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On The Fringe looks a cut above Foxhunter rivals

| 18.03.2016
SPORTSBOOK ODDS

David Metcalf | March 16, 2016

On The Fringe holds all the aces in St James’s Place Foxhunter Chase

On The Fringe looks a worthy favourite to land back-to-back successes in the St James’s Place Foxhunter Chase at the Cheltenham Festival (16.10).

The Enda Bolger trained 11-year-old has won nine of his 18 starts over fences, and could not have been more impressive when landing this race 12 months ago.

After being held-up in mid-division by Nina Carberry, On The Fringe cruised into contention before taking up the running two from home and sauntering clear to score by 17 lengths.

The gelding went on to score in terrific style at Aintree, and then rounded off the campaign with a battling length success at the Punchestown Festival.

Class act primed to defend crown

HORSE RACING

To win those three races in such a short period of time was an outstanding achievement, and On The Fringe is undoubtedly a class act in this sphere.

Although well beaten when just seventh on return to action at Leopardstown, the JP McManus owned son of Exit To Nowhere usually needs a run to put him straight and is sure to be spot on to defend his crown.

With Carberry once again in the saddle, On The Fringe is going to be very hard to beat.

Paint The Clouds the main danger

Paint The Clouds was beaten 17 1/4 lengths when third in last year’s renewal but ran better than that indicates.

The Warren Greatex trained 11-year-old was in front three from home, but then weakened on ground which was too soft for him.

Paint The Clouds now has the going that he relishes, and comes into the race having scored in good style at Doncaster following 271 days on the sidelines.

The gelding is entitled to improve significantly for that run, and it would be no surprise to see Paint The Clouds finish much closer to On The Fringe this time round.

All eyes on Pendleton

Wincanton

Pacha Du Polder who will be a first Festival ride for former Olympic cycling Gold medalist Victoria Pendleton.

The gelding ran very well when chasing home On The Fringe at Aintree last year, and comes into the race in good nick after making all to register a wide margin success at Wincanton.

The nine-year-old has a touch of class and looks capable of giving Pendleton a good spin granted a clear round, but has major stamina questions to answer over the 3m 2f trip.

Related

Check out our comprehensive Cheltenham Festival coverage over on the dedicated page.

Coral’s top tip: On The Fringe looks a cut above his rivals and rates a solid bet to retain his crown.

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Author

David Metcalf

A lifelong Manchester United supporter, David has over 25 years’ experience in the media industry having worked for regional and national newspapers. He is a huge horse racing, football and greyhound fan and has done interviews on various radio and TV stations, including talkSPORT and Sky Sports, whilst working as a PR front man for a betting firm. David has also written for most of the top Premier League football fan websites, and produced a Cheltenham Festival guide with former eight-times champion national hunt jockey Peter Scudamore, MBE, after helping him to set up a syndicate for his trainer son Michael.