Ben Linfoot is taking the positives from Corbetts Cross's Ascot run, while he analyses some of the action elsewhere before getting home to watch The Masked Singer.
Cross word with Gold Cup in mind
It’s often disappointing to see small field Grade 1 contests over jumps but fair play to plenty of the participants in the Betfair Ascot Chase on Saturday.
Perhaps Paul Nicholls’ Grade 1 drought encouraged the likes of Emmet Mullins and Venetia Williams to have a go with Corbetts Cross and L’Homme Presse, respectively, but they looked square pegs in round holes over 2m5f at Ascot.
Pic D’Orhy was pitch perfect from the front under Harry Cobden, jumping with precision and showing too many gears for his rivals who simply couldn’t cope with this test of speed.
L’Homme Presse jumped to his left, markedly, again, and was pulled up by Charlie Deutsch, while Corbetts Cross didn’t have any fluency over his fences at this pace and he corkscrewed over a few.
However, he stuck on for a 10-length second without being given a really hard time and this might not have been a bad tune up for the Gold Cup for the JP McManus-owned horse.
A facile winner of the National Hunt Chase at the Cheltenham Festival last year in soft ground over 3m6f, his stamina for a Gold Cup is not in doubt, but Gold Cup winners need to travel, as well.
He was outpaced over three miles on good ground at Kempton over Christmas, so you can see what connections were thinking running him here and he was quite clearly fancied going off the 7/4 favourite.
Apparently it’s undecided if he’ll go to the Gold Cup now according to ITV Racing. One or two bookies have nudged him back out to 20/1.
But, when the dust settles, I don’t think the Corbetts Cross team should be too disappointed considering the test he was set against a real Ascot intermediate specialist who was right on his A-game.
They’re all taking on a potential Gold Cup great going for his third consecutive victory in the race in Galopin Des Champs this year, but plenty of racing fans will be seeking out each-way alternatives against the red-hot favourite.
Even after this Ascot Chase defeat, I can’t see many better each-way options than Corbetts Cross if you want to take on Galopin. And this relative test of speed might just have done him the world of good ahead of what’s to come in March.
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Git it in the notebook
Who was the biggest National eyecatcher on Saturday? Some might say Threeunderthrufive who ran a cracker in second in the Betfair Swinley Chase, a race he won last year, at Ascot. Some might say Famous Bridge, who won the Grand National Trial in good style in first-time cheekpieces, at Haydock.
And some might say Git Maker, who ran a remarkable race in fourth behind Famous Bridge despite jumping poorly and looking outpaced on ground that looked a bit lively for him.
‘He’s got no chance of getting in the National, he’s number 84 on the list,’ I hear you cry. Well, quite. But there’s the Scottish National, or any race where the emphasis is on stamina, with softer ground than he got today also highly likely to help this son of Saddler Maker in the future.
Aintree might not be on the agenda this year, but the way he finished to collect fourth prize from an unlikely position suggests Jamie Snowden has something to work with and he’s firmly on the radar for marathon handicaps this season and next.
Will the Kingwell have any bearing on the Champion Hurdle?
No, it looks highly unlikely. As likeable as Golden Ace is, she needs to find plenty to trouble the main players in the Champion and that race would have to suffer an unwanted setback or three for her to get involved.
Rousted along early to keep with the pace at Wincanton, she ground out victory in the end but she essentially needs further and having the pace to keep up the gallop with the main protagonists at Cheltenham would be the concern.
She would be better off going for the Mares’ Hurdle over further and if there was one to take out of the Kingwell, perhaps it was Gary & Josh Moore’s Hansard?
He picked up £8k for finishing third on Saturday, so it wasn’t a bad day’s work on his third run of the season, but the way he travelled into things suggests he can be a real threat off his mark of 140 in a big handicap hurdle (he should be left alone by the handicapper).
I don’t know why he didn’t run in the William Hill Handicap Hurdle at Newbury, it looked the obvious race for him given his Gerry Feilden win there and his trainer’s previous in the race, but I’m sure a big handicap pot has been circled around his name at the Moore’s yard.
Given their affinity for Sandown, perhaps the Imperial Cup on the Saturday before Cheltenham will be his next port of call? Wherever he goes, he’s going to be worth consideration when a decent handicap pot is up for grabs.
Take it off, take it off, take it off!
A chant that will be heard in living rooms up and down the land this evening as cheeky chappie Joel Dommett steers madcap ITV series The Masked Singer to its conclusion.
Dressed Crab, Wolf and Pufferfish are in the running to be crowned the 2025 champion (1pt win Wolf to be revealed as Wet Wet Wet crooner Marti Pellow) and when it comes to headgear, this show tops the lot.
The use of headgear in horse racing has always fascinated me as trainers bid to tap into the psyche of these half tonne athletes and it’s often just as interesting when they take it off as when they put it on.
Take the Pertemps qualifier that opened Haydock’s card, for example. Nicky Henderson applied cheekpieces to Doddiethegreat and he responded by putting in a good run in second, a marked improvement on his last few runs which saw him pulled up.
The winner, though, One Big Bang, didn’t respond well to cheekpieces last time out and they were duly whipped off by trainer James Owen who was rewarded with victory and the £16,000 top prize.
He is now four wins from eight with his National Hunt horses who wear no headgear at all after wearing cheekpieces last time, something worth noting in the memory bank as he’s clearly a trainer that can tinker with these accessories with some success.
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