Silviniaco Conti’s second success in the King George VI Chase on Friday was a performance of effortless simplicity from the front, as one impeccable jump after another defied and frustrated the speedier horses while their jockeys tried to keep them within striking distance of the leader. But every racehorse offers puzzles to solve and in the case of Silviniaco Conti, his tame fourth-place finish in last season’s Gold Cup after jumping the last in front is a riddle that will tantalise punters until he lines up for the same race in March.
It is one that Paul Nicholls, Silviniaco Conti’s trainer, believes he has solved already. A bad case of gastric ulcers, diagnosed in April, has long since been treated, while a set of cheekpieces have honed the eight-year-old’s attitude, too. Yet there will still be plenty of bookies and backers prepared to oppose him on 13 March in the belief that a finisher will run him down on the hill, which is one reason why he is still available at 9-2 to win the Gold Cup at the third attempt.
It is difficult to make all the running in a Gold Cup but far from impossible and, though Denman, in 2008, took it up with only a circuit to run, he showed that instinctive jumping and a relentless gallop can grind even a talent like Kauto Star’s into submission. Staying is, according to Nicholls, “all that this horse has ever done”, so, given his overall reliability, Silviniaco Conti should, perhaps, be closer to 9-4 than 9-2.
“I knew he would stay and gallop and that was always the plan today, to make sure it was a test of stamina,” said Nicholls, right. “Last year, without the cheekpieces on, as Noel [Fehily, his jockey] said, you wouldn’t have been able to have done that. Now he travels and gallops and jumps and he won that very nicely today.
“I think last year we had a few little issues. He was suffering from ulcers which have been sorted out and the cheekpieces help him to concentrate. On those lazy horses [the cheekpieces] just wake them up a bit and it’s something we’ve latched on to with a few of them. As soon as you put them on him, he’s a different animal. He’s in a better place now.”
Silviniaco Conti has now marked himself out as the obvious favourite for the Gold Cup and seems sure to line up as the top-rated horse in the race. His straightforward nature, though, could make it difficult for Nicholls’s opponents to come up with a plan to beat him.
“At Cheltenham, they always go a good gallop and you can ride him accordingly,” Nicholls said. “Last year, he jumped the last in front and I was astounded when he didn’t win it, but I think I know why now and it’s just one of those things. If they go a real good gallop, he can get a lead, and if they don’t you can dictate it from the front and Noel’s really good at that. Whether we’ll run him again or not [before Cheltenham], we’ll see. I’m open-minded on that.”
Champagne Fever, already a dual winner at the Cheltenham Festival, was an uneasy second-favourite for this race and faded into fourth behind Dynaste and Al Ferof after travelling well to the top of the straight. This was only his second start outside novice company and it would be harsh to write him off as a non-stayer, but difficult, too, to imagine him finishing any closer to Silviniaco Conti at Cheltenham in March.
Champagne Fever’s performance was one of three significant disappointments for Willie Mullins during the afternoon, as Ireland’s champion trainer also saw Vautour, last year’s Supreme Novice Hurdle winner, and the highly rated juvenile hurdler Kalkir beaten when odds-on at Leopardstown.
He can look forward to saddling the favourite for the Champion Hurdle in March, however, after Faugheen, yet another runner from the stable in the pink colours of Rich Ricci, strolled to an eight-length success in the Grade One Christmas Hurdle.
Irving, from the Nicholls stable, was the most obvious rival to Faugheen, having won the Fighting Fifth Hurdle last time out, but he was pulled up with two to jump when already out of contention.
As a result, it could be argued that Faugheen has yet to beat a worthy opponent who has run up to his best form, but he looked so far superior to this field that his price for the Champion swiftly contracted to a general 5-4. Ladbrokes, for the moment at least, offers 7-4, though the price is so far out of line with the rest of the market that it surely cannot survive for long.
“It’s probably the best run of his career so far,” Mullins said. “I think he is improving all the time. With regard to a run before Cheltenham, I’m very open-minded.”
Mullins will saddle the dual Champion Hurdle winner Hurricane Fly against Jezki, who took the championship last season, at Leopardstown on Monday. Faugheen, though, has now won all nine of his starts and The New One, an unlucky third in last year’s Champion, increasingly appears to be the only hurdler capable of ending his unbeaten record.
