Minella Rocco tops 14 five-day entries for Sky Bet Chase
Jonjo O'Neill's 2017 Cheltenham Gold Cup runner-up Minello Rocco heads 14 remaining entries for the Sky Bet Chase at Doncaster on Saturday.
He has not been seen since falling in the Irish Gold Cup almost a year ago, and has subsequently undergone a wind operation.
Paul Nicholls has three left in, Warriors Tale, Art Mauresque and Favorito Buck's. Nicky Henderson's O O Seven, Alan King's Dingo Dollar and Nigel Twiston-Davies' Go Conquer are others likely to have plenty of followers.
Dingo Dollar (11st 5lb) is the 5/2 clear market leader with Sky Bet after finishing a good third behind Sizing Tennessee in the Ladbrokes Trophy at Newbury on December 1.
The seven-year-old scored twice over fences last season, including enjoying a decisive course and distance victory in a February novices' chase, and finished runner-up under top-weight in Ayr's Novices Championship Handicap Chase in April.
His trainer is seeking a third Sky Bet Chase triumph, after Ziga Boy captured back-to-back renewals in 2016 and 2017.
Jerry Wright, co-owner of Dingo Dollar, said today: "All is well with Dingo Dollar and he is all set for the Sky Bet Chase. We have made a second entry for him at Cheltenham on Saturday, but that is purely precautionary if the ground did happen to come up fast at Doncaster, which looks very unlikely given the forecast.
"The Sky Bet Chase has been the plan since he ran well in the Ladbrokes Trophy. He won a three-mile novices' chase at Doncaster last season, so we know he likes the track and we are very much looking forward to it.
"Although there was a lot of comment at the time saying that it wasn't the strongest renewal of the Ladbrokes Trophy, the second [Elegant Escape] and the fourth [Beware The Bear] have both won competitive races since, and the fifth [West Approach] was a good second in the Long Walk Hurdle.
"I think the form stacks up pretty well and if Dingo Dollar replicates his performance there on ground that was softer than ideal, then he should go pretty close.
"He is only a seven-year-old and Alan said right at the beginning of the season that he will have two targets, with the early-season target being the Ladbrokes Trophy and the spring target being the Scottish Grand National.
"He ran a great race at Ayr on his final start last season and both Alan and Wayne (Hutchinson, jockey) said it would be great to take him back there."
One stepping up in trip to three miles for the first time is Charlie Longsdon's Willie Boy, a winner at Wetherby on Boxing Day. "He'll run this weekend - we want to see if he'll get three miles," said Longsdon.
"In those top races over two and a half miles he can travel well enough, but he gets confused with his jumping. So going up in trip, it should slow him down half a gear. Good ground and three miles at Doncaster on a galloping left-handed track is the right place to try it with him."
Longsdon is optimistic Willie Boy will have the necessary stamina.
"He was still going very nicely when he fell four out in the BetVictor Gold Cup - and he hadn't jumped well that day, because he was probably in top gear the whole time. He wore cheekpieces at Wetherby and they seemed to really sharpen up his jumping - so he'll wear them again."
Simglefarmpayment, Brian Boranha, Calipto, On Tour, Monbeg River and Fedirici are also all still in the mix at the five-day stage.
GET THE FULL PICTURE: Don't miss out on FREE video replays and our fantastic My Stable tracker. Log in now and become a Sporting Life Insider.
Related horse racing links
Next Off
Most Followed
MOST READ RACING
