It will be cold, wet and windy - and record crowds may still attend.
When the National Hunt festival for chasers and hurdlers begins on Tuesday at Cheltenham Racecourse 100 miles west of London, a crowd of more than 68,000 is expected to watch the first of four seven-race programs through Friday that are the highlight of British jump racing each winter.
The Irish shippers, and their legions of devoted supporters, consider Cheltenham a good time, too.
After a delay in 2022, the career debut of High Plateau turned out to be worth the wait in Australia last month.
High Plateau closed from last in a field of five to win a maiden race at five furlongs at Kembla Grange Racecourse.
Owned by Godolphin Racing and trained by James Cummings, the 4-year-old High Plateau has an excellent chance to remain unbeaten when he starts against winners for the first time in a five-furlong handicap at Hawkesbury Racecourse on Monday evening.
Sacramento won the Canberra Cup at Canberra Racecourse in Australia last year to end a five-race losing streak.
The 6-year-old Sacramento was the 3-1 favorite in early betting Saturday to win the $131,500 Canberra Cup on Sunday evening and once again needs a victory to end a nine-race losing streak dating to last year’s race.
The Canberra Cup is run at 1 1/4 miles and is part of an eight-race program at Canberra that begins at 10:26 p.m. Eastern, or 7:26 p.m. Pacific. Wagering is available through DRFBets.com.
The powerful training partnership of Adrian Bott and Gai Waterhouse have two leading contenders in the Group 3 Black Opal Stakes for Southern Hemisphere 2-year-olds at Canberra Racecourse in Australia on Saturday evening, a team led by the unraced filly Autumn Ballet.
Autumn Ballet won a training race at about 4 1/2 furlongs from the gate at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse by more than 7 1/2 lengths on Feb. 27, finishing the last three furlongs in 34.22 seconds.
Paul Lally:
R1 2-1-7-10
R2 2-3-8-7
R3 7-2-9-11
R4 10-7-4-5
R5 7-12-4-5
R6 5-4-8-1
R7 9-1-3-4
R8 8-6-1-4
R9 5-1-3-11
R10 1-6-10-2
Best Bet R9 N5 Chiu Chow Spirit
Longshot R6 N5 Cosmo Navigator
Play R7 QQP 1-3-9
Mark McNamara:
R1 2.1.10.6
R2 2.3.4.5
R3 7.2.1.11
R4 4.7.2.3
R5 4.7.10.12
R6 4.1.14.6
R7 9.6.3.4
R8 4.8.6.2
R9 9.5.1.2
R10 5.10.1.4
A sharp closing rally has made the New Zealand-bred gelding I Wish I Win a multiple stakes winner in Australia, and the runner to fear in the Group 1 Newmarket Handicap at six furlongs at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne on Friday evening.
A winner of 5 of 14 starts in New Zealand and Australia, I Wish I Win should be able to handle a field with 15 rivals in the Newmarket Handicap. He won the $6.48 million Golden Eagle Stakes for Southern Hemisphere 4-year-olds at 7 1/2 furlongs at Rosehill Gardens last October as part of a field of 20.
Polygon was the dominant 3-year-old filly in New Zealand in December and January, winning group stakes at a mile and 1 1/4 miles.
Where Polygon ranks in Australia will be better known after her debut in that country in the Group 3 Kembla Grange Classic for Southern Hemisphere 3-year-old fillies at a mile at Kembla Grange Racecourse on Thursday evening.
The 4-year-old geldings Kokoro and Jupitus, arguably in the best form of their careers, meet for the first time in a handicap at 7 3/4 furlongs on the infield Kensington course at Royal Randwick Racecourse in Sydney on Tuesday.
