Presenting Percy could go straight to the Cheltenham Gold Cup after connections of the talented but rarely spotted animal decided against the prep run that had been planned for him on Saturday. That raises the extraordinary possibility of a horse starting favourite for the Gold Cup despite not having raced over fences for a full year.
Horses have won major races after injury-plagued preparations, restricted them to rare appearances at the track but it is something new for a young, reportedly healthy and top-class chaser to be campaigned so sparingly. There was no public comment from his Athenry-based trainer, Pat Kelly, and the only available explanation came from Presenting Percy’s owner, Philip Reynolds.
“All is good with Percy,” Reynolds said. “He schooled this morning and there were no problems. Pat and myself had a good chat about it and he is just happy with where he is and didn’t feel we needed to run him this weekend. We’re keeping the faith and staying positive.”
The owner added that Presenting Percy will be given an entry in the Bobbyjo Chase at Fairyhouse next weekend, though he did not say why that should be a better option than Saturday’s Red Mills Chase at Gowran, used as the horse’s prep-run last year on his way to a handsome success in the Festival’s RSA Chase. “Pat is in no rush with him and, if we decide to go straight to Cheltenham, then so be it.”
Paul Jones, whose books popularised the subject of Cheltenham Festival trends, said he could think of no Gold Cup winner in the past half-century that had not raced over fences in the previous year.
But he pointed out Native River, who won steeplechasing’s most prestigious contest last year, had just one run over fences that season. Presenting Percy appears a straightforward horse who can be brought to peak fitness at home and he won a hurdle race so pleasingly last month that Kelly may feel there is more to be risked than gained from another trip to the track.
The betting market seemed to have a hard time interpreting Kelly’s latest silent manoeuvre. Several firms pushed out the horse’s Gold Cup odds, with Betfair going as high as 7-2, but other firms clipped him back to 11-4 from 3-1 some hours later. A handful of firms offer Presenting Percy in their market for the Stayers Hurdle but it is very hard to believe that either Kelly or Reynolds would really rather aim at that race, for which their star would have to be supplemented.
The third-favourite for the Gold Cup, Clan Des Obeaux, will be on show on Saturday, lining up at Ascot for the Denman Chase, which has been salvaged from the Newbury card lost a week ago. Paul Nicholls spoke recently of the importance of getting a prep-run into Gold Cup horses, though he would surely prefer to have got it out of the way a week ago and have the extra recovery time. “Everything about him is coming on physically and mentally and we are thrilled with him,” the Somerset trainer said of Clan Des Obeauxon Friday.
While Nicholls has 13 runners at Ascot alone, his title rival, Nicky Henderson, has only two there and one more at Haydock to keep him occupied. “They’re the only ones I can run,” said Henderson, who, along with many other trainers, was wrong-footed by the new rule this week that requires a recent vaccination. It has presented him with some headaches as he tries to get his horses right for Cheltenham.
“I don’t mind about Santini and some of the others but I’ve got to get another run into Angel’s Breath, I’ve just got to,” he said in reference to the second-favourite for the Supreme Novice Hurdle. The grey won his only race over hurdles so far but high winds meant that only four hurdles were actually jumped that day. Henderson is considering the Dovecote at Kempton next Saturday but worries the horse may not be ready for a run so soon after his vaccination.
The former Arkle favourite, Kalashnikov, may be rerouted to the JLT Novice Chase over an extra half-mile after a modest display here on Friday, when he was beaten by 19 lengths at odds of 1-4.
Ascot 12.30 I Can’t Explain 1.00 Umndeni 1.35 Top Ville Ben 2.10 Regal Encore (nap) 2.45 Clan Des Obeaux 3.20 Al Dancer 3.55 Cyrname 4.30 Billingsley 5.00 Subway Surf
Haydock 12.50 Quel Destin 1.25 Laskadine 1.55 Yanworth 2.25 Scorpion Sid 2.55 Full Glass (nb) 3.35 Ballyoptic 4.10 Kateson 4.45 Road To Rome
Wincanton 1.10 Dogon 1.45 Gino Trail 2.20 Atlanta Ablaze 3.00 Sceau Royal 3.30 Sandhurst Lad 4.05 Ask The Weatherman 4.35 Penn Lane 5.10 Soulsaver
Lingfield 1.30 First Link 2.05 I’m Available 2.40 Alsvinder 3.15 Spring Romance 3.50 Shyron 4.25 Brinkleys Katie
Kempton 4.40 Dahawi 5.15 Alicia Darcy 5.45 Surrey Blaze 6.15 Treacherous 6.45 Capriolette 7.15 Grey Britain 7.45 Caspar The Cub 8.15 Majorette
