Ascot, Haydock and Gowran - a NH Saturday feast

Saturday 22nd November - Cheltenham Clues all over the Country!

After a great weekend at Cheltenham I wondered if I would get the Prestbury Park blues; a feast of great racing followed by a dull weekend with not much on. However one look at my horse tracker last night blew those fears away! A great renewal of the Betfair Chase, the return of established stars like The New One and Al Ferof as well as some potential stars hoping to really make their mark this season - see hype machine Tell Us More from the Mullin's yard for the most interesting of those. We also had a lot of horses mentioned in the season preview blog Which you can read here such as Fletcher's Flyer, put up by Jon-Ivan Duke as a potential horse for the Novice Hurdle Division. Let's get cracking with looking back on a top day on Saturday!


Ascot

Well as I mentioned Fletcher's Flyer was the first horse of interest and, with top jockey Ruby Walsh booked for the ride for Harry Fry, all the vibes were good for this one. Thankfully blog fans were rewarded as FF was driven out to beat Parish Business, of whom Aidan Coleman was hugely optimistic about in his RUK column pre-racing, so it could be that FF beat a good horse here, and with Hunt Ball back in third I would be inclined to rate this form quite highly. Lets hope FF keeps doing the business this season!

Later at Ascot I was firmly against Al Ferof in the Amlin Chase, I thought he would have been left with plenty to work on by Paul Nicholls with the King George at Kempton on Boxing Day his big target this side of January. After reading the trainer's blog on Betfair on Saturday morning (found at https://betting.betfair.com/horse-racing/paul-nicholls/) I was even more firmly against him, soundbites such as

I have been training him with a view to peaking at Kempton next month, not today, so I have left a fair bit to work on

and

Ideally he wants better ground as well, so defeat here against race-fit rivals wouldn't be the end of the world, by any means, as he will definitely need it. 

made it look like a price of 5/2 was a lay all day. How wrong I was! Al Ferof was hugely impressive in beating Somersby (who loves it round here) and Wishful Thinking (Impressive winner at Aintree earlier this season) as he liked, even after tiring late on as a lack of fitness told. That makes his performance of even more interest with the King George in mind as this win, on testing ground, with plenty left to work on, saw him cut into 8/1 from 20/1 for the Boxing Day showpiece. I definitely could not be put off even at 8/1 after that performance and this was certainly a case of me getting it so so wrong pre-race! One slight note of caution would be that jockey Ruby Walsh may not be on at Kempton, with Champagne Fever a likely runner you would imagine Walsh will be on the Mullins runner, so STD will presumably take over. Obviously not a bad sub but Walsh is an absolute master in the saddle and you will have to take it on faith that STD can strike the same tune with Al Ferof.

Al Ferof; So impressive in his Amlin romp

 Faugheen was the next of the emerging stars of last season to strut his stuff at Ascot as he started heavily odds-on for the Coral Hurdle. Blue Fashion, a horse Henderson thinks the world of by the way but will come into his own over fences, appeared here after a summer breathing operation and I was interested to see how he would go; however make no mistake Faugheen was expected to romp home if he was to justify his position as market leader for the Champion Hurdle. And romp he did, unbeaten record upheld and really I think we were only scratching the surface here as Ruby only asked him to quicken after the last yet he absolutely hosed home, flying over the final hurdle and winning ever so easily. Quotes of 9/4 post-race will have been quickly snapped up as this was a performance again full of potential, really exciting as we were left wondering just how much is under the bonnet of this machine.

Haydock

Let's head up North with our review now as we had some really good action from Haydock Park on National Jockey Day, a great incentive from Betfair to recognise the often under-appreciated hero's of our sport.
The New One, market rival to Faugheen, was in action at the Merseyside venue around an hour before we saw Faugheen at Ascot so giving TNO the chance to stake his claims for this seasons Champion Hurdle slightly earlier. Nigel Twiston-Davis' stable star, an unlucky loser of last season's Champion Hurdle, was 1/3 poke before the off but with Melodic Rendezvous in opposition (a soft ground lover) didn't appear to have a stroll in the park ahead of him. The race was run at a decent pace, unusual for these events, but The New One looked comfortable all the way round before being asked to put the race to bed over the last flight by Sam Twiston-Davis and put it to bed he did, winning by just under 3 lengths in the end. However I wasn't massively convinced by this performance...I must mention I'm not a huge fan of TNO (his jumping was better than usual here I admit) but the acceleration was not immediate and he made getting past the Zamdy Man look a touch harder than I would have liked for a 7/2 shot for Cheltenham Glory. He won, yes, and easily in the end but I definitely do not think we saw a Champion Hurdle winner up at Haydock Park this weekend.

The New One under Sam TD wins at odds of 1/3

The race of the day up at Haydock was the Betfair Chase, and this year we had a fantastic renewal of the race with plenty of Gold Cup wannabees taking each other on early in the season. Cue Card, Dynaste, Silviniaco Conti and Taquin Du Seuil all harbor hope of lining up in the feature race of Friday at Cheltenham in March so it was really exciting to see them clash at this stage in the season. What pointers could we take from this one?
Well Cue Card took us into the race jumping well on the front, however coming into the home straight he was swamped by a wash of quality as his jumping went to pot. In the end it was Silviniaco Conti and Menorah who locked horns right at the business end of the race as the rest gave way and Silviniaco was the one to emerge on top in a great battle. The searching pace and soft ground really brought stamina into play and this is what Conti absolutely loves, helping the Paul Nicholls horse turn around Wetherby form in no uncertain terms. In terms of looking to the future though I feel there is so much we can take from this race in regards the Gold Cup market and I'd love to know if you agree with what I'll take forward.

1. Cue Card does not stay 3 miles, won't win the Gold Cup. A step back in trip is needed or a really easy 3 miles - not Cheltenham. 
2. Taquin Du Seuil looks to have jumping issues when going at pace in a quality field. After his Newton Abbot flop this is another disappointment and it wouldn't surprise me if they were to revert to hurdles with this one as conditions really should have been ideal for him today.
3. Menorah is a contender come March. This was another quality run from Philips Hobbs previously unreliable chaser and on ground which would have been far from ideal. Perhaps it's just the stable form but Hobbs could have got to the bottom of Menorah and come March we will be running on better ground which will suit. See what happens on his next run but for me a definite contender at a huge 25/1. Should not be twice the price of Holywell!
4. Silviniaco Conti is a quality chaser but definitely is best in a strongly run race on soft ground. Will he have soft conditions this season come March? After his Cheltenham flop last year I'd be much more keen on his for King George glory at 5/1 than as a Gold Cup winner and feel there are better ante-post bets than 10/1 about him for GC glory.
5. Dynaste - just not good enough for the Gold Cup. Take on the Ryanair again.

Comments on the above 5 points greatly appreciated as in an open division there is much potential for debate!

Who will be taking this home with them in March 2015?

Gowran Park

Any review of Saturday with an eye on Cheltenham wouldn't be complete without a trip over the Irish Seas to see what Willie Mullins was releasing at Gowran; the answer was a lot! Future Ryanair Chase winner Ballleycasey was running over 2 miles 4, the next Faugheen Tell Us More would face a 2 mile hurdle race and Don Poli, already a Cheltenham winner, was out over a trip far shorter than ideal (2m 4f). The reoccurring theme here...all were winners!

How many winners today Willie??

You won't see many easier winners than Tell Us More as he absolutely demolished the opposition in the Maiden Hurdle on the card, making odds of 1/5 look generous! Apparently they may step this one up in trip but the sky really is the limit. Bryan Cooper, who rode him to victory in the Gigginstown colours, said he was as nice a horse as he has sat on in a while, Patrick Mullins speaks so highly of this horse I can't do it justice with written words and Willie reckons 'He looks top draw'. Wherever this one turns up next he won't be much of a price but make no bones about it this one will make his mark if he turns up at Cheltenham in March.

My idea of the Ryanair Chase winner Balleycasey was next up, and I was not put off him for the aforementioned race as he beat the useful Moscow Mannon on his way to victory under Paul Townend. He made all, jumped nicely and you could have no complaints really. With the horse set to be kept to Grade 2 or 3's for now he could build up a nice winning streak before Cheltenham time, so take the 16/1 still available at the time of writing as I can't see him getting much bigger.

Finally another Patrick Mullins love child, Don Poli, was sent out for his chasing debut over a trip shorter than one would presume his best trip having won over 3 miles earlier in his career. However he was another winner for Mullins, and this one at odds against (shock!) as he beat Wounded Warrior (A horse loved by his trainer and thought very highly of) by just over 2 lengths. I was very taken by this win actually; he jumped nicely on chasing debut and beat some decent opposition, this was definitely no Faugheen cakewalk pre-race as the opposition were decent. Post race Willie was saying he looks made for the 4 miler at Cheltenham and I'm sure his son will be telling him that is a smashing idea!

There were so many more great stories on this fantastic Saturday; a fabulous win for jockey Lizzie Kelly in the fixed brush hurdle was one such highlight. This was only her 6th ride of the season, and pre-race she didn't even get a photo in the programme with just a grey silhouette where every other rider had their face, but that didn't stop her taking a highly competitive handicap where she had to to battle with Dickie Johnson in the finish as she rode a 9/1 winner! Highly appropriate to get such a great jockey related story on National Jockey Day! There is so much more I could go into but I've said enough for today I think!

Thanks very much for reading and I'd love to hear your thoughts on any of the day's action or any Cheltenham markets after a top day of National Hunt racing around the country and over the sea.

Alex