Cheltenham Podcast: Is Kopek Des Bordes the Supreme banker?

The five-year-old is now odds-on favourite for the opening Sky Bet Supreme after an impressive victory at the Dublin Racing Festival and, speaking on the Sporting Life Racing Podcast, Nash was in no mood take him on.

“It’s a yay for me, you’ll be surprised to hear, and part of the reason is I’m not sure this is a very deep race,” he reasoned.

“I don’t particularly fancy Romeo Coolio, I don’t particularly fancy Salvator Mundi and while William Munny was impressive the other day, from what I’ve seen the evidence would suggest Kopek Des Bordes is the best horse in this race."

Graham Cunningham thought one of the horses mentioned above was a potential threat, asking: “That was a very different William Munny we saw last week at Punchestown, a much smoother jumping technique, and it looks like he's coming good at the right time, doesn’t it?”

“Different tactics were the key I think,” Nash argued. “The day Kawaboomga, who unfortunately will miss the Festival, beat him the time before, he went very hard from the front and couldn't quite last home. They held him up the last day, he did jump a lot better, but I do think soft ground is possibly important to him.

"I think William Munny handles it really well, but it was an improved performance, he seems to be coming good at the right time and I wouldn’t put anyone off him at a nice price.”

Ed Chamberlin feels the pre-race atmosphere at Cheltenham is as big a threat to the favourite as any rival.

“He’s hot-headed isn’t he, so the prelims are going to be very, very interesting. We’ll see what they do. Might he wear a hood? I don’t know. I wouldn’t be backing him now for many reasons,” he said.

“He’s going to be a bigger price on the day for one, and two - I just want to see him before the race. He didn’t settle at the DRF and still won easily and I’m not sure he’ll get away with that in a race as good as the Supreme."

Cunningham agrees he’ll need to settle better at some stage, adding: “I think if you keep pulling like that, in the medium term, you’ll run into problems somewhere but his ability is tremendous.

“I think Workahead deserves a mention. We haven’t seen him since Christmas, and it was only a maiden hurdle he won, but he beat William Munny and jumped really well on the speed. He just looked a good athlete. All these horses have a lot to find on form with Kopek Des Bordes, but I think Workahead has the potential to take a big jump forward."

David Johnson is in no mood to take on the market leader, adding: “I’ve been really impressed with Kopek Des Bordes, his jumping was a lot better at Leopardstown in the Brave Inca and that race has been such a good trial for the Cheltenham novice hurdles. I’d be very surprised if he’s beaten, even accounting for his free-going nature.”

Cunningham added: “I think that improvement in Kopek Des Bordes’ jumping from start one to two will be reflected in Salvator Mundi too. The really good trainers tend to get that improvement when it matters most. So, I wouldn’t be worried about Salvator Mundi’s jumping, I’m just now quite sure how good a horse he is."

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