Check out Lydia Hislop's Road To Cheltenham update on the Ryanair Chase.
Ryanair Chase
In case anyone thought any different, Henderson confirmed that the Ryanair is the end-season target for Top Notch. Speaking after his likeable chaser had straightforwardly registered his second Grade Two success of the season in the Peterborough Chase, he also identified February’s Ascot Chase as the likely stepping-stone to the Festival.
“I think two and a half miles is his trip,” he said. “But if it wasn’t for Bristol De Mai, who has the same owners, I’d be gagging to go at the King George with him.”
Simon Munir and Isaac Souede are prepared to run their horses against each other so it would have added a further dimension to Boxing Day’s main event (on this side of the Irish Sea, at least) had Henderson pushed for that option.
In the rescheduled Peterborough, staged at Taunton rather than Huntingdon, Top Notch travelled like a better horse than his three-and-a-quarter-length verdict over stablemate Josses Hill suggests. Henderson was inclined to put this down to the “sticky enough” ground. Some credit also has to go to the runner-up, who left behind his dismal seasonal debut with a persistent display here. He heads for the Desert Orchid, interestingly.
He consistently out-jumped Ptit Zig – not something the latter should include on his resume – who was the first to struggle yet responded gamely to pressure. He rallied for a respectable third ahead of Vaniteux, who ran his best race yet for new trainer David Pipe in first-time blinkers. A handicap target at either Cheltenham or Aintree seems logical, with perhaps the flatter track making more sense.
Twice a narrow second at the Festival in the Triumph and JLT – and fifth to Annie Power in the Champion Hurdle in between – Top Notch is a proven high-class Cheltenham performer. The 10/1 offered by Ladbrokes is on the generous side – even if I ultimately suspect he’ll come up short – given two or three of the horses shorter than him in the market are perhaps uncertain runners.
Min’s participation must now be unlikely in the wake of Douvan’s departure from the Champion Chase and either a weakened renewal in prospect for that race or a bold show in the King George could see Fox Norton jump ship, too. The late Alan Potts, the latter’s owner, prized the Gold Cup above all other targets, whether or not the bird in his hand was the titleholder.
Yorkhill is also shorter than Top Notch for this race with many bookmakers. You can see why, give he holds the 2017 JLT verdict over that horse but for punters he remains the Sir Percy Blakeney of all imponderables. Mullins also already has the favourite and last term’s winner Un De Sceaux for this race.
At 25/1, you can have Caspian Caviar Gold Cup runner-up Clan Des Obeaux and veteran chaser Cue Card, the 2013 Ryanair winner.
The former would have been a well-beaten third had Starchitect not devastatingly suffered a fatal injury when in the throes of recording a huge career-best at Cheltenham last Saturday.
Top-weight Clan Des Obeaux was also outpaced in that handicap early on, making it difficult to envisage him having the speed for this Grade One on likely better ground. A step up to three miles beckons and his mark looks viable in that context.
Colin Tizzard has pinpointed the Ryanair as potentially one of three remaining targets in the long and illustrious career of Cue Card, after which the trainer plans to “have him as my hunter”.
He and owner Jean Bishop have decided to bypass a “red-hot” edition of the King George for “three nice spring races”. Those races are the Ascot Chase, the Ryanair or Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival and finally (presumably) the Bowl at Aintree.
“He’s a lovely horse and he’s nearly as good as he’s ever been,” said Tizzard. “There’s no need for us to back off. He’s a racehorse.”
In between all those ante-post prices can be found Gigginstown’s likely players for this event. Disko, who might have fared better in last term’s JLT under more positive tactics, is a 16/1 shot but might well end up in the Gold Cup given his most immediate target is said to be the King George.
Gigginstown have hit the Ryanair framework six times: Mossbank was second in 2008, First Lieutenant second in 2013, Don Cossack third in 2015, Valseur Lido and Road To Riches second and third in 2016 and Sub Lieutenant was second last season. They are yet to win it.
Valseur Lido himself is set to return in The-Race-Formerly-Known-As-The-Lexus, having been sidelined with a condylar cannonbone fracture since finishing fourth in that race last term.
“It healed perfectly and he’s sound but he had a small problem with a trapped epiglottis, which is why he hasn’t run yet,” Eddie O’Leary said. “He was all set to run at Down Royal… but we had to get that sorted. He’s over that now and might be under the radar.”
If lining up in Leopardstown’s Christmas Grade One chase, he would be set to join fellow members of the Gigginstown massive, Road To Respect and Outlander.
The former won the Plate at last year’s Festival aged just six from a mark of 145 and could well emerge as his owners’ preeminent force in the race sponsored by Michael O’Leary’s company. He’s a fair-looking 16/1.
It is currently a truth universally acknowledged that Road To Respect is better going left-handed, even though two of his three career-bests have been recorded on right-handed tracks. That said, he did adjust left at his fences when appearing to be out-stayed by Outlander when the latter won Down Royal’s Grade One Champion Chase last month.