The Albert Bartlett frequently proves to be the most gruelling examination of the entire Cheltenham Festival, with young horses going a relentless gallop over a testing 3 mile trip. Its uniqueness however means that it takes a certain type of horse to win. You need a horse with a reasonable amount of experience, a horse that’s already had the gun to his head and been through the pain barrier. The bridle horses that have won so impressively and arrive here with huge reputations almost always get beaten, for the simple reason that they haven’t been tested and made to dig deep. The test of stamina is absolute and you need a horse that stays all day and all night and will keep finding for pressure in the closing stages.
In Sam’s Profile I believe that we have found a perfect candidate. He has a reasonable amount of experience in the locker having had three runs over hurdles already, including against some classy opposition. He won a 20 runner maiden hurdle on his debut over obstacles at Cork. It would be unusual to say the least for a Mouse Morris horse to win on hurdling debut following an absence as he gives his horses plenty of time to come to themselves and develop. He has since backed that up with creditable runner up finishes behind Battleoverdoyen and Derrinross who may well re-oppose here. On each of those occasions he has just been done for a bit of speed and was doing his best work in the closing stages. What I liked most about those performances was that he responded in determined fashion when coming off the bridle and battle on tenaciously. I would say that he is almost certain to improve significantly for the stiffer test of stamina here and when others have cried enough he will be in his element.
There is simply no better man to train a horse for this race than Mouse Morris. He has proven time and time again that there is nobody better at getting one ready for the big day and his successful with staying hurdlers and chasers gives us every confidence that Sam’s Profile can deliver a huge performance on the day. He has won all of the top staying races including the English and Irish Grand Nationals, the Stayers Hurdle and of course the Cheltenham Gold Cup. I believe Sam’s Profile has the perfect credentials for this race and his current odds of 16/1 (NRNB) must be snapped up!
CHELTENHAM FESTIVAL FRIDAY 2.30PM – THE ALBERT BARTLETT NOVICES HURDLE – 1 PT EACH-WAY – SAM’S PROFILE @ 16/1 (General – NRNB)
