Cheltenham experience could be vital for Broadway Boy’s Brown Advisory bid

Course experience is backed to be Broadway Boy’s key asset after connections elected to take their chance in a red-hot Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.

Willie Mullins’ impressive Dublin Racing Festival scorer Fact To File is the odds-on favourite for the Grade One event which could also feature previous Festival winner Stay Away Fay and highly-regarded Irish novice Montys Star.

However, the Broadway Boy team feel their top-notch staying prospect has the class to make his mark in a race that trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies has won twice in the past and in which big-race jockey Sam Twiston-Davies won 12 months ago aboard The Real Whacker.

“He will be going for the Brown Advisory,” said Willy Twiston-Davies, who in his role as assistant to his father, plays a key part in readying the David Proos-owned six-year-old.

“The owner came down yesterday and we had a good chat, we both said what we thought and he was very keen for Sam to ride him so that’s the way we decided to go.

“Blaklion and Young Hustler have both won it and of course Sam won the race last year on The Real Whacker, so lets hope we can do it again.”

Despite the stiff opposition, the Twiston-Davies team have never shirked a challenge and Broadway Boy has already advertised his liking of Prestbury Park by winning three of his four outings at the track.

His sole defeat came at the hands of Flooring Porter early in his fencing career, but since then he has downed quality opposition – firstly in a Listed event at the November meeting before returning to see off Grand National hopeful Threeunderthrufive and one-time Gold Cup third Protektorat in December.

Twiston-Davies added: “We believe in our horse and although it looks a good renewal of the Brown Advisory and Fact To File has looked very good, we’ve got very decent course form, he tries very hard and he has a bit of class. Hopefully he will run really well.

“He loves it round Cheltenham and he’s in very good order. His piece of form at Cheltenham at the December meeting sticks out and a lot of novices haven’t reached that level that he has, so we’re very much looking forward to running him.”