Lightly raced eight-year-old is attractively priced at the December meeting on his first run since AprilThe big handicap chase at Cheltenham’s December meeting has always been an obvious target for horses that ran well in the Paddy Power Gold Cup in November, and eight of the winners since 2006 lined up for that race three weeks beforehand.Only Exotic Dancer, in 2006, has completed the double, however, and he had enough quality to make the frame in a Gold Cup. Continue reading...
The Champion Chase flop should account for his Sandown rivals on Saturday with something to spare if at his bestChacun Pour Soi carried untold millions of pounds to defeat on his only previous start in Britain at Cheltenham in March, and the painful memory of that disappointment may still be a little fresh for some punters as Willie Mullins’s chaser is as big as 11-10 for the Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown Park on Saturday.Set the Champion Chase to one side, however, and in every other respect, Chacun Pour Soi (2.25) looks and feels like an odds-on shot. He seemed to falter on the hill at Cheltenham but was hugely impressive in three Grade One wins last season, at Leopardstown...
The British Horseracing Authority’s competence as racing’s regulator will face the fiercest of scrutiny this weekFourteen months after Bryony Frost lodged a formal complaint with the British Horseracing Authority that she had been bullied and harassed by her fellow rider, Robbie Dunne, the regulator’s independent disciplinary panel will finally convene in London on Tuesday to consider the evidence against him.It is a case with no obvious precedent, which sets one member of the weighing room’s apparently tight-knit community against another. It has also been plagued by delays and leaks, including a release of the 120-page report by BHA investigators into Frost’s claims to the Sunday Times which prompted the Authority to refer itself to the Information Commissioner. The Professional Jockeys’...
Heavier ground could finally make an appearance in Saturday’s action, which would be good news for the eight-year-oldStorm Arwen is expected to deposit the most significant rainfall for several weeks on Newbury racecourse before the Ladbrokes Trophy Chase on Saturday, which adds an extra layer of uncertainty to the task of sifting a value bet from a long list of possibilities.Second-season chasers have a strong recent record in this historic handicap, though, and it seems likely to go to an up-and-comer again this year with at least half a dozen plausible candidates towards the top of the betting. Continue reading...
Emma Lavelle’s nine-year-old renews acquaintance with Paul Webber’s mare Indefatigable in the Long Distance HurdlePaisley Park was unbeaten in seven races between October 2018 and January 2020, including a famous win in the Stayers’ Hurdle at Cheltenham in March 2019. But Emma Lavelle’s nine-year-old, who remains one of the most popular horses in training, has only one win to his name in six starts before the Long Distance Hurdle at Newbury on Friday.He also renews acquaintance with Paul Webber’s mare Indefatigable, who was five lengths in front of him at Wetherby last month, and Lisnagar Oscar, the 50-1 winner of the Stayers’ in 2020 when the defending champion was a long way below his best. Continue reading...