Mares Novice Hurdle 2021

[Birds Nest]

Gran Luna declared for Thurs at Newbury. Had a go 33s for here.

Just word of caution on Gran Luna, Surrey racing have mentioned the supreme as the target for her.

[Big Bucks]

Just word of caution on Gran Luna, Surrey racing have mentioned the supreme as the target for her.

Oh really? Missed that! Any quotes?

[Run4Home]

Oh really? Missed that! Any quotes?

Below from their site

Gran Luna is a store horse that we bought with Nicky Henderson from the Doncaster sales. She is a filly out of Spanish Moon, who has a great reputation for producing top rated mares including 160 rated Laurina. Spanish Moon has a fantastic record with NH horses and has a 65% win rate, one of the highest of all sires.

Nicky really liked Gran Luna, she’s extremely well built, looks like a gelding but will get a 7 pound mare allowance when she runs. She’s already very forward for her age and that showed on her debut when she trounced all to win at Newbury in February.

She will start the new season novice hurdling, with eyes on the Supreme Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in March.

[Spectre]

Glad you're on board Spectre....she was highlighted by Bird's Nest on another thread a couple of weeks ago. She looks very decent for a 50-1 shot.

I missed Birds Nest's post unfortunately. If I'd seen it I'd have re-highlighted it and saved myself a chunk of time! I'll see if I can find Birds Nest's post. I'll be interested to see if our thought process is the same.

At least she's still a great price and a very good antepost bet. I expected her to be a similar price to Bigbadandbeautiful.

[Spectre]

I've found Bird Nest's post and pasted it below as he should take credit for unearthing her first.

https://www.fatjockey.com/forum/fat-jockey-horse-racing-forum/cheltenham-festival-2021/3387-dark-horses-for-cheltenham-2021?p=234561#post234561

[nortonscoin200]

I've found Bird Nest's post and pasted it below as he should take credit for unearthing her first.

https://www.fatjockey.com/forum/fat-jockey-horse-racing-forum/cheltenham-festival-2021/3387-dark-horses-for-cheltenham-2021?p=234561#post234561

Just found Santa Rossa was also highlighted by Hurdles or Chasing on April 22 in the ante post bets thread (post 797).

https://www.fatjockey.com/forum/fat-jockey-horse-racing-forum/cheltenham-festival-2021/3216-cheltenham-2021-ante-post-bets/page54

Good luck all.

[dannycraigpirates]

50/1 still available on Gran Luna in the win today and win any race Double market On Hills

[Lobos]

50/1 still available on Gran Luna in the win today and win any race Double market On Hills

If she were being aimed at this race I'd have jumped on but the news re the Supreme being her target puts me off slightly.

[Hardy Eustace]

50/1 still available on Gran Luna in the win today and win any race Double market On Hills

I took the 50/1 today and TWAR but can't say I am overly excited, she didn't jump very well but in fairness to her she did battle back well when headed. Jury is out for me. Will see what happens on her next start.

[Topofthegame2021]

It’s exciting that SWIW has an early entry in the Royal Bond of course. I did take note of Mullins supposed second string, Finest Evermore, also has an entry in the same race. Anyone got any thoughts on this?

[Run4Home]

It’s exciting that SWIW has an early entry in the Royal Bond of course. I did take note of Mullins supposed second string, Finest Evermore, also has an entry in the same race. Anyone got any thoughts on this?

Decent mare but don't think she is or will be on the level of SWIW, SWIW was the one he kept for the better races this season. Given SWIW is intended to run may cast doubt over some of the other Mullins horses running

[ComplyOrDie]

Copied and pasted from my diary:

It's a quiet time for me between October and Christmas, but I'm always on the lookout for a gem at tasty odds, and I added one such horse today in Santa Rossa for the Mares Novice Hurdle at 50/1 with cashout. She was 20/1 for the same race last year, but it came too soon for her because she was late starting out. Then Covid struck before she had chance to advertise her very worthy credentials.

She'll fly under the radar until she goes and wins against a Mullins/Elliott hype horse somewhere, but she's already got very useful form worth taking notice of. She comfortably beat Elliott's Bigbadandbeautiful in the Grade 2 bumper at the DRF at Leopardstown and that one highly rated by Elliott is currently half her price for this race. Just beaten in the 'boys' Grade 2 at the Aintree Festival by McFabulous, with the like of Master Debonairre behind her, she was a very useful bumper horse good enough to only be beaten by 4 lengths in the Irish Champion Bumper, also against the boys such as Abracadabras and Embittered.

She had one spin over hurdles last season before Covid struck last season beaten closely by Jon Snow (4 out of 4 in novice hurdles and rated 145 since then), and Exit Poll (just touched off by Andy Dufresne in his recent novice chase), when both had fitness and experience on their side. That rates as really useful novice hurdles form for a horse that was entitled to come on for the race after 9 months off after a minor issue.

The fact that she's a second season novice like Concertista was last season can often be really useful at Cheltenham. We've seen many such horses win over the years. Also she looks like a genuine two miler that will appreciate a fast pace. She see's her races out really well, but has gears too. She's not your typical bumper horse that is likely to need further. Her breeding also suggests the minimum trip is right for her.

Add to that her underrated trainer Dermot O'Loughlin, who I like a lot and I've no problem preparing one for the big occasion. He does exceptionally well with his small string, and has a great strike rate with his better horses.

Trainer and connections also have one called Delvino, finished ahead of Ballyadam (probably best not to take this too literally) on bumper debut, then followed it up with victory in a weak looking mares bumper. I expect improvement when going hurdling, so I'll be interested to see how she goes too. 33/1 with 365. I'll hold fire on that for now.

[taylorch1990]

Trainer and connections also have one called Delvino, finished ahead of Ballyadam (probably best not to take this too literally) on bumper debut, then followed it up with victory in a weak looking mares bumper. I expect improvement when going hurdling, so I'll be interested to see how she goes too. 33/1 with 365. I'll hold fire on that for now.

She's one I've got a keen eye on as well, like you say hard to take the bumper with Ballyadam too literally, but she travelled brilliantly in it before being out stayed. Will probably take the plunge once she's entered up as 33s is fair value.

[jack1092]

While taking any bumper literally isn't always the best thing to do, even if we allow Ballyadam the off day, finishing so close to Julies Stowaway who had previous strong bumper formlines is promising. The 3 finishing miles clear of a Harrington horse that she has spoken very positively about as well.
A concern is her half sister from the same connections Avellino didn't live up to her early bumper promise (looked very useful). She did have a layoff though which might have been part of her problem!

[Lobos]

GRANGEE

She's another Jack Cantillon purchase that looks a bargain. She's a mare that'll never go over fences, she's nice and tidy but seems to have a big engine.

She was very impressive at Galway to come from behind in a big field to win going away. Any horse that can do that is very impressive and there will be big targets for her later in the season.