Banbou looks another tasty treat in the Plate for Williams
THERE aren’t many trainers I respect more than Venetia Williams when it comes to lining one up for the Cheltenham Festival.
The Herefordshire-based handler had two winners and several placed horses at the meeting 12 months ago from just a handful of runners.
She is set to saddle FRERO BANBOU in Thursday’s Magners Plate (4.10pm) who looks to have an outstanding chance stepping up half a mile in trip for the first time.
This is a contest in which Williams has a quite extraordinary record.
She has saddled three winners (Idole First 2007, Something Wells 2009 and Carrickboy 2013) and has also remarkably trained the runner-up on four separate occasions too.
There is every chance that when Frero Banbou finished third in last season’s Grand Annual off a 6lbs lower mark, his shrewd handler ear-marked this contest as the target for this campaign.
If you watch a replay of that race, the eight-year-old ran well to be third considering he was virtually tailed-off at half-way and took most of the last fence home with him.
He has run consistently well this campaign in four starts without getting his head in front suggesting he is well worth a try at this sort of trip.
The handicapper has lowered him to a mark of just 135 – that’s only 1lbs higher then when bolting up at Linfield back in January 2022.
I’d expect him to be ridden patiently and the slightly calmer tempo of this race compared to the Grand Annual should help his cause.
He can be backed at 12/1 with BetUK and I expect he’ll be a lot shorter than that on the day if the rain continues to fall.
POINTERS
Frero Banbou (e/w) 12/1 4.10pm Magners Plate (Thursday)