Henry De Bromhead Stable Tour – Honeysuckle and A Plus Tard to star

We bring you this Henry De Bromhead Stable Tour ahead of the upcoming Cheltenham Festival, which starts on Tuesday 10th March.

Henry De Bromhead enjoyed the best season of his training career last term, passing the 100 winners mark for the very first time. De Bromhead celebrated twice at Cheltenham last year, as A Plus Tard and Minella Indo securing impressive victories under Rachael Blackmore – Blackmore will ride both at Cheltenham again this year.

With just a few weeks to go until this year’s Cheltenham Festival, we bring you the latest quotes from De Bromhead as he readies a powerful Festival squad.

*All Henry De Bromhead Stable Tour quotes attributed to AtTheRaces*

Henry De Bromhead Stable Tour – Day One

Supreme Novices’ Hurdle

Captain Guinness

“The plan is to run him in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle. He will lack experience going into it, but he has done very little wrong and we think he deserves to take his chance. He had shown himself to be quite strong in his work at home and while he settled quite well on his debut, that run probably lit him up and he took a strong hold in a small-field race last time. We are going to try him in ear plugs at Cheltenham and hopefully that will help keep him relaxed.”

Arkle Novices’ Chase

Notebook

“He’s in mighty form and will go for the Arkle. He hasn’t put a foot wrong this season. He really toughed it out at Leopardstown last time and only seems to do enough. It was a bit of a surprise to see him get a bit strong on the way to the start with Rachael last time, but we are going to use ear plugs on him this time to try and avoid a repeat of it.”

Arkle or Northern Trust

Put The Kettle On

“She has the option of the Arkle or the Novices’ Handicap Chase. Her form looks stronger over two miles, but I think she does stay two-and-a-half miles. Her owner will make that decision closer to the time. We gave her a winter break with a view to having her back for this meeting and she seems to be in great form.”

Find out who Daryl Carter fancies in the Arkle in his Cheltenham Festival tips video preview here…

Champion Hurdle

Petit Mouchoir

“He’ll go for the Champion Hurdle and is in mighty form. I think he’s as good now as he was three years ago when he was third in the Champion Hurdle. He’s finished in front of a fair few of those that are shorter prices than him in the market and I think he’ll run well at a big price.”

Champion Hurdle or Mares’ Hurdle

Honeysuckle

“She’s in good form since she won the Irish Champion Hurdle. She’s entered in the Mares’ Hurdle and the Champion Hurdle and we haven’t sat down to make a final decision yet. The Mares’ Hurdle has been the preference for much of the season, but with the potential for the ground to soften, I wouldn’t like to say anything with certainty before I talk to the lads. Her jumping could have been a little bit sharper in the Irish Champion Hurdle, but it was her first run in top-class company over that shorter trip on decent ground, so I wouldn’t want to judge her jumping too harshly on that. We are really excited about seeing her at Cheltenham.”

Northern Trust Handicap Chase

Trainwreck

“He’ll run in the Novices’ Handicap Chase. He might just be well handicapped, as I might well have been running him over the wrong trip for the last three years! Rachael suggested trying him over a longer trip at Leopardstown last time and it really seemed to suit him. The British handicapper has given him the same mark as he has in Ireland, so as long as he gets in he should have a fair chance.”

Henry De Bromhead Stable Tour – Day Two

RSA Novices’ Chase

Minella Indo

“He’s in great form and we’re going to run him in the RSA Chase. I was delighted with his las run. It’s tough around Navan and he ground it out well. That form has been working out nicely since then too. Inexperience would be a slight concern going into the RSA, but it didn’t hold him back in the Albert Bartlett last year, so hopefully it won’t hold him back this year.”

Anyone who’s read my preview of the RSA will know that Minella Indo is one of my top Cheltenham Festival tips!

Henry De Bromhead Stable Tour – Day Three

Ryanair Chase

A Plus Tard

“He seems really well and is on course for Cheltenham. I’d say he’s 95% likely to go for the Ryanair Chase, but if the ground came up bottomless, we’d have to have a think about the Champion Chase. We were delighted with what he did at Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting. We didn’t really consider it an ideal option going into it, but we wanted to keep him to left-handed tracks, so the programme book forced our hand into running there. Thankfully it worked out brilliantly in the end. It was a pity he didn’t get to run at the Dublin Racing Festival, but a combination of the trip and better ground had us worried that he might get run off his feet. I don’t think missing that race has affected his Cheltenham preparation and we can’t wait to get him there.”

A Plus Tard could be popular in free betting offers for the Cheltenham Festival, so keep an eye on those before you back him.

Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle

Minella Melody

“She’ll run in the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle. I thought she won well the last day and she looks to have a strong chance on the book. Any rain will be a help to her.”

Kim Muir

Plan Of Attack

“He’ll run in the Kim Muir and Barry O’Neill has confirmed that he’ll ride him. He ran an excellent race in the Paddy Power Chase last time. He’s a horse that seems to be improving all the time and I’d be very hopeful he can run a big race. Barry has an excellent record on him and will be one of the best riders in the race, so it’s great to have him on our side.”

Henry De Bromhead Stable Tour – Day Four

Triumph Hurdle

Aspire Tower

“He has been well at home since his mishap at the Dublin Racing Festival. His schooling has been good since then. Going into a race like the Triumph Hurdle off the back of a fall isn’t ideal, but he’s as good form as we can have him. There looks to be a few different front runners in the Triumph, but I wouldn’t be too worried whether he leads or not. Getting a lead might even suit him better.”

Albert Bartlett

Cobbler’s Way

“I’m pretty sure he’ll go for the Albert Bartlett. He ran very well behind Latest Exhibition at the Dublin Racing Festival and seemed to want every inch of that trip, so the stamina test of the Albert Bartlett should suit him.”

Have a look at our Cheltenham Festival tips on day four to see how many Henry De Bromhead horses we fancy.

Gold Cup

Monalee

“He’s in great form and will go for the Gold Cup. I think he has as good a chance as any in it. We pretty much decided after the Ryanair Chase last year that we’d aim him at the Gold Cup this year if all was well and it will be great if we get him there. He ran a really good race in the Savills Chase last time. He was racing quite a way out that day and maybe just got a bit lonely on the run-in until Delta Work came to him. I’ve always thought he stays well and barring the ground is very testing I wouldn’t be worrying too much about his stamina.”

Chris’s Dream

“There’s a good chance he’ll go for the Gold Cup. He’s gone up to a rating of 164 now and that entitles him to have a go. We’d like it to be at least soft for him.”

Grand Annual

Paloma Blue

“The plan is to run him in the Grand Annual. He ran very well at Leopardstown last time considering it was his first run in a big handicap over that trip. He was a bit unfortunate that day, as he got interfered with a few different times. He’s high up in the weights for it, but I think it’s the right race to go for with him.”

*All Henry De Bromhead Stable Tour quotes attributed to AtTheRaces*