2012 Betfair Chase Betting Preview Part 1

The Betfair Chase is one of those tightly contested top level Grade 1 races where at least one horse makes a major declaration and moves forward substantially. If it’s going to be a connections sort of thing - punters will be looking directly at Silviniaco Conti with Ruby Walsh up and Paul Nicholls training.

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He doesn’t stand out as the top contender from a ratings standpoint, however, with both Long Run and The Giant Bolster listed ahead of him. 

Both of them are rated 169 with credible place finishes in last year’s Cheltenham Gold Cup. The Giant Bolster, in particular, returned good value to the place punters when sent off at 50/1 to win. Long Run proved to be a disappointment for many but it appears as though they have as much confidence as ever in him. 

This will be The Giant Bolster’s first effort at Haydock and he should be able to tangle with this group, though it must be admitted that he may not be quite as comfortable as some of the others competing with Grade 1 company over an entire season. Clearly aimed at another Gold Cup, the bookmakers have him floating around 7/1 for a break-out victory here. 

The favourites position becomes to Long Run, who has Sam Waley-Cohen in the irons for this one.

He pushed Kauto Star as far as he could last year but just couldn’t get the job done on the run-in with King Kauto looking every bit the picture to prove the doubters wrong, deliver at a smashing 6/1 price that looked a steal to anybody who watched his effort a second time - such was the fluency of his score over the 3m distance. 

Long Run finished third in the Gold Cup and didn’t race at Aintree. He is back here and starts his seven-year-old campaign with odds of 11/8 to get the job done here in what will be his second effort at Haydock.