Nico De Boinville will ride Bobs Worth in Saturday’s Hennessy Gold Cup, having been freed up by the absence from the race of Coneygree. His new mount is 6-1 second-favourite for the Newbury contest but it appears punters are now casting their nets widely in search of value in what looks a much more open race.
“Nico will ride Bobs Worth,” Nicky Henderson, the horse’s trainer, was quoted as saying by the Racing Post. “Nico has ridden him before and won on him at Aintree.
“We’ve been very happy with Bobs Worth. Everything has gone well and his schooling has been brilliant. He’s in good form, but wouldn’t want a lot of rain.”
It is the latest bit of good news this year for the 26-year-old De Boinville, who has been much in demand since winning the Gold Cup on Coneygree at Cheltenham in March. While Henderson has stressed he has “a good team of jockeys”, De Boinville has ridden twice as many winners for the Lambourn stable as anyone else this season, following the departure of Barry Geraghty to ride for JP McManus.
De Boinville won on his sole ride at Fontwell on Wednesday, taking him to eight wins from 19 rides over the past fortnight. One of those successes was aboard the resurgent Sprinter Sacre, a ride he can expect to keep this winter.
Bobs Worth won the Hennessy three years ago and scored over hurdles on his first run this season, making him of interest to many punters for Saturday’s race. But multiple firms also reported money on Wednesday for Theatre Guide, 25-1 from 33s, and Ned Stark, down to 16s from 20-1.
There was less confidence in The Druids Nephew, no bigger than 16-1 with conventional bookmakers but a drifter to 22-1 on Betfair’s exchange last night.
