Cyrname has edged closer to Altior in the betting for Saturday’s head-to-head in the Christy 1965 Chase at Ascot, as Nicky Henderson admitted the step up to 21 furlongs is “a big question” for his unbeaten chaser. Altior’s trainer added that “he doesn’t look like a horse that is going to stay [on the gallops] as he has got such a ridiculous amount of speed”.
On Tuesday morning, several major firms were offering 11-8 about Cyrname, who is officially rated 1lb ahead of Altior, but that had dried up to a general 5-4 by midday. Altior remains top-priced at 8-11 with BetVictor, while the odds suggest that Top Notch, who will get 2lb from the market leaders, is their only credible rival among three possible opponents. Altior’s stable companion is a 16-1 shot.
“He has been in great form and his work has been excellent,” Henderson said. “It is going to be a fascinating clash and it will sort out one thing, who is the top-rated horse? His jumping is so quick and slick, so hopefully his jumping will help him relax, which I hope he does. If he goes into attack mode, it will get very aggressive early on.”
Henderson also suggested “media pressure” had helped to persuade Altior’s connections to step him up in trip, with a further move up to three miles for the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day still likely if he comes through Saturday’s assignment.
“Everybody says it is boring watching him go round over two miles, so let’s show us what he can do,” the trainer said. “If you saw him [at exercise] last Friday, you would have thought this can’t be the right thing. It’s just crazy, he has got so many gears and you can’t believe he is a genuine stayer. If he is a stayer, he is the most remarkable horse I’ve ever seen.
“It’s lovely you have two horses like this and people are building it up to be something quite exciting. It’s the sort of clash you do want. If he is a true champion, he has got to be able to do it over a variety of distances and this is where we are testing it. There are a lot of questions to be answered and a lot to prove.”
Henderson was speaking at a media event to promote the Ladbrokes Trophy – the Hennessy, in old money – at Newbury on Saturday week, in which he expects to field four runners, including the current ante-post favourite, OK Corral. OK Corral, with the former champion jockey Tony McCoy in the saddle, was among more than a dozen likely runners at the Ladbrokes Trophy meeting to exercise on the track on Tuesday morning.
Wednesday’s best bets
The return of the Tote’s once hugely-popular Ten To Follow competition after a five-year hiatus proceeds apace. It went live at midnight, opening up a 10-day window for entries at £5 a time before the start of the contest proper on Ladbrokes Trophy day at Newbury on Saturday week.
Having spent 10 minutes on the site just now, I can report that the signing-up procedure is impressively painless and so too is the process of searching its database of 500 horses. You can search by horse name or trainer, pick 10 horses in a few seconds from the upper tiers of a list arranged in order of ratings, or spend hours crafting perms for multiple entries if that’s your thing.
Bonus points are awarded for wins in Graded events (25 points for a Grade One, 20 for a Grade Two etc) and most players will have a core of proven top-notchers at the heart of their entries. But there will always be less heralded runners every season that clamber to the top of the tree and having one of those in your list could make all the difference when the prizes are dished out at the end of the season (70% of the pool goes to the winner, a guaranteed minimum of £175,000).
One of the beauties of the competition is that there is always likely to be a race somewhere on the day’s schedule that could make a difference to someone (even if it’s just edging you in front in your private league with your mates).
The novice chase at Warwick, for instance, includes three runners from the Tote’s 500-strong list – Torpillo, Lisp (2.10) and Not That Fuisse – two of whom are making their debut over fences. Preference is for Alan King’s five-year-old, who ran really well to finish fourth off a mark of 145 in a valuable handicap hurdle on his final start over timber.
Elsewhere, Misfits (2.30) has a big chance in the long-distance chase at Hexham. Lucinda Russell’s gelding was short-headed by a subsequent winner over course and distance in April and while the last two winners of this race – Total Assets and Lowanbehold – return for another go, both are now approaching the veteran stage.
Flinck (2.40) looks to have been let in lightly for his handicap debut at Warwick, while King’s Odyssey can get the better of Theatre Guide. Khuzaam is the obvious favourite for the Hyde Stakes at Kempton later as he moves up from handicaps, but War Glory (6.10) is also progressing well and put up a career-best last time.
Warwick 12.30 Emmas Joy 1.05 Rosemary Russet 1.35 Highway Girl 2.10 Lisp 2.40 Flinck (nb)
3.10 King’s Odyssey 3.40 Belle De Manech
Hexham 12.50 Frightened Rabbit
1.25 Mah Mate Bob 2.00 Kiltealy Briggs 2.30 Misfits 3.00 Supremely Lucky 3.30 Excalibur
Chepstow 1.15 The Brothers 1.45 Golden Sovereign 2.20 Getaway Fred 2.50 Lamanver Pippin
3.20 Blackjack Kentucky 3.50 Lock’s Corner
Kempton 4.10 Speed Merchant
4.40 Sir Rodneyredblood 5.10 Lapses Linguae
5.40 Cranberry 6.10 War Glory (nap)
6.40 Busy Street 7.10 Persian Sun 7.40 Slade King
Tips by Greg Wood
