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Updated: 1st December 2011 - GG.com

December Gold

Speed ushers in the first taste of December's jumping action with the Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown on December 3 taking pride of place. This year's renewal is hardly a vintage version of the two-mile pace test and reigning Champion Chase holder Sizing Europe should be good enough to see off Tataniano, the young contender.

Al Ferof
© Racehorse Photos

The latter represents Paul Nicholls, who has exerted a iron grip on this famous race and he will be bidding for his seventh straight win in a remarkable sequence of successes. Earlier on the Sandown card Nicholls should also land the Henry VIII Chase for fledgling chasers with Al Ferof. The striking grey was a comfortable winner at Cheltenham on his chasing bow, and looks to be a high-class recruit to the chasing game.

The best of the jumps action moves to Cheltenham on December 10 for a power-packed card but before the meeting clicks into gear, the Peterborough Chase at Huntingdon is scheduled for a midweek slot on December 8. Captain Chris was to have been the star attraction in this graded race but Philip Hobbs reports his stable star to be under the weather and an unlikely runner.

Last season's staying novice chasers have proved a pretty useless bunch this time around and it remains to be seen whether the two-milers such as Captain Chris and Finian's Rainbow suffer a similar fate. The latter was to have been a starter in the Tingle Creek until he too disappointed connections in his recent home work.

Quantitativeeasing
© racing-images.co.uk

The Atlantic 4 Gold Cup Chase poses another tricky puzzle for punters to solve on a cracking afternoon's racing. In many respects this race is a re-run of last month's BetVictor Gold Cup and Quantitativeeasing and Divers, who finished second and third respectively in that contest seems sure to feature prominently once again while Roudoudou Ville and Salut Flo are two darker prospects for what promises to be another difficult handicap.

In the International Hurdle the sharply progressive Grandouet puts his growing Champion Hurdle aspirations on the line as he sets out to prove that he is more than a flat track specialist, and can handle the Cheltenham hill. His failure to negotiate the famous hill when fading into fourth in last season's Triumph Hurdle may be a red herring, and Grandouet has looked every inch a top-class hurdling prospect this season.

On the same day at Lingfield backers should monitor closely the result of the Summit Junior Hurdle now staged at Doncaster as this graded prize often yields a decent juvenile hurdler. Over at Lingfield on December 10 it is the novice chasers that get the chance to strut their stuff in the December Novices' Chase at the Surrey course.

Big Buck's
© Racehorse Photos

The countdown to the Christmas racing calendar truly begins with Ascot's prestigious fixture on December 17. The Long Walk Hurdle should be a mere formality for Big Buck's who dominates the staying hurdling scene to such an extent that the opposition is getting less and less with each of his races.

In the Ladbroke Hurdle, Lambourn trainer Nicky Henderson may well be the man to side with after landing a couple of gambles in this race in recent seasons. Whatever Henderson pitches into the race is sure to be a worthy contender and let's hope this fabulous handicap is not lost to the snow and ice this time around.

Nicky Henderson recently revealed that he has received a flood of letters after Long Run's defeat at the hands of Kauto Star at Haydock the other day. Some angry correspondents called Henderson 'a complete idiot' which he certainly is not though there was a lot to dislike about Long Run's laboured effort and his trainer still seems uncertain as to just how fit he was for that comeback race.

Things will surely be closer between the two adversaries in the King George on Boxing Day and with Master Minded and Captain Chris thrown into the mix the Christmas showpiece is exactly that and a race to savour on December 26.

Malcolm Heyhoe writes weekly horse racing articles for GG.COM-Horse racing betting, information, news, results and free daily tips

Archive November 2011