A wonderful Festival of hopes realised and new Champions crowned but a poor one for jpfestival.com tips. We could have done with a bit of luck here and there but there were poor performances from two of the selections and Gauvain ran in an alternative race.
All selections were advised to 1pt each way stakes.
Day 1 – Tuesday
Tuesday saw a fantastic finish to the Champion Hurdle with jpfestival.com tip Peddlers Cross fighting it out with Hurricane Fly up the hill but the latter always had the upper hand and ran out the winner by 1 3/4 lengths. Peddlers Cross started at 9/2 having been advised at 14/1. This gave us a 2.5 point profit going into Day 2.
Day 2 – Wednesday
As the jpfestival.com banker Oscars Well was the big hope on Day 2. After travelling really well throughout the race jumped the final flight the in lead. However, he stumbled on landing and lost all chance of winning and did well to finish 4th to First Lieutenant. He was advised 7/1 and started at 4/1. Wymott was next up in the RSA Chase and was never happy and was pulled up before the 15th fence. He was advised at 12/1 and started 11/1. The race was won by Bostons Angle. Gauvain didn’t run in the Queen Mother. With a 6 point loss on Day 2 we went into Day 3 with a loss of 3.5 points.
Day 3 – Thursday
One the the most anticpated clashes of the week was the World Hurdle and it didn’t disappoint with jpfestival.com tip Grands Crus and Big Bucks head to head after the last. The latter confirmed himself as Champion with a gutsy win holding our tip by 1 3/4 lengths. Grands Crus was advised at 12/1 and was returned at 9/2. This gave us a 2 point profit on the day but an overall loss of 1.5 points.
Day 4 – Friday
Smad Place carried the jpfestival.com hopes in the first but on going that was too lively for him he could only finish 10th to Zarkander having come under pressure before 2 out. He started at 11/1 having been advised at 12/1. Our last hope was Midnight Chase in the Gold Cup. Confidence seemed high before the off as he was returned at 9/1 having been 16/1 in the morning. He was advised here at 25/1. However, he was simply not good enough to stay in front and finished a well beaten 5th to brilliant winner Long Run. A 4 point loss on the day added to the 1.5 point running loss means that overall the loss was 5.5 points.
A disappointing outcome and the first Festival loss for the jpfestival.com. However, lessons have been learnt – more of this in the newsletter on Monday – and we’ll be doing our best to turn in around at Cheltenham Festival 2012.
