The Irish have won nine of the last eleven renewals of this race and they look to have a strong hand again this year with horses from the Emerald Isle filling the first four places in the betting. Trainer Willie Mullins has the best record having sent out the winner five times in the past 11 years and his Lilywhite Dancer (impressive at Fairyhouse in December) and Apt Approach (rumoured to have an engine) have to be respected, but they will have to go some to beat impressive Naas winner Zaarito.
Having won his first two starts on good going, there was a doubt about how effectively Colm Murphy’s six-year-old would handle the testing conditions at Naas, and he had two other negatives to overcome - the lack of a recent outing and the fact that his trainer has been going through a quiet spell. In contrast, his main rival, Our Matti, had already won on heavy ground and is trained by the in-form Willie Mullins. Turning into the straight, it was clear that these two had the race between them, but once Zaarito was asked to quicken at the furlong pole, he showed terrific acceleration to put eight lengths between himself and Our Matti (who was receiving 3lb).
One could argue that a horse who first saw action around the sharp, right-handed, undulating track at Kilbeggan at the height of summer is an unlikely sort for Cheltenham. But he looked far superior to a typical Kilbeggan winner when beating a strong field at Tipperary in October and he has now thrashed 46 horses on ground ranging from good to heavy. His pedigree is strong on stamina too - his sire Tiraaz won a Group 1 race on the level over 2m and has also produced the very useful Tazbar, an easy winner over 3m at Haydock on Saturday.
The home challenge is weak in comparison. Our best hope looked to be impressive Huntingdon winner The Old Pretender until he was comprehensively beaten in a Grade 2 bumper at Newbury recently. That race was won in great style by Mad Max, who is now as low as 8/1 for Cheltenham, but his trainer does not seem to favour a festival bid. Which brings me back to Zaarito who, unless I've completely lost the plot, must have an outstanding chance of giving the Irish another win in the Champion Bumper at 5/1 (bet365, Paddy Power).
Recommended Bet:
Zaarito 2pt @ 5/1 bet365, Paddy Power