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| Punter's Diary by Malcolm Heyhoe |
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| Updated: 29th October 2007 - GG.com |
Jumping For Joy
Champion jumps trainer Paul Nicholls has condemned the newly-laid track at Wetherby as unfit for racing but the jumps season turns up the volume nonetheless on Saturday, November 3, with a keenly-contested renewal of the prestigious Charlie Hall Chase and a highly competitive running of the graded John
Smith’s Hurdle. Both races should quicken the pulse of any jumping fan.
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Indeed both contests have attracted several of racing’s star jumps
performers including the enigmatic Black Jack Ketchum who may well cross swords once more with Inglis Drever,
the 2007
World Hurdle hero and winner of this a couple of years ago. If that wasn’t
spice enough the likely presence of Blazing Bailey, the third horse home in the World Hurdle, adds further depth to a cracking contest.
In the Charlie Hall Chase, Aces Four represents last season’s top novice chase form against the older order of Hennessy hero State Of Play and the versatile yardstick, Monkerhostin while over at Newmarket the improving Smart Enough might well be the one to land the Listed Ben Marshall Stakes, the card’s feature race over a mile.
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Exeter stages a fine day’s racing with the Haldon Gold Cup on
November 6 and this year’s renewal should bring together the best of last season’s
top 2m chasers in the shape of Voy Por Ustedes, the 2007 Queen Mother Champion Chase hero and Twist Magic,
a winner of the big 2m novices’ event at Aintree. The latter receives
a handy 11lb from Voy Por Ustedes and that may be enough to tilt the
balance in this battle of the big boys.
The curtain flutters down on a fantastic turf Flat season at Doncaster on November 10 with the Totesport November Handicap and
once again finding the winner of this valuable 1m 4f event won’t
be easy for punters. If trainer Paul Cole deems this race suitable for
his progressive three-year-old Pippa Greene then backers should sit up and take notice.
Over at Wincanton on the same day National Hunt racing struts its stuff with a clutch of important early season races beginning with the Badger Ales Trophy Handicap Chase that has often proved a testing ground for future Hennessy Gold Cup winners while the Elite Hurdle and Rising Stars Novices’ Chase are significant early markers for the forthcoming season. Watch out for Philip Hobbs and Paul Nicholls-trained in both the aforementioned races.
For many serious racing fans the jumps season gets properly underway with the BetVictor Gold Cup on November 17. First run in 1960, this 2m 5f handicap contest remains the first big betting race of the new season and one that the recently retired Martin Pipe had made his very own in recent years with a magnificent seven winners.
Twelve months ago his son, David, almost maintained the auspicious family tradition when the stable’s Vodka Bleu was touched off by subsequent Gold Cup second Exotic Dancer, who was a shock 25-1 winner of this great race. One year later the same names are back again as Vodka Bleu bids to go one better but racecourse rumour suggests that the Pipe team may have an even better contender in Abragante, who can race off a 23lb lower mark over fences. He is well fancied.
Jonjo O’Neill is likely to bid for a follow-up victory with Don’t
Push It and Bob Hall, who both look lively contenders while champion trainer Paul Nicholls may let New Little Bric take his chance after a handful of promising efforts in novice grade last term. The latter has done particularly well over the wet summer and is considered more the finished article than he was as a fledgling chaser last term.
On Sunday December 18 Cheltenham also stages the Greatwood
Hurdle, a launching pad for bigger and better things which often brings together Champion Hurdle aspirants and that is exactly the tag that fits the smart dual purpose performer Blythe Knight, who will have to win this prize if he is to be taken seriously as a Champion prospect. He often finds less than expected when push comes to shove and it will be interesting to see how he gets on here while earlier in the day any runner from the Paul Nicholls stable should be noted in the Grade 1 Independent Newspaper Novices’ Chase. Traditionally a stepping-stone to a bid for the Arkle Trophy next march, this 2m contest is a must-see for jumps fans.
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Twelve months later Kauto Star bids for back-to-back victories in the 3m chase but he looked less than willing at times when pushed along and off the bridle before finishing well behind Monet’s Garden at Aintree last month. For a horse that was capable of winning a Tingle Creek Chase over 2m last term, the sluggishness over 2m 4f was a worrying sign.
Over at Huntingdon the over-rated Monet’s Garden could return to action in the Peterborough Chase after his Aintree success but the strapping grey has a habit of throwing in a stinker when he is racing away from his beloved Aintree and I would much prefer the prospects of the Paul Nicholls-trained Taranis, who beat Monet’s Garden out of sight in the Ryanair Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in March. Connections see the Peterborough as an ideal starting point for Taranis, who may well be King George bound this term.
November’s action ends with the Totesport Becher Chase held over the formidable Grand National fences on November 25. Bewleys Berry ran a blinder to take second place in last season’s renewal and like many past winners of this thrilling race he underlined how important it is to bring previous experience of the Grand National fences into the Becher Chase. A faller at Becher’s on the final circuit when traveling like a winner in the 2006 National, Bewleys Berry can make amends for that costly lapse by landing the Becher spoils and confirming his status as a leading fancy for next April’s Grand National.
Malcolm Heyhoe writes weekly horse racing articles for GG.COM-Horse racing betting, information, news, results and free daily tips
Archive October 2007
