Horseracing latest: Imperial Cup preview

Health warning - We hope to get through this article with not one mention of what is happing in the racing firmament next week, nor how excited we are getting about what may happen over four days in the middle of next week. The only mention of what will be happing in Gloucestershire in a few days time will be with reference to the horses that run in the Imperial Cup at Sandown this weekend. We promise. Click here for a free £20 to bet on horseracing with Centrebet For those scanning the entries for the big hurdle at the Esher track this weekend, do not be surprised by the fact that no fewer than seven horses are entered from the Pipe yard. Relish the prospect. Celebrate it, because trainer David Pipe could just turn out to be your best friend this weekend. Pipe, and his father Martin before him, have made this race their own. The yard has five wins from the last ten runnings of this prestigious event and even in the five instances that they didn't have a winner in the last decade they still managed to finish in the places on three occasions. It hardly takes a quantum physics degree therefore, to work out why the bookmakers have made a Pipe runner their big-race ante-post favourite. Ashkazer is 7/2 and the lightly-raced four-year-old looks to have excellent credentials. Pipe's charge came fourth in what is largely agreed to be the top juvenile hurdle run in Britain this season. The 2m contest at Chepstow on Welsh National day was won by Franchoek, as short as 2/1 for the Triumph Hurdle next week (whoops, sorry!). Ashkazer then went and hacked up by eight lengths over course and distance beating Alan King's Bormo, who has yet to win a race over hurdles. Although the run behind the Triumph favourite (again!) at Chepstow was eye-catching, beating a maiden was not, and at 7/2 he now looks too short. That won't be a problem for those punters who took the 6/1 available earlier in the week. Still he is 18/1 chance to follow up last year's effort posted by Gaspara when winning this and then going on to win in Gloucestershire (arggh, it is impossible not to mention!) a few days later. Betting on this race early is made harder by the fact that David Johnson not only owns the favourite, but the second and third favourites also. The Package, who is as short as 7/1 is also trained by Pipe, but Chapotergeon is trained by Paul Nicholls. To further exacerbate the issue, Johnson said yesterday: "I'll need to talk to David Pipe about Ashkazar and The Package, and to Paul Nicholls about Chapoturgeon. It'll be up to them to persuade me who has the best chance. "The only thing that's certain at the moment is that I won't have three runners and the chances are it will come down to just one." Most horses who have won this race over the last ten years tend to carry a light weight. Of course there are the exceptions - Korelo and Blowing Wind, both trained by Martin Pipe, spring to mind - but there have only been three horses who have carried more than 11st to victory in the last decade. Punters who take these sort of statistics seriously would then do well to take a look at the five other runners that Pipe has entered who make the cut under 11st. They are I'm So Lucky, Prince Ary, Mamlook and Wise Owl, with possibly the latter holding the best chance. For those of you who think that statistics are nothing but damned lies, then Pipe's other runner, Laustra Bad would be a good each-wayer at 14/1 across the board. There, not a word about Cheltenham! Click here for a free £20 to bet on horseracing with Centrebet Join Centrebet today and score a matched free bet up to £20 on any market