My Tent camp keen on Supreme chance

Leading Supreme hope: My Tent Or Yours

TRADITIONALLY greeted by the ‘Cheltenham roar’ on day one, the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle marks the beginning of the most eagerly anticipated festival in NH racing and My Tent Or Yours bids to give Nicky Henderson his first winner in the race since Flown in 1992.

Quite a poor record in the race by his own high standards, but that doesn’t appear to putting punters off at around the 7-4 mark with Paddy Power and, on the back of his most recent display in the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury, you can understand why.

It was AP McCoy’s idea that leading owner JP McManus should swoop to buy him at the start of this season and it was a schooling session one morning at Seven Barrows that pleased the 17-time champion.

McCoy was quoted saying, ‘there is only one thing wrong with this horse – it’s in the wrong colours’ and connections haven’t looked back since. His only defeat when sporting the famous green and gold hoops came at the hands of useful stablemate Chatterbox (14-1) on very bad ground at the Berkshire track in December and that outing has since been put firmly behind him.

He beat subsequent Grade One winner Taquin Du Seuil, a horse McCoy knows well, at Ascot the time before that and, a Huntingdon winner prior to justifying favouritism in the Betfair, he simply oozed class when bolting up in the Grade Three handicap last month and he’s most certainly the one they’ve got to beat on March 12.

McManus, who was narrowly denied in last year’s renewal when Darlan could only bag the silver medal under McCoy, is again well represented and Jezki (5-1) would be many a punters idea of the value bet.

The Milan gelding will sport the famous silks for the first time when going to post for the Supreme and he was purchased on the back of a scintillating performance in the Future Champions at Leopardstown in December. Jessica Harrington’s charge had previously got the better of last term’s Champion Bumper hero Champagne Fever (12-1) in the Royal Bond at Fairyhouse and his form stacks up.

The horse I’m most interested in at a nice price is Melodic Rendezvous (8-1) who, while not trained by a so called “sexy” trainer, has done nothing wrong for Jeremy Scott this term with his only defeat over hurdles having come at the hands of the well-touted Mr Mole on his Exeter reappearance in October last year.

He improved markedly for that outing (Paul Nicholls’ charge has since franked the form) and he went on to land a hot novice event at Prestbury Park giving the likes of Royal Boy, Eduard, Mr Watson and Village Vic a fair beating. Grade One success was just around the corner as the son of Where And When confirmed that taking performance when scoring in the Tolworth at Sandown and, last seen returning to Exeter and giving the useful Puffin Billy a nine-length beating, he’s hardly put a foot wrong.

Throw Willie Mullins’ unbeaten five-year-old Un Atout (7-1), Nicholls’ Dodging Bullets (9-1) (fourth in the Triumph last year) and Henderson’s River Maigue (10-1) into the melting pot and we appear to have ourselves a cracker – a race which is certain to get the juices flowing.