Cheltenham November Meeting: Horses to watch

The 2023 Cheltenham November Meeting gets underway on Friday, and here we take a look at some of the horses that you should keep an eye on.

The eyes of the horse racing world will be on the iconic Cheltenham Racecourse this week, with the 2023 November Meeting finally getting underway on Friday, 17th November, and this will kick off three days full of enthralling action with a tremendous atmosphere to boot. The action comes to a close for another year on Sunday, 19th November 2023.

There are 20 races taking place throughout the meeting, and there are some particular races that stand out on each day. The big race on Day One, known as ‘Countryside Day’, will be the Mucking Brilliant Paddy Power Handicap Chase at 13:45. Moving on to day two, the race that stands out is the Paddy Power Gold Cup Steeplechase at 14:20.

Sunday will be the final day of the November Meeting, and the most eye-catching race of day three will be the Unibet Greatwood Hurdle Race at 15:30. These may be the races that stand out, but every single race run at this meeting promises to be enthralling with some surprise results bound to be on the horizon.

Now we have gone through some of the races that stand out in this prestigious three day meeting, let’s now take a look at some of the horses that you should keep an eye out for at Cheltenham this week.

Unexpected Party

The first horse that you should keep an eye on is Unexpected Party, who will be participating in the SSS Super Alloys Supports Racing Welfare Novices’ Steeple Chase on the opening day of the 2023 November Meeting.

Unexpected Party is the favourite for this race, and confidence will be high given the result of the most recent race. It was the Happy Birthday Sue Novices’ Chase at Chepstow on 14th October 2023, where Unexpected Party fended off competition from Knappers Hill and Bella Bliss, who had to settle for second and third place, respectively.

Stage Star

Moving on to Stage Star, he is set to take part in the prestigious Paddy Power Gold Cup on Saturday, 18th November 2023. Stage Star is the current favourite to emerge victorious in this race, and two wins in his last three races will see him come into the Gold Cup race with some significant momentum.

Stage Star won the Timeform Novice’s Handicap Chase at Cheltenham in January, finishing ahead of Datsalrightgino and the previously mentioned Unexpected Party. His next race was the Turner’s Novices Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in March, which saw Stage Star take another win, with Notlongtillmay and Mighty Potter finishing second and third place.

Punctuation

Punctuation is a horse that will undoubtedly grab the attention of those watching, and is a horse to keep your eye on in the Unibet Greatwood Hurdle on the third and final day of the 2023 November Meeting.

Not only did trainer Fergal O’Brien target this race before the season, form has been on the side of Punctuation leading into this race. Punctuation has won two races in a row before coming to Cheltenham – a win in the Abersoch Land And Sea Handicap Hurdle at Aintree was followed by another victory, this time in the Coral Get Closer To The Action Handicap at York in October 2023.

Excitement and anticipation is building ahead of the start of the 2023 November Meeting at Cheltenham Racecourse, which will get underway on Friday 17th November 2023.

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