Horse Racing / Editor / 10 March 2009 / Leave a comment

Some said the Irish may just struggle to get more than four winners at the festival yet one day in they already have that number on the board...and there is the promise of more to come. Racing UK and betmaverick.com analyst Graham Cunningham fancies another Irish raider in the RSA Chase but is looking closer to home for his one to oppose on day two...

At the risk of alerting the cliché police, there is one horse who ticks all the right boxes for the RSA Chase (2.40) at Cheltenham on Wednesday.

The horse in question is Cooldine, a rugged battler who promises to prove well served by the demands of this searching novice test.

If you are looking for the type of horse to cruise along jumping boldly then Cooldine probably isn't the horse for you. But if you warm to the type of novice who plots his way around carefully before digging deep then he's your man.

Not for the first time, Cooldine looked stronger the further he went when wearing down Forpadydeplasterer in the Moriarty Chase at Leopardstown last month. That form looks all the better after yesterday's Arkle Trophy and if Cooldine avoids error here his powerful finish could be a very potent asset indeed.

Stamina in abundance is a key quality for any potential National Hunt Chase contender. Sue Smith's Coe scores heavily in that department and there is no doubt that he has come into his own in recent weeks with two fine performances in long distance handicap chases at Haydock.

But Cheltenham's annual four miler (1.30) for amateur riders also demands one quality which Coe has yet to prove he possesses, namely consistently accurate jumping. Haydock's relatively new portable fences are nothing like as stiff as Cheltenham's stiff black birch.

Perhaps Coe will rise to the challenge, but from what I have seen he will clout at least a couple and that gives him clear appeal as a potential place lay in a race where any number of horses can be given a chance.