Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle 2016 – Festival Focus

Gangster's Paradise - Gangster looks a big contender in the Albert Bartlett.

With Barters Hill the prominent figure in the Albert Bartlett market there are some big prices to be had on some talented horses if you look further down the betting.

Ben Pauling’s horse has carried all before him this season but he is never flashy and this has led some to question his merits as favourite for the novice stayers’ hurdle.

He should prove very tough to pass, but he is ample short enough in the betting and as a result I like the look of a Willie Mullins horse to finally break the all-conquering trainer’s duck in this race.

Gangster has quietly crept up the betting over the last few weeks without actually doing anything, largely due to other leading protagonists for this race fluffing their lines, but this half brother to Ascot Gold Cup winner Rite To Passage looks to have a good shout in an open race.

He’s only been beaten once in three starts under rules, when disappointing at Galway last summer and there were some long faces that day indicating the regard in which he’s held.

He’s proved that wasn’t his true running with two subsequent wins, and looked very impressive stepped up to this trip just before Christmas on heavy ground.

Wins at 2m and 2 ½m show he’s got speed as well as stamina should the ground come up quicker and he doesn’t look ground dependent given he’s won on three differing surfaces thus far.

Off since December, it looks as though Mullins has saved him for a spring campaign taking in the three major festivals and although his price has now contracted the NRNB concession allows us to back with more confidence even though this does look his intended target.

Recommendation:

Gangster 0.5pt each way @ 8/1 (Bet365, Stan James) [NRNB]