No Soft Ground Concern For Choubezi

This Saturday marks the height of the season so far at Newturf as the the Royal Team Cup Finals take place and this is an event that always throws up a good betting opportunity or two.

For a first selection, we’re going to take a look at the 1 year old hurdles category. Our Breeders’ Cup selection, Zalazl will be in the line-up once more but given the likely conditions underfoot we’re going to look elsewhere on this occasion.

Choubezi Piet, owned and trained by Pietro14, was a faller in the qualifying rounds of the Breeders’ Cup and as such was absent in the final itself. However, since then, the son of outstanding stallion Zambezi has proved he is capable of mixing it with the best of them and time may well show the grey colt to be the best of his generation.

Although he has some very good form on faster surfaces, it is his RTC qualifying effort on the soft that leads us to believe he will have no problem in handling the conditions on Saturday. He recorded the fastest time in any of the three heats to take place that day and although this looks to be a competitive field, we believe he rates a solid bet. The biggest danger may come from Builder MS who might be worth a small place saver at attractive odds.

Saturday 25th Feb – Royal Team Cup (1yo hurdles) – Choubezi Piet to win.