Making Most of the Cheltenham Conditionals

There are 27 races at this year’s Cheltenham Festival and while there will be conditional riders (jumps apprentices) competing in many of them, they also have a race of their own at the Festival – the Martin Pipe Conditionals Handicap Hurdle.

Some of the names in these races will be familiar but some won’t so here’s a brief look at some of the names that take the eye amongst those ranks which should prove helpful for anyone looking for racing tips.

There are plenty of good claiming riders around at the moment, Sam Twiston-Davies is a name that many punters will recognise and his claim will be valuable on many of his Cheltenham mounts but there are many other talented conditionals around at the moment. The Pipe yard have the conditionals raced named after the “daddy” of the operation and they have unearthed a couple of talented conditionals this year in 3lb claimer Danny Cook and 5lb claimer Conor O’Farrell – look out for those two especially in their “own” race.

The Carberry clan have always been well represented at the Festival and the latest addition to the riding family is Peterjohn Carberry and his skills have been well represented already this year, he still claims 7lb and that is huge advantage as he is a lot better than a 7lb claimer already and those with Cheltenham Free bets to place may want to bear this in mind.

With the Alan King team having plenty of cards to play at the Festival there should be plenty of opportunities for his conditional Peter Hatton to shine he has caught the eye on numerous occasions this season and looks to have the temperament and talent to make an impact over the coming seasons.

One conditional who has not been seen much over this side of the Irish Sea is Bryan Cooper, son of Irish trainer Tom Cooper – he had a spin around on Son Amix in the “Martin Pipe” last year, eventually finishing fourth and will be riding the same horse in the Coral Cup this year. He’s the leading Irish conditional at the moment holding a slim advantage over his title rival Keith Donoghue who is also one to watch in these ranks.

Others to keep an eye on are Giles Hawkins, James Halliday (riding with great aplomb in the North at the moment) and Jeremiah McGrath who us very new addition but looks to be improving rapid rate. McGrath is with Nicky Henderson at the moment and looks set to inherit plenty of opportunities as current Henderson conditional David Bass is near to ending his claiming status.

The names won’t be that familiar now but their names next to any Cheltenham mount should not be a turn-off.