Grade Two Cleeve Hurdle Guide 2023

Paisley Park has looked better than ever this year really when you take his form into consideration. He usually leaves a lot to be desired on his first run of the season, but this season he ran Champ to a neck in the Long Distance Hurdle at Newbury.

He vanquished Champ on his next start though, in the G1 Long Walk Hurdle at Kempton, (a track that’s probably sharp enough for him nowadays).

He won by 4 and a quarter lengths there from Goshen in second with the aforementioned Champ in third. He holds the key, he is the horse to beat.

Dashel Drasher ran a very good second to Mares Hurdle favourite, Marie’s Rock, last time out here, over 2 and a half miles. The trip was probably on the short side there for him now, as he is a 10yo.

He ran over fences prior to this, finishing a cracking second to Noble Yeats in the Many Clouds at Aintree. He has all the right bits of form, but does today’s test ask the right questions of him? He has a good chance, but he’s hit the bar a lot recently.

Molly Ollys Wishes has been hard to predict of late, as highlighted in her seven runs. She seems to either win, finish last or fail to complete, which makes her a punters worst nightmare!

She was last of three last time out at Kempton in a listed mares hurdle contest won by Miranda, and she folded tamely off the front end there.

She seems to be better over slightly shorter too, so I’d still raise question marks around the trip. She’s hard to be confident in today.

Botox Has was running well prior to an absolute no show last time out. That said, this was over 2m4f, which is probably short enough for him nowadays.

Back up to 3m today, he definitely comes here with a chance. His last run at 3m was in a premier handicap at Haydock, which was competitive for the grade.

He will have to improve on that form here though, to beat genuine G1 horses, like Paisley Park – who is standing the test of time, too.

Lord Accord is another who looks out of his depth. He hasn’t ran over hurdles since September last year, where he finished third behind Finisk River and Back On The Lash at Worcester, in a C3 handicap.

He is a horse who’s best form is unequivocally over fences, though he has been running well of late, he has it all to do on these terms.

Gold Tweet looks out of his depth here. He has an official rating of 136, and I think that’s more than fair.

It’s difficult to weigh up his form, as he’s never left France, but he does look relatively useful, as he is a graded winner and he’s been placed in a few G1’s. His best form is over fences, but he’s ran very well over hurdles on his last three starts.

He will have to improve to beat the British trained horses though, and is that likely?

Gelino Bello is certainly a horse still on the up. Unlike a lot of his opposition, he has age in his corner. He’s a 7yo, but a relatively unexposed 7yo in all fairness, we’ve only seen him 11 times under rules over a few seasons. He’s back to hurdles after a spell novice chasing, he did win 2/3, but it’s quite evident class got him through. Re-routing back to the smaller obstacles should help, but whether he’ll make a seamless transition is another question.