Woolcombe Folly Dominant Ahead of Game Spirit Chase

Another day - another top-rated Paul Nicholls charge being clipped by bookmakers ahead of a high-profile graded contest. Woolcombe Folly, the talented son of Presenting, has racked up a pair of emphatic victories this season in a pair of handicap chases at Ascot and Cheltenham. The victories have been particularly punter-friendly as he has rewarded at 7/2 and 4/1 despite going off each time as the betting favourite.

Pointed at this weekend’s Totepool Game Spirit Chase, the Nicholls-trained contender is an across-the-board favourite with a price as low as 1/2 – an impressive show of confidence as he comes up against some relatively talented company like I’msingintheblues, Sports Line and Oiseau De Nuit, as well as stablemate Tchico Polos.

Despite spending 14 months on the sidelines, Woolcombe Folly stormed back onto the scene to conquer a field of five at Doncaster last February. He followed that up with an absolute stinker in the Arkle when he ran 12/12 to the impressive Sizing Europe. Since, then he’s been 3/3 and he flourishes on good to soft ground.

The eight year-old looks to be improving significantly as he boasted career-best figures in his last outing by clocking an official rating of 154 – a nice step ahead of his previous figures at 142 and his previous career-high when he wracked up a pair of 147s in 2008 before his lengthy lay-off. The Nicholls yard definitely deserves credit for getting him back to beyond his best and the gelding has finished all fifteen races he has started – a real confidence booster for a short-distance chaser.  

French Opera, Tchico Polos and Cornas are all competing for the second favourite’s spot in the 8/1 or 9/1 range while Sports Line, West With The Wind, I’msingingtheblues and Wlliam’s Wishes are in the 16/1-20/1 corrirdor.