The Wine Tipster has recently joined a racing syndicate and has already seen one of his horse Final Choice deliver an impressive winning performance at Newbury in December.

He is one of the members of The Jockey Club Ownership Syndicate – Cheltenham and South West, which offers members a share in four year-old Final Choice, trained by Warren Greatrex, and five-year-olds The Last But One and Timeforwest, trained by Paul Nicholls and Jonjo O’Neill respectively.

Membership of the Syndicate costs £2,590 for two years and includes organised stable visits, along with full membership benefits of Cheltenham including The Festival, where members can enjoy an exclusive facility; as well as membership of Warwick, Wincanton and Exeter racecourses, the four racecourses within the south west region of The Jockey Club.

He was lucky to visit Warren Greatrex’s yard for a morning on the gallops with Lucy Wheeler, who runs the syndicate and Ed Chamberlin ITV Racing’s presenter. He also enjoyed a catch up with Dan Thompson Head of Exeter Racecourse whose Super Sunday meeting on February 12th promises to be a great day out.

Final Choice trained by Warren Greatrex will most likely been seen in a couple of weeks time and with a good run will be hopefully seen at The Cheltenham Festival in March which is very exciting. He is some cool dude winning impressively at Newbury in December, however he disappointed last time out when he resented the tongue tie.

Warren is based at Fred Winter’s old yard so you can see plaques with many famous names including Bula, Pendil and Derring Rose. He has an impressive 31% strike rate with his bumper horses for this season, 18% over hurdles and 11% over jumps. Keep an eye out for World Hurdle winner Cole Harden, who ran very well on Saturday when finishing second in the Cleeve Hurdle, Western Ryder, the stable favourite Paint The Clouds and Missed Approach at The Cheltenham Festival.

Each year we leave our drinks shopping later and later so here are my Ten to Follow win bets for Christmas and the New Year.

Champagne Fever is top of many tipsters lists for the Arkle Trophy at Cheltenham in March and this horse’s name sums up the Yuletide period for fizz sales so here is my combination exacta with the Tote (first three in any order) for bubbles: Pommery Brut Royal NV £29.99, down from £38.99, Sainsbury’s  is dry, delicious and creamy, whilst the award winning Louis Roederer Brut Premier NV has made its mark as a consistently high quality performer, Majestic £42.00 buy two bottles save 1/3 to £27.98.  If you are looking for a well-bred, Group 1 quality champagne  from a great vintage year then Dom Pérignon 2004 Gift Box, £120.00- £135.00 Majestic, Selfridges has class and elegance in abundance with a memorable finish.

There have been some famous New Zealand racehorses including Playschool, ridden by Paul Nicholls,  then jockey and now seven times champion jumps trainer, who won the Hennessy and Welsh Grand National in 1987. It was around that time that many people were discovering that a chilled  New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc was the wine for them and the fan club has only carried on increasing over the years so if you are a member or haven’t yet  signed up the try this delicious, zingy, fresh, peppery, spicy, Peter Yealands Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc 2012 £10.85, Co-op with your smoked salmon  – some NZ Sauvignon Blanc is just too full on for this kind of matching – but this is spot on.  You may also want to snap up the  ante-post 11/4 on the Nicholls’ trained Big Buck’s for the World Hurdle at The Cheltenham Festival.

From the list of runners with drink related names at The 2013 Cheltenham Festival I tried to include Vino Griego (successfully backed at 25-1 to win at their January meeting)  in my group for this year’s Cheltenham Festival Racecourse Radio piece, however I was given a yellow card for this one as Vino Griego didn’t quite match up to Champagne Fever, John’s Spirit and The Liquidator! (hugely impressive on his last run). Despite my reprimand, I’m a big fan of Vino Griego and I’ll be backing him for his next run, which will hopefully be the Argento Chase. In vino terms, Oldenburg Vineyards Chenin Blanc 2012,  Stellenbosch, South Africa, £16.99 – £17.95, Berry Brothers & Rudd, www.sawinesonline.co.uk is a classy, premium, subtlety-oaked and complex white which is ideal with fish dishes in a creamy sauce. Alternatively if you are having the full roast turkey with all the trimmings then mark your card with Château Cissac 2009 Haut-Médoc Cru Bourgeois, Bordeaux, France, £17.95. Stockists: Tanners www.tanners-wines.co.uk, The Sampler. 2009 is one of the great well-bred Bordeaux vintages with winners at all grades and this intensely fruity, well structured red will most definitely bring some Christmas cheer.

As a punter I’m always on the look out for a bit of value and with Yuletide it is no different with Torres Vina Sol 2012, Catalunya, Spain, £6.69, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, down to £5 in Asda and Casillero del Diablo Cabernet Sauvignon 2011,  Viña  Concha y Toro, Valle Central, Chile £7.99-£5.99, Sainsbury’s, a couple of runners I would definitely back. These are perfect wines to enjoy whilst taking in the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day and the Coral Welsh Grand National at Chepstow on 28th December.

We invariably don’t spend enough time on the cheese course or the wines to match, however make it different this year. Hugel Gewurztraminer Vendange Tardive 2007, Alsace, France, £33.00, The Wine Society, vintagemarque.com is a brilliant, top class, off dry wine with complex flavours of citrus, honey and pear, with a truly memorable finish. This is a great match with blue cheese and worth every penny of your pre-Christmas winnings. Alternatively, your tipple might be port, so check out Sandeman’s Late-Bottled Vintage Port 2008, £15.99, Waitrose, which is definitely well-handicapped.

Cheers!

The Wine Tipster saw Long Run beat the mighty Denman and Kauto Star to win The Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2011 (the most emotional reception I have witnessed at any racecourse for the first three, who were all winners) and yet this gutsy effort to beat two great champions took so much out of Long Run that he will never win a Gold Cup again in my opinion. It was hard to fancy him yesterday at the unfriendly odds of 11-8 to beat either Silviniaco Conti or The Giant Bolster in the Betfair Chase and whilst he managed to beat David

Bridgewater’s horse, Long Run couldn’t cope with the jumping display of the Nicholls’ trained Silviniaco Conti. Long Run is not a smooth jumper, yet his class still keeps him very competitive in races and in an open Cheltenham Gold Cup I will take some 8/1 each way on him finishing in the first three.

Was Nicky Henderson right to run Finian’s Rainbow in the extreme going? The horse never looked happy and you wonder if the winning pot had been smaller as to whether Finian’s Rainbow would have been pulled out. At Cheltenham the previous weekend the Henderson trained Spinning Sacre wasn’t risked because of the deteriorating ground conditions in the Sholer Chase and you do wonder whether Henderson should have done the same yesterday. Let’s hope the very talented Finian’s Rainbow puts in a winning performance in his next race.

Cheltenham Racecourse fully deserves its reputation as the centre of jump racing and The Open Meeting, November 15^th – 17^th proved this once again. Not only does Cheltenham provide quality racing to an appreciative crowd, there is also plenty to engage the racegoer before, during and after racing with the popular exhibitor village, including a range of clothing, jeweller, arts and the expanding Food Hall, which featured the high quality cheeses from Philip Stansfield at The Cornish Cheese Co and delicately flavoured meats from The Cotswold Curer.

Some horses to watch out for from The Open included the David Pipe trained Dynaste in the Steel Plate and Sections Novices Chase, who looked very accomplished and one to have in your selection at The Cheltenham Festival. Another Pipe horse, Ashkazar, who can be a tricky customer, was given a quiet ride by Timmy Murphy at the back of the race in the Henrietta Knight Handicap Chase before pulling up and I’ll be looking out for him next time he runs at Cheltenham. I would also like to see where Emma Lavelle goes next with Bouggler, who looked in excellent condition on returning after a lay off and wasn’t given a hard time once he weakened in the Ultima Business Solutions Handicap Hurdle.