2011 Melling Chase Betting Preview

The key race at the Grand National meet on Friday is most certainly the Grade 1 Melling Chase and it appears as though Albertas Run is putting a bit of a stranglehold on the betting market at the moment with an ante post price showing him down as low as 3.5 for the 2m4f showpiece.

He faces off against a much deeper field than Denman tackles on the preceding day and the likes of Master Minded, Somersby, Tranquil Sea and Kalahari King will be trying to make life difficult for the in-form favourite. A winner in the Grade 1 Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham this year, he’ll have AP back in the irons for this one and the two should be expected to continue their excellent run of form. You wouldn’t say that Albertas Run is head and shoulders above the rest of the field and he has been plagued by inconsistency at times. If he runs his best race then he’s definitely in the mix but you wouldn’t call him an out-and-out favourite.

Final declarations are still a few days away but the ante post market is giving us a few clues about how things are expected to shape up. Very little has been matched on the exchange so far so it’s best to wait for the market to mature for a little bit. Voy Por Ustedes is potentially heading for this one though he may opt for the slightly softer-looking Totesport Bowl the day before. He’s bet down to around 11.5 so punters seem to think he may prefer for the shorter distance and line up in this one.

Tartak has shown some ability in the past and he could be set to spring a surprise here if he gets a solid trip and jumps as well as he usually does. He’s been campaigned well this year and, while he hasn’t run the best of races all the time, he boasts credible place-only claims.

Many will be expecting Master Minded to put together something a lot more impressive than what we saw in the Queen Mother Champion Chase. He did not jump fluently at all and finished a well-beaten eighth to Sizing Europe when sent off as the 2/1 favourite. Look for him to try to bounce back here as he still boasts four wins from his last six, though the losses all came against more potent company. There is a fair amount of money out there for him at 6.0.

If you’re looking for an interesting outsider, try keeping your eye on Poquelin and how he is progressing towards the race. The Paul Nicholls contender showed genuine improvement to finish fourth in the Ryanair Chase and achieved a new official rating of 170 with the run. If he gets Ruby he will be an especially live mount for this one. Right now he’s priced at a tempting 17.5 and a 20.0 listing would make him a juicy each-way bash.