Big Boy Bobby could be worth waiting for in the Cheltenham finale tomorrow

April 15

It always looked long odds against Big Boy Bobby making the cut for the conditional jockeys and amateurs hurdle at Aintree, so Alan has kept him back for the finale at Cheltenham tomorrow.

Alan said:”Big Boy Bobby deserves to get his head in front as he returned from 20 months off the track to finish an excellent second at Kempton over Christmas. He might well have won had he winged the last hurdle, rather than landing a bit awkwardly, but the main thing was the thumbs up we got when checking his legs afterwards.

“Big Boy Bobby then bumped into a well-handicapped winner when runner-up again at Newcastle, where he jumped better than he had done at Kempton, and, though he has gone up another 2lb, he is still below his career-high-mark reached when he was second again at Kempton’s Christmas meeting in 2022.

Philip Armson, who rode his first winner for Alan when steering Dickens to his first victory  over hurdles at the eighth attempt at Hexham last month, again takes the mount.

Our other runner at Cheltenham is Harbour Lake, who bids to go one better than when runner-up in the same race last year. He is now 10lb higher in the handicap, having won at Aintree last November, but he bled in last month’s Pertemps Final at Cheltenham, so, doubtless, the priority will be to see him just enjoy a better experience here, with anything else a bonus.