2013 Victor Chandler Chase at Ascot Preview Part 1

One of the key National Hunt fixtures of this time of the season is the Victor Chandler Chase - a Grade 1 affair that runs at Ascot Racecourse on January 19. There are a number of high-level jumpers pointed at this big race and it’s going to be a key prep for the festival season - and a race that could crown a new outright favourite for the 2m or 2m4f chases. 

CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE BET WITH BET365!

Virtually all the top yards are represented here and there are a couple fancies who enter the race in all sorts of high-quality form. 

We’ll be taking a look at some of the better contenders in the pre-entry stage who look to factor on the run-in at Ascot in a couple of weeks. 

Days Hotel, an eight-year-old son of Oscar, comes out of Henry Be Bromhead’s yard and will be looking for his fourth victory on the bounce. He’s won his last three by a combined margin of 22.5 lengths. Though he hasn’t been sent off as the favourite at any point, he has been trading at very competitive prices with listings of 7/2, 5/2 and 4/1 coming out of the gate for each of those victories. There was an interesting jockey switch to Philip Enwright when he ran at Cork last time out. 

He tends to race quite close to the pace but seldom actually goes to the front. He had a breakthrough maiden win at Clonmel when he conquered a field of 14 by a hefty 14 length margin. This is a horse who is very in form and should relish the opportunity here as he goes over fences at Ascot for the first time. He’s rattled off a pair of Grade 2 scores in his last two races and it’s going to be interesting to see what his ante post price trades at as we get closer to the race. 

Kumbeshwar has been knocking on the door in his last two races, finishing second in both but ultimately being defeated by relatively large margins. He has been losing to some high quality jumpers at this distance though, with a December 8 second place to Sprinter Sacre and another second at Kempton to Sanctuaire. 

Alan King’s charge always races closer to the pace, or taking a keen hold and going right to the front. He took plenty of money at Kempton in the Desert Orchid Chase and came out at 5/1. Look for him to contribute to another tidy pace up front in this one - he’s dangerous with the right type of going.