Racing News |
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| Wednesday 15th January 2014 | |
Dynaste Set for Gold Cup Bid
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David Pipe’s smart staying chaser, Dynaste, is still on course to bid for the Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup on March 14, despite finishing a well beaten fifth behind old rivals Silviniaco Conti and Cue Card in the King George VI Chase at Kempton Park on Boxing Day.
A number of Pipe’s horses have failed to run to expectations in recent weeks – the dismal effort of The Liquidator in the Grade 1 Tolworth Hurdle is a prime example – and connections are certain that the eight-year-old grey was below his best. He could well be a very different proposition once returned to Cheltenham and the longer trip of National Hunt racing’s blue riband contest.
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Expected to come on for that run, he was sent off the 10/3 joint-favourite in the betting at Kempton but was never travelling with his usual zest under regular partner, Tom Scudamore, and lost touch from the fifth last fence, eventually trailing in some 47-lengths behind Silviniaco Conti, a the horse he had beaten by a length at Haydock the previous month when they were second and third respectively behind Cue Card.
Dynaste returned to Pond House looking under the weather; although Pipe couldn’t find anything significant amiss with last season’s Jewson Novices’ Chase runner-up. He is gradually coming back to his best and hopes are high that the winner of six of his 18 career starts will be back on song at Cheltenham, a course where he rarely runs a bad race. He is currently on offer at odds of 25/1 in the racing betting for the Gold Cup.
