State government green light for near-normal crowds.
There was speculation on social media yesterday that the carnival would be capped at 2500 for each of the three days, a year after the ghost carnival of 2020 and as significant crowds are returning to city tracks.
But racing minister Martin Pakula tweeted “watch this space” regarding a likely upgrade of the Tier 2 cap, saying the club’s application for more generous crowds, including up to 15,000 on Grand Annual day, was being reviewed.