Betfair Lancashire Chase: Follow the Leader at Haydock

FOLLOW THE LEADER AT HAYDOCK All eyes will be on last year's King George and Gold Cup hero Kicking King in the inaugural Betfair Lancashire Chase at Haydock on Saturday when he seeks to dispel doubts surrounding his prowess following a shock defeat at the hands of War Of Attrition on his seasonal reappearance at Punchestown last month. Although connections were far from perturbed by the fact that he was beaten, citing that he would be in ruder health for this assignment, I am not convinced that his superiority is truly reflected in the betting - he's as short as 4-5 in places - and as such I think that there is value to be had elsewhere. In my opinion, none represent better value than Keen Leader, who looks a tasty proposition at 12-1 with Sporting Odds and VC Bet. This nine-year-old is probably they most frustrating horse in training. He is hugely talented, and actually isn't a bad jumper of fences, but is prone to making the odd clumsy mistake, which has proved costly on occasions, including last time out in the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby where he fell at the fourth fence. It would seem that concentration is a problem for this son of Supreme Leader. However, the Jonjo O'Neill stable is firing on all cylinders at present, and the team at Jackdaws Castle will have worked extensively on his jumping, aiming to sharpen him up so that any lost confidence will be duly restored. If their efforts have worked the oracle, and we see the real Keen Leader on Saturday, I am sure he is good enough to win. The selection has had plenty of minor setbacks since he last scored, which was over Saturday's course and distance in the Tommy Whittle Chase. He looked a potential world-beater that day, literally hacking up by 17 lengths with some high-class rivals toiling in his wake. Keen Leader has only had six races since, the best of which came at the Cheltenham Festival in March when he failed by just over a length to concede 24lb to a very smart rival in the shape of Kelami, who went on to run a cracking race in defeat in the Betfred Gold Cup the following month. A reproduction of that effort alone would bring him right into the equation on Saturday. Kicking King improved throughout last term, banishing any notions that he might not stay three miles. However, I have begun to question exactly what Tom Taaffe's stable star achieved last season, as he won what was without doubt one of the weakest Gold Cup's of recent times, in which most of the principals failed to run up to form. A similar comment applies to the King George at Kempton where he beat Kingscliff readily enough, but the rest of the field either didn't stay the trip or were way below their best. Ollie Magern put up a superb display when making all to land the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby last time, attacking his fences with real gusto and maintaining a strong gallop all the way to the line to beat Kingscliff by over a length. His trainer, Nigel Twiston-Davies, has been bullish about his charge's claims, but this race will be a different kettle of fish and if he races so keenly this time I doubt that there will be enough petrol in the tank to see off these high-class rivals. Beef Or Salmon is not one to trust implicitly and while he has the ability to give a good account, I believe that his limitations have been exposed and he will be vulnerable. Kingscliff should give his running without quite being good enough and you can't ignore Celestial Gold given the form of Martin Pipe's stable, but he too may just come up a bit short at this level. Betting verdict: 1pt e/w Keen Leader @ 12/1 (Sporting Odds & VC Bet)