The sport’s top judges answer the key Cheltenham Festival questions. Next up is Johnny Dineen.
What was your best ever Cheltenham Festival win?
It was in 2015. I started getting stuck into Un De Sceaux for the Arkle and Vautour for the JLT in doubles from early in the season. I was on Un De Sceaux at 9-2 and Vautour at 5-1 and they ended up going off at 4-6 and 6-4. The double worked out at around 32-1 and I had a fair chuck on it. They both bolted up. That would have to rank right up there with my personal punting highlights at the festival.
Who’s your strongest fancy at the meeting this year?
All of a sudden it’s The New Lion in the Champion Hurdle. In fact, if he avoids bad luck I can’t see him being beaten. People are saying he’s not a world-beater. Maybe they’re right, but in my opinion he won’t need to be anything close to a world-beater to win a poor Champion Hurdle. He’s been trained all season with this race in mind and his win at the track in January was little more than an education to ensure he put in a clear round. There’s far more upside to him than anything else and I’d argue 9-4 isn’t a bad price at all.
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