Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle: Binocular Well-Backed

We’ve got two absolutely champagne jumps races set to unfold this weekend as Denman gets off to his seasonal debut in the Hennessy Gold Cup.

Additionally, binocular is being tipped at odds-on for a dramatic score at Newcastle in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle. We’ll be examining the current antepost and antepost exchange markets the Fighting Fifth in this article.

Only six are expected to take on Binocular in the Fighting Fifth as the Cheltenham champion looks to have scared off the bulk of the competition from this 2m hurdle. The ground is projected to be soft and Nicky Henderson’s French jumper should relish the going and that more than explains his odds-on price across the board. Even the antepost exchange markets only have Binocular listed at 1.9 albeit amidst fairly slim volume so far. Expect money to pour in once the field is established and we will likely see that price getting pushed down even further.

It should be noted that he failed to capitalize in this one last year when using it as a seasonal debut. Bested by the talented Go Native, Binocular finished a disappointing fifth- leaving many punters scratching their heads. This is a much more limited field than that one and it will take a serious step up, or some serious bad luck, for Binocular to come up short here.

Peddlers Cross looks like the biggest usurper to Binocular’s claims here and the undefeated 5 year-old makes a big step up in class as he progresses off the novice circuit. He scored at Grade 1 level against the likes of Reve De Sivola in the Neptune Investment Novices’ Hurdle and then followed it up with a Grade 2 victory at Aintree during the Grand National meet. This is by far the toughest race he’s run so far but he could be well-poised to capitalize.

Nearby, from PJ Hobbs yard, enters this one in fantastic form this year, taking three since his debut at Bangor-on-Dee in October. Binocular runs in a different league than this King’s Best six year-old but he’s shown the ability to find the finish line consistently this season with a Grade 2 score in a Wincanton hurdle just a few weeks back.

Binocular over top of Peddlers Cross or Nearby looks the ticket to beat here.