Daryl Jacob is on Bristol De Mai as he bids to retain his Betfair Chase crown at Haydock on Saturday - get the latest from the top jockey in his weekly column.
It’s all about Bristol De Mai for me on Saturday as he bids to retain his title in the Betfair Chase at Haydock.
He was simply awesome in this race last year and, while I could’ve gone to Ascot to ride We Have A Dream, I couldn’t possibly give up the ride on Bristol to do so.
This is his favourite venue having won all his starts at Haydock and though the Gold Cup one-two are up against him this time it feels like he’s got home advantage.
Obviously it would be better if we had softer ground, but the testing conditions aren’t the only reason he’s thrived here in the past.
He simply loves it, it’s a track that plays to his strengths and he’s a horse that has been better in the first half of the season the last couple of campaigns as well.
So he won’t be giving up his Betfair Chase crown without a fight. Of course we respect all of the opposition and Might Bite looks to have his ideal conditions, but if he takes his chance – Nigel Twiston-Davies is walking the course in the morning – I expect him to run a massive race.
My first ride on Saturday is aboard Full Glass in the Cash Out In-Play With Betfair Graduation Chase.
He was pulled out of the BetVictor Gold Cup because of the ground but we have to get him started at some point as we need to see which route he’ll be taking.
It’s only a small field so this could become tactical as well, but he looks a nice horse for the future and we’ll get an idea on Saturday if he’s well-handicapped or not.
Finally, I’m on Theo’s Charm again in the Betfair Exchange Stayers’ Handicap Hurdle and he’s been placed in this race the last two years including when it was the old ‘Fixed Brush’.
Both of those renewals had many more runners and though First Assignment is 8lb well-in I reckon my fellow has a good each-way chance.
He likes Haydock, I don’t think he’ll mind the ground and he looks fairly handicapped as well, while Nick Gifford’s horses are in good form.
Nick has put the cheekpieces back on and he’s rarely run a bad race in that particular headgear, so he could give me a really good spin ahead of Bristol in the big one.
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