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There is an impressive line-up of top-quality chasers pre-entered for the 2011 Hennessy Gold Cup. As it currently stands you'll 46 different contenders listed for the Newbury fixture next month and some of the genuine stand-outs include the likes of Neptune Collonges and Sir Alex Ferguson's What A Friend.
It appears as though last year's winner Diamond Harry is set to return and defend his Grade 1 title and this has always been a race that sets the tone heading into the Holiday fixtures. Diamond Harry actually went off the National Hunt circuit after this race last year and has been unraced since. He will be using this as a seasonal debut and a way to get...
Paul Nicholls has already admitted to getting his tactics wrong in the seasonal debut for Master Minded – this is likely to cause the talented chasers odds for the King George VI to drift significantly over the next month or so as other contenders put in much more solid shifts. The Grade 2 Old Roan Chase only featured a trio of runners but Master Minded simply did not look fluent and weakened significantly two out from home.
The Graded contests in the 2011/12 National Hunt season are really starting to pile up as each weekend goes by and with the Breeders Cup about to run in two weeks – signifying the de facto finale of the global flat racing calendar – attention turns to action over fences as the steeplechase season kicks off in earnest in the UK and Ireland.
With the Old Roan Chase now behind us and the JNwine.com Champion Chase drawing closer by the day, bookmakers have opened up an ante post market on the Bet365 Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby this Saturday.
A number of big names are set to line up in this one and several will be...
Continuing the proud tradition on the National Hunt circuit of all the sons of Presenting, Killyglen will line up in the 2011 JNwine.com Champion Chase. Connections confirmed today that the nine-year-old is ready to run after a place finish in a handicap hurdle contest at Gowran Park. A lifetime earner of just under one hundred thousand in sterling, the versatile horse has shown the ability to mix it up nicely between hurdles and chases – though he is not considered a genuine specialist at either.
Talented chaser Master Minded has been given his seasonal debut and is set to run in the Old Roan Chase at Aintree this weekend. Boasting an impressive record over fences, the Paul Nicholls-trained bay has taken down 14 races from 22 attempts. He proved to be a real bust at Cheltenham last year when sent off as the 2/1 favourite – only managing a tame eighth place finish. He did acquit himself well in his next outing as he captured the Melling Chase by a nine length margin over Albertas Run.
We're finally set for a proper Grade 1 over fences this season and all eyes will be on Down Royal in two weeks time as the JNwine.com Champion Chase sees a number of top-quality contenders set to battle it out over a full three mile distance. At this stage there are twenty runners in the mix and we should see a few withdrawals based on ground preference in the build-up to the contest. It should be tough going for the favourite's position due to the fact that there is just so much talent on display in this race – complicated even further thanks to the majority using this one as their seasonal debut.
There are always those promising novices who just seem to fall off of the radar screen between January and March and don't go on to fulfil the success they flashed early in the season. The big festivals are the ultimate targets for many but with contenders running several times a year and ultimately suffering a complication or two, it is a mathematical thing that not all of them are going to get to where they belong.
Weird Al had been one of those contenders having never really lived up to the promise he showed in his first year over fences. He opened his season up by taking four wins from six...
It's good to be back and staring down another edition of the National Hunt as we see more horses going over obstacles now that the flat business peters out between the Arc meeting and British Champions Day. It looks to be a season of change with a new generation set to make their statement and maybe a few will make that big grasp towards legendary status that we've seen with the likes of Kauto Star and Big Buck's over the past few years.
It's quite difficult to get a quality price on Big Bucks and that shouldn't come as a big surprise to any National Hunt observers as the #1 hurdler on the planet is being backed across the board as the odds-on favourite for the 2012 Ladbroke World Hurdle.
The eight-year-old son of Cadoudal (the same sire as the current #1 chaser Long Run) is set for another big year for the Nicholls yard and the highly-competitive Henri Poulat-trained helding is set to finally become a millionaire should he win a single race this season.
Undefeated since unseating Sam Thomas in the Hennessy Gold Cup...
Misty For Me (Galileo) won the Irish 1,000 Guineas and looked great doing it. Already a multiple Group 1 winner she looks a fairly strong play for anybody seeking a solid price and excellent proven ability. It must be admitted that the gamble on Blue Bunting is coming on a 99 OR while this one boasts an accomplished 113 and even travelled to Longchamp to capture one of those Group 1 contests at 1m on very soft going. She looks to have the measure of many fillies her age but didn't flash any of that quality in the English Guineas after being an interesting outside shot at 9/1. She bounced back to take the Irish Guineas and it should be concluded that she likely needed the race.
The really interesting outside shot for this one looks to be Khawlah (Cape Cross) who racked up a...
