As much as I want to be excited about Saturday’s Betfair Chase, it is undeniably disappointing that we are faced with a five-runner field, none of which feature in the top seven in the betting on the Cheltenham Gold Cup. That this should happen when there’s a £1m bonus for winning this race, the King George and the Gold Cup just goes to show how hard it is to persuade the connections of top staying chasers to try something a little different from their original plan.
So we have a kind of reprise of last year’s Betfair, but without Menorah, who managed to finish second that day. Silviniaco Conti (last year’s winner) clashes once more with Dynaste (third) and Cue Card (fourth), plus a couple of outsiders.
While we may all have given up on fantasies of Silviniaco Conti (3.00) winning a big race at Cheltenham, conditions here should allow him to put up another big performance and take this prize for the third time. His record in Grade Ones away from Cheltenham is remarkable: he has won his last five.
His most recent such defeat was behind Cue Card in this race two years ago but he was making his seasonal reappearance that day and turned the form around emphatically in the King George next time. This stuffy sort has always been sharper for a run, which is why it is so encouraging that he was given a spin over hurdles at Kempton.
Cue Card wasn’t far off his best when landing the Charlie Hall last time and, with his long history of top-level performances, must be respected. But the balance of his form leaves him work to do with the favourite.
Dynaste and Ballynagour certainly belong in this company but would need everything to fall right to win this and they come from a yard that seems a fair way short of peak form just now. Holywell, the Gold Cup third, hardly ever shows his best form in the first half of the season and trailed Cue Card by 23 lengths last time.
1.50 Haydock: These are Top Notch’s conditions but the four-year-old faces a major task at level weights with a Grade One winner in Irving, especially as the latter is race-fit from a seven-length win at Wincanton recently.
2.05 Ascot: It will be a major surprise if Vautour cannot bounce around here and win easily, for all that Ptit Zig is a significant talent. Vautour is one of the most exciting young chasers I can ever remember and his athleticism should help him on his first spin around here.
2.25 Haydock: From the Venetia Williams yard that has made a strong start to the core jumps season, Yala Enki looks very fairly treated in light of his runaway reappearance success at Exeter.
2.40 Ascot: Rock On Ruby carries a vulnerable air after his Wetherby flop, even allowing for this return to a more suitable distance. The progressive Brother Tedd may be able to take advantage, though one would not want to get carried away about the bare form of his recent win over Silviniaco Conti, who was just having a tune-up for Haydock today.
3.15 Ascot: Raised 10lb, Cold March is taken to follow up his easy reappearance win over this course and distance last month. The five-year-old showed some promise last winter but, like so many ex-French types, has apparently taken time to acclimatise and looks a different proposition now.
3.35 Haydock: Three times a winner at this stage of last season, Royal Palladium faces an easier task here than when a close second in the Badger Ales at Wincanton a fortnight ago. Aidan Coleman rides him for the first time since February and the grey still looks fairly handicapped.
