Tom Scudamore thinks it’s good for Thistlecrack to have a different test at Cheltenham

In the long distance handicap I ride Doctor Harper in the 1.55. He’s a bit hit and miss, and that’s just his jumping. In small fields he seems to have coped and this time last year I was very excited about him. He does seem to have his own way of jumping. If he jumps well then he has a great chance and I’ll know early on how he’s going. He’s a very good horse but hurdles got in the way of him, and when he ran in the big field chases, the fences seemed to as well. I schooled him during the week and he jumped fantastically. He’s got to go and prove it now. He’s a horse we’ve always thought a lot of and he’s a horse that’s still in the could be anything bracket.

“Ballynagour is carrying top weight because he’s the best horse in the race on ratings”

I ride Ballynagour in the Betvictor Gold Cup at 2.25 off top weight. He’s in great form and you know what you’re going to get from him. He’s carrying top weight because he’s the best horse in the race on ratings but I’d be surprised if there wasn’t one of two horses in the field who are better than their handicap marks. That said he’s working well at home and is capable of running a good race.

I ride Very Extravagant in the 3.00. She’s been in great form winning her last three starts but this is her toughest assignment to date so we’ll see how she goes. I then ride Red Infantry in the last for Ian Williams. I’ve ridden a few winners for Ian and this one looks like it has a good each way chance.

On Sunday I just have the one ride but it’s a good one, Moon Racer in the first. We are taking on Ballyandy again. I thought he might have run in the two and a half mile novice on Saturday but they’ve decided to come for this race too. We have a great race up at Perth but this will be a different test round Cheltenham. Both horses have run well here, winning the Champion Bumper, so I’m looking forward to it. Moon Racer has to give Ballyandy 4lbs this time but I have great confidence in my horse and think he should run very well. He came out of his last race well and has been working well at home. Even at the weights, I certainly wouldn’t swap riding Moon Race for anything else.

Tom

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The Scudamore says archive has all of Tom’s previous and other rides and thoughts on National Hunt horse racing.