They do say that “it is a wise man who changes his mind”, so the about turn performed by prominent jumps owner John Hales with regard to the participation of his impressive Chepstow winner Al Ferof in the Championship Bumper, could prove a very smart decision, writes Eliot Slater.

 

Hales and trainer Paul Nicholls know exactly what it takes to win the big events at the Cheltenham Festival, and in Al Ferof they have another potential star in the making.

 

Hales has already been lucky enough to see such as the great One Man, Azertyuiop, Neptune Collonges and Noland win at the highest level in his colours, and having insisted before the Chepstow race that Cheltenham was not on the agenda for his youngster, he subsequently woke up the morning after and decided that, after all, it might not be such a bad idea!

 

The Chepstow race has proved a significant stepping stone for a number of smart performers, and in defeating the highly regarded Made In Time (recently purchased by JP McManus for doubtless serious money) by a comfortable five lengths, there was plenty in the performance to suggest that Nicholls’ grey could give the Irish battalions something to think about in one of the strongest Cheltenham betting heats of the whole four-day Cheltenham Festival.

 

A winning point-to-pointer in his native Ireland, Al Ferof, ran third in a hot Punchestown bumper before winning well at Fairyhouse, after which he was purchased privately by Hales and came across the Irish Sea to join the Nicholls team at Ditcheat.

 

Now a best-priced 10/1 with the Cheltenham Odds  for the final race on day two of the festival meeting, Al Ferof could prove the spearhead of the home team in an event that is amongst the hardest of the whole fixture to win