Big Bucks
Big bucks is an eight-year-old Bay Gelding with one of the best records for any horse performing at the Cheltenham Festival. Big Bucks comes from the stables of Paul Nicholls and was bred from Cadoudal and Bucks (both France).
Big Bucks is one of the most in form horses in National Hunt racing at the moment and could be one of the shortest price winners of the festival this year. Big Bucks is one of Nichollsí strongest horses.
Career of Big Bucks
The career of Big Bucks got off to a winning start on December 2 2007 when a win at Newbury over 17 furlongs was secured. Big Bucks put in an impressive debut race to win by a neck in a field of four.
Statistics throughout the career of Big Bucks have been impressive. The horse has run in a career total of 17 races. These 17 races have produced 13 wins, a second place and a third place finish.
The two races in the career of Big Bucks where the horse did not finish at least third were one race where the horse did not run and the Cheltenham Festival I 2008 where Big Bucks finished seventh in the Jewson Handicap Chase.
Tony McCoy's Rides at the Cheltenham Festival
Big Bucks should be one of Tony McCoy's rides at the Cheltenham Festival because the Grand National title holder and Champion Jockey rode the horse to two wins at the back end of 2010.
Tony McCoy's rides at the Cheltenham Festival are never bad horses. He is the most sought after jockey in the National Hunt world because he gets the most out of a horse.
On both occasions where McCoy rode Big Bucks to a win, he handled the horse well tucking in behind the leader before making a late move. A lot of less experienced jockeys could get carried away with the pace and power of the horse.
Strengths of Big Bucks
The strengths of Big Bucks form a very long list but the one right at the top has to be consistency. Big Bucks has performed well over a long period that includes different races, racecourses, grounds and fields of runners.
This suggests that one of the biggest strengths of Big Bucks is that the horse has a superb attitude to a race situation. The horse behaves and does not get carried away with the excitement of going for a run in a massive field of horses.
Big Bucks' Record at Cheltenham
Big Bucks' record at Cheltenham is superb other than the seventh place finish at the festival in 2008. The other four rides the horse has had at Cheltenham have all produced impressive wins in high quality races.
Favourites for the 2011 Cheltenham Festival
Big Bucks is one of the strongest favourites for the 2011 Cheltenham Festival. Big Bucks is due to race in the World Hurdle and no other horse in the list of runners can even get close to the record of this Paul Nicholls beast.