Cheltenham vibes are good for Tell Massini: Horse Racing

By Marcus Armytage Published: 7:05PM GMT 03 March 2010

Old favourite: Tom George with his 2002 Cheltenham leader Galileo Photo: Telegraph

Trained locally by Tom George, who sent out the Polish-bred Galileo to win the 2002 Sun Alliance Hurdle, the gelding is dominant in 3 starts over hurdles, dual of them at Cheltenham.

"He hasn"t run given December, but that was the plan," explained George. "He had a racecourse trot at Kempton with Nacarat a week prior to the Racing Post Chase and I"ll probably take him to Newbury at the weekend.

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"I think his form is as plain as any beginner in the country. The 3 jockeys to have ridden him Paddy Brennan, Sam Thomas and Noel Fehily have all pronounced the same thing "he"s got the right credentials". All the vibes are good. There"s not one equine that sole worries me, I"m usually concentrating on removing him there in his most appropriate form."

Tell Massini is owned by Richard Cornock, who has never had a racehorse before. "His lifetime"s aspiration was to own a horse," pronounced George. "And it usually so happened that he picked this one out of the domain after I"d paid for him at Doncaster prior to long after he"d won an Irish Point-to-Point!"

If Mr Cornock considers himself lucky, so contingency the 4 penury lawyers from Manchester who own Weird Al, declared after American stand up comic Al Yankovic.

Weird Al, a lightly-raced seven-year-old, is lerned by Ian Williams and is a 10-1 shot for the RSA Chase. "I think he"s got a really decent chance," pronounced Williams, who has sent out 3 Festival seconds but no winners. "I wouldn"t cruise it an dissapoint if he won Nicky Henderson [trainer of Punchestowns and Long Run] competence though!"

"He"s usually had five races and whilst it would probably be fitting to be going there with a bit some-more racing experience, it does meant there"s a wider domain for improvement," pronounced Williams.

"He"s knocked about all put in front of him," he said, "and we ran him at Wetherby last month usually to have certain he gets 3 miles. We"re anticipating Paddy Brennan"s accessible to float him and I know he"s seeking brazen to it."

Business Booming

If the Festival is any sort of magnitude of the recession, we are rising from it. Ticket sales are "nicely" forward of the same time last year, according to handling executive Edward Gillespie. Gold Cup day is sole out, solely for 2,500 bar tickets.

Racing For Change has laid the foundations for the assembly to embody a Saturday, but Gillespie pronounced it could not occur prior to 2012.

Like Tell Massini, dual of Weird Al"s 3 victories this tenure have been at Cheltenham which, whilst not utterly creation him a march specialist, it does at slightest infer he acts well there.

Taranis in Gold Cup setback

Taranis, a 20-1 possibility for the Totesport Gold Cup, has had a reversal and is expected to miss the race.