Ben Linfoot Saturday analysis | Tritonic impresses at the last stop before Cheltenham
Ben Linfoot was blown away by Tritonic in Saturday's Adonis as Alan King's horse will bid to add his name to a lengthy list of Kempton-Cheltenham winners in the last 20 years.
We’re not quite at the last stop before Cheltenham, but we’re getting there. Last-minute tune-ups are still to be had both in England and Ireland, while Sandown’s Imperial Cup may offer a late back-door route to the Festival, but as the really significant days go, this has often been the last.
In the days when the Rendlesham was run on this card many a Cheltenham pointer were to be had. In 1997 Pharanear won that race before claiming what is now the Pertemps at the Festival, while in the handful of years either side of the Millennium both Anzum and Baracouda won the Stayers’ Hurdle via Kempton Park.
It’s now 15 years since the Rendlesham moved north-west, to the usually much softer surface at Haydock Park, and, while the Stayers’ Hurdle pointers dried up following the switch, the Kempton clues remain. It’s just over two weeks to the Festival – and for many that’s just the kind of lay-off that’s required.
17 horses have won at Cheltenham having had their final prep at Kempton on this day since the turn of the century, including four JCB Triumph Hurdle winners who all put forward their Festival claims with varying degrees of impressiveness in the Close Brothers Adonis Juvenile Hurdle.
One of them was Penzance for Alan King, who won the Adonis by seven lengths before denying Faasel in the Triumph, while the Barbury Castle handler was assistant trainer to David Nicholson back when a young Choc Thornton rode the aforementioned Pharanear to that Pertemps success following his Rendlesham win in ‘97.
History says running a good one at Kempton a couple of weeks before the Festival is clearly no problem for King, but it’s fair to say that his scheduling of TRITONIC’s season has come about more by accident than design.
Only just ready to go when he rocked up at Ascot for his seasonal reappearance and hurdling debut on January 23, he showed loads of potential when getting up late to win that day, but his trainer was at pains to stress he wanted to get further education into him before the heat of battle at the Festival.
Faced with a choice of sticking to his generation in the Adonis or taking on his elders in the Sky Bet Dovecote half an hour later, King opted for the juvenile and things couldn’t have worked out much better.
He won by 10 lengths, further than the Triumph winners Snow Drop, Penzance, Soldatino and Zarkandar had won this race before him – and that despite them not going quite quick enough. He overcame that adversity in style, though, bounding clear like a Grade One winner-in-waiting.
17 horses have run at this meeting since 2000 that won at Cheltenham Festival
2000 (2) – Marlborough 2nd in Racing Post Chase, won William Hill Handicap Chase, Snow Drop I won Adonis, won Triumph
2002 (3) – Galileo won novice hurdle, won Royal & SunAlliance Novice Hurdle, Rith Dubh 2nd novice chase, won National Hunt Chase, Baracouda won Rendlesham, won Stayers’ Hurdle
2003 (2-day meeting) (2) – La Landiere won Racing Post Chase, won Cathcart, Sudden Shock 2nd in novice chase, won National Hunt Chase
2004 (1) – Monkerhostin won Rendlesham, won Coral Cup
2005 (1) – Penzance won Adonis and Triumph
2010 (1) – Soldatino won Adonis and Triumph
2011 (2) – Captain Chris won Pendil and Arkle, Zarkandar – won Adonis and Triumph
2012 (2) – Hunt Ball won handicap chase and Novices’ Handicap Chase, Une Artiste 4th Adonis won Fred Winter
2013 (1) – Same Difference 6th Racing Post Chase won the Kim Muir
2014 (1) Present View won handicap chase, won Novices’ Handicap Chase
2017 (1) Flying Tiger 4th Adonis won Fred Winter
Rated 99 on the Flat, the son of Sea The Moon bounced off the quicker ground and kept tabs on Casa Loupi much more easily than he had done at Ascot. Squeezed by Adrian Heskin down the back to consolidate his position, the response was immediate and, back on the bridle, there was no danger of him losing touch with the leaders as he almost did at Ascot last time.
He’s low and quick over his hurdles when he really nails one, which might explain why he flattened two from home - imagine how good he'll be if his jumping sharpens up a notch - but he flew the last and had loads in the tank as he motored to the line on the run-in, head in chest.
The way he finished here suggests speed is part of his armoury, as you would expect for a near 100-rated Flat horse. He beat Casa Loupi by nine lengths further than he did at Ascot, too, which looks a conservative indication of his improvement.
Half an hour later the Dovecote, run over the same course and distance, was run in a time half a second quicker off a much more even gallop, but it’s hard to believe Tritonic, who stayed a mile and a half well on the level, won’t be suited by what could be a much stronger pace on what is a more galloping and stiffer track in the Triumph.
He looks the perfect horse for that race and it’s difficult to fathom that he’s not favourite. It says something for the Irish challenge and particularly the market leader, Zanahiyr, but if anything beats Tritonic at Cheltenham then they must be a superstar.
Unsurprisingly, the 5/1 available about the Adonis winner straight after the race soon disappeared and he’s a general 7/2 now.
While Tritonic is Cheltenham-bound CLONDAW CASTLE, who landed the feature Close Brothers Handicap Chase in the style of a horse born for three miles, looks likely to head to Aintree for the Grade One Betway Bowl next.
Trainer Tom George did similar with the loveable Nacarat, who won this race off 147 in 2009 before he was third in the Melling Chase, while two years later he was third in this race off 156 before landing the Bowl, where he beat Denman, no less.
Clondaw Castle won from a perch of 154 on Saturday afternoon and he did it like a horse that can more than hold his own over this trip at the top level. He’s from a pointing background, but George has waited to step him up to what looks like his optimum trip, that patience paying off now the nine-year-old has hit his prime.
He’ll be a player at Aintree, as he is likely to be rated 160 or even in the low 160s after this, and if George can resist the lure of the Ultima – which shouldn’t be too difficult as he’d be likely tasked with giving weight to everything in that – he’ll head to Liverpool with fresh legs and a good chance.
There will be a stop or two for many before Aintree yet. But it was last stop before Cheltenham for a handful of horses on Saturday, with none impressing more than the brilliant Tritonic in the Adonis.
Next Off
Most Followed
MOST READ RACING
