Willie Mullins’ Quel Esprit is rated one of the day's best bets, and those who took my advice and backed him at 10.5-1 ante post are now sitting pretty.
He got turned over when long odds-on last time out, but that run is best forgotten as he will be seen to far better effect in a true run race like todays. His trainer is very bullish about his chances and rates him one of his best chances of the week.
That will do for me given that he similarly confident about Mikael D’Haguenet who ran away with this contest for him last year, and i think he is far better value than Rite Of Passage who I believe is over hyped and isn’t suited by the undulating track.
In fact I rate Rite Of Passage one of the lays of the week, as he seems to reserve all his best runs for flat tracks and he didn't come down the hill in last year's Champion Bumper.
He is also inexperienced over the obstacles and doesn't strike me as the type to be suited by the hustle and bustle he will encounter in today's contest.
Of the rest, Alan King's Manyriverstocross looks overpriced at 20-1 and could sneak into the frame to reward each-way backers.
Recommended bet (Alreday advised ante post): 10pts win Quel Esprit 21-2
