Lydia Hislop's Road to Cheltenham
Monday 22 December 2014 12:59, UK
Lydia Hislop delivers the latest instalment of her Road To Cheltenham series with the Arkle latest firmly in focus.
Due to various diversions of a Christmas nature, this week’s Road comes up rather sooner than your satnav might have been expecting. This round-up of the past week up to and including Saturday features a not-in-my-backyard defeat of Zarkandar by Reve De Sivola and several significant performances in the novice-chase division.
Ladbrokes World Hurdle
It all seemed so simple for Zarkandar, as he travelled sweetly and jumped fluently to lead at the second last in the Long Walk Hurdle on Saturday. But he never quite shook off Reve De Sivola and when he faltered on landing at the last, he simply gave that horse a target to run down.
The Nick Williams-trained characterful nine-year-old has now won this Grade One for three successive years and is particularly suited to Ascot’s grinding stamina test. He won in trademark fashion, replete with inexplicable dramatic blunder at the third that horse and rider Daryl Jacob did well to survive.
It was fantastic to see Reve De Sivola back in such good form after having run poorly on his previous four starts; he hadn’t won since this race in 2013 but this was even a better performance than that.
However, although he has run some good races at Cheltenham – winning the 2013 Cleeve Hurdle and finishing a good fourth to Solwhit in that year’s World Hurdle – the track doesn’t suit him so well. As Jacob commented, there he tends to find himself struggling to keep up at the crucial stage.
He did rally when headed and will not need to be ridden so cautiously to get the trip as he was in March when Nicholls said he also made a noise. (He has since had a breathing operation, prior to his Grade One win in Auteuil.)
There was some muttering afterwards about jockey Sam Twiston-Davies having either gone too soon or not late enough on Zarkandar. Had he asked for an effort sooner, I suspect he’d have been beaten further. While he might consider waiting for longer in future given how his horse idled and then rallied, that trait wasn’t in evidence on leading after the last at Auteuil last time out.
Lizzie Kelly acquitted herself well on her first taste of Grade One company, finishing a creditable third on Aubusson. The stable companion of the winner was a little on and off the bridle but was given every chance by his rider and ran as well as he was able. This suggests he falls short of World Hurdle standard and novice chasing will beckon next season.
Medinas couldn’t replicate the form of his surprise Long Distance Hurdle win, when the race was set up ideally for him.
Stan James Champion Hurdle
In an unprecedented move, trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies plans to duck a big race. The New One, who was the most impressive he’s been all season in victory at Cheltenham earlier this month, heads to Haydock in January for his next race rather than clashing with Faugheen in the Christmas Hurdle.
Entirely reasonably, Twiston-Davies said: “I just think it's better spacing for us. It gives him more time after his last run and he doesn't have so long to wait for the Champion Hurdle."
If there were more trainers who were as front foot as Twiston-Davies with their top horses, perhaps another factor would be addressed in the complex issue that is the ongoing concern about field sizes.
OLBG David Nicholson Mares’ Hurdles
Denis O’Regan was ice cold on The Pirate’s Queen at Haydock on Saturday, even if plenty watching him would have been getting hot under the collar. He waited and waited and waited some more before asking his mount for her effort and she eventually wore down Bitofapuzzle in a tight finish.
Neither horse looks good enough for this event yet. Bitofapuzzle looks likely to come into her own over further.
Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup
Houblon Des Obeaux is working his way into the Gold Cup picture, having established new career highs with each of his starts this season. Raised 4lb for his Hennessy second, he dourly chased home The Young Master under top-weight at Ascot and was gaining at the line.
Cheltenham has not always seen him to best effect in the past, however. He finished a good fourth in last season’s Argento, but could manage only a distant ninth in last year’s Gold Cup. He is improving and – *blinks in admiring disbelief* – is still only seven.
Ryanair
Simonsig will be lolling on the couch, flipping channels, on Boxing Day rather than contesting the King George. Trainer Nicky Henderson had been working hard on the horse – the man-flu type according to his assistant – but has now admitted defeat in his quest.
"He's not going to Kempton," he said. "We've got work to do with him and it's not an overnight job… He's a high-profile horse and we've got to do what is right by him. He isn't going to make the King George so there was no point pushing him any further.”
You can’t help but suspect that Henderson is half-relieved this battle has been lost because he seemed to be heading for a target – a cauldron of a race on testing ground over a new trip after a long lay-off against top class and vastly more experienced horses – almost against his better judgment.
He is now seeking a racecourse gallop for Simonsig, along with Sprinter Sacre, over Christmas. Permitting racecourse gallops for high-profile horses is perhaps another adverse factor to consider in the poor field size debate and the lack of competitive, high-class racing in the pre-Cheltenham period.
Last week I argued that this should be considered on a case-by-case basis, so whereas I was comfortable with this idea for Sprinter Sacre – a horse on the comeback trail with very few races he could reasonably be expected to run in – I don’t feel the same way about a thrice-raced chaser like Simonsig.
This horse has more options. (The h-word, anyone?) There is no doubt his trainer has his best interests at heart, but this sport is called horse racing and the more we move away from that, the less compelling it becomes.
Novice chasers
It was a great relief to see Un De Sceaux complete and open his account on his second start over fences at Fairyhouse on Saturday. He has a somewhat headlong style of racing – that’s just how he rolls – and he jumped the least well at his first two obstacles when Ruby Walsh was trying to anchor him.
Afforded his head, he jumped better and soon ran his rivals ragged in typical style but this was a beginners’ chase and he did no more than expected from a horse of such quality. That he was cut to as little as 5/2 with Ladbrokes is an over-reaction.
Given the way he pitched on landing at the first, you’d still be worried about his jumping – especially upped in grade and on any track with downhill fences. He still shapes as though two miles and no further is a must. He is yet to be tried at the highest level, when we will learn a lot more. Until then – and I am a big fan of the horse – he strikes me as brilliant but brittle.
Ptit Zig impressed me greatly at Ascot, winning the 2m3f Grade Two novices’ chase last Friday and lowering the colours of last year’s Supreme runner-up but chase debutant, Josses Hill, in the process.
The winner was no slouch over hurdles, finishing sixth in last season’s Champion Hurdle, but looks like he’ll be even better over fences if the deadly accuracy of his jumping is anything to go by. It was thrilling to watch him so engaged in his pursuit, measuring every fence in a lovely rhythm here.
Afterwards, trainer Nicholls said Ptit Zig would be entered in both the Arkle and JLT at the Festival, with the former coming under greater consideration were the ground to be soft. He is a serious contender for Festival honours and we next get to see him in the Dipper Chase on New Year’s Day.
The genuine positivity from Henderson and, reportedly, Geraghty after Josses Hill’s defeat was significant. The trainer stressed the horse would very much come on for the race, having spent four weeks standing in his box due to “a hiccup with a splint”.
"I'm delighted. Bad luck he got beat, but it was a good race. He's got a lot to learn and he will come on for that,” he said. “He jumped a couple fine and jumped a couple where he was untidy. But he has so much scope. He's every bit as good a horse as we hoped he would be."
Referring to those mistakes, he acknowledged that Josses Hill “has got to learn to do a bit of dancing” but added: “I’m pleased with how quickly we have got to where we are.”
This reaction goes some way to counter analytical disappointment. Josses Hill was certainly novicey and can be expected to improve for this experience. He has not proved his stamina for further than two miles, given he briefly looked a threat to Ptit Zig at the second last yet was beaten nine lengths.
Henderson said that he “blew up” due to a lack of fitness, which could well be spot on, but his Aintree hurdle success in April makes you wonder whether a bang two miles is currently more up his street.
There was also an element of awkwardness about the way Josses Hill went through his race at Ascot, which at this stage is probably best put down to it being his chase debut and his jockey being mindful that he’d had a setback.
However, the Henry VIII Chase form took a knock with Dunraven Storm put severely in his place, beaten 29 lengths in third. Trainer Philip Hobbs has good reason to argue this horse is better on a sounder surface but he looks a cut below what’s required at this stage.
The next day saw another Nicholls-trained novice chaser, Irish Saint, jump to victory, upped in trip at Ascot. Ultimately, he had little to beat with his main rival Puffin Billy not jumping well, even when unpestered at his fences, until taking a heavy tumble at the last. The rest of the field was outclassed.
Sam Twiston-Davies reported that Irish Saint was more comfortable jumping at two-and-a-half-mile pace than he had been over the minimum trip behind stablemate Vibrato Valtat at Sandown. Although this lessened the blow to the Henry VIII form, it still contextualised the winner’s achievement.
The jockey also suggested Ptit Zig was a more confident jumper than Irish Saint who, he felt, would ultimately want an even longer trip. At this stage, the JLT remains the target for Irish Saint.
There was potential bad news for my ante-post portfolio when I interviewed Nicholls for Racing UK at Exeter last Thursday. He asserted that the only two definite targets for Saphir Du Rheu are next week’s Feltham at Kempton and the 2016 Gold Cup. The horse “might even miss Cheltenham” this season.
All plans are open to change subject to events, of course, and, like Twiston-Davies, Nicholls likes to have runners in big races when he can, but he’s got plenty of alternatives within his team at this stage of the season.
At Haydock on Saturday, Boondooma did prove he’d been underestimated when disappointing Melodic Rendezvous fans by pushing that horse to half a length at Bangor. Eight days later, he faced easier opposition at Haydock and won in a fair time in the style of a horse that will do better over further. The race did rather fall apart behind him, however.
In the staying division, The Young Master continues to scale the ranks with remarkable speed. Saturday’s victory in a valuable handicap at Ascot went some way to compensate connections for that unfortunate episode when he was disqualified from first place in the Badger Ales Trophy due to ineligibility.
Trainer Neil Mulholland got the worst of all worlds – no prize money, a fine and a 14lb rise for his horse – for an episode in which others also had to shoulder some blame. This appeared inequitable, so it was good to see the young horse cope so well with his higher mark.
He jumped out to his left at a couple of fences but otherwise impressed in that department. He is a credible player for the RSA Chase, having already won at the track in October, and 16/1 is fair enough.
Novice hurdlers
It was frustrating that Emerging Talent fell – not getting high enough at the second last – just as he was throwing down a challenge to L’Ami Serge in the three-runner Kennel Gate Hurdle at Ascot last Friday. He had been far too keen in the early stages, so maybe that threat would have come to little. He remains mentally immature.
The winner was left to dispatch Killultagh Vic by a comfortable seven lengths and did so by readily out-speeding him. How easily that horse was brushed aside by Henderson’s younger model could well have been disconcerting for Willie Mullins, who might have been using the eventual runner-up as a sighter. That horse was sixth in last year’s Festival Bumper, after all.
Henderson described L’Ami Serge as “a good candidate” for the Supreme, which is confident stuff in trainer-speak for the novice-hurdling division at this stage of the season. He had told Geraghty the horse would be “sharper” than last time at Newbury and, although this was only his second start in the UK, he had previously run six times in France – without winning!
That means there is no need for his trainer to worry about him getting enough experience between now and the Festival. Henderson did nominate a race on Trials Day next month at Cheltenham as the likeliest stepping-stone, in order to gain him experience of that course.
Had I not already advised Douvan at 12/1 for this race, I’d be quite keen on L’Ami Serge at 14/1. It seems more than fair for the form he’s accumulated.
Mullins has mentioned that Douvan “might be one for the Neptune” rather than the Supreme, the race I like for him but I’m not going to worry about that too much yet. Mullins has a lot of cards to shuffle and doesn’t like to play them until the last possible moment – as he went on to acknowledge.
“I would have said Douvan has similar qualities to Mikael D’Haguenet and Fiveforthree, so he could be one for the Neptune,” said Mullins, who won that race with those horses in 2009 and 2008 respectively.
“Tell Us More is possibly a Neptune horse or maybe an Albert Bartlett horse. A lot will depend on what they do over Christmas and just after. We’ll enter them in every race and nearer the day we’ll sort them out.”
Value At Risk was impressive at Newbury last Wednesday, pulling 22 lengths clear of his nearest pursuer on his debut for Dan Skelton’s yard. Previously with the disgraced Philip Fenton in Ireland, he finished off his race strongly and shaped like a decent stayer.
He will be entered in the Neptune (best price 16s) and Albert Bartlett (14s) according to his trainer and will run again at Cheltenham at the end of next month. At this stage, the three-mile target looks preferable, both on run style and his stamina-imbued pedigree.
It is a doubt that Value At Risk managed only 13th in the Festival Bumper last term, below the form that he showed either side of that outing in Ireland. He did meet some traffic problems that day, however.
Meanwhile, Champagne Present flopped at Ascot on Friday, despite being eased in grade. He was too keen and hung when asked for his effort. His trainer Jonjo O’Neill is still winless so far in December.
Juvenile hurdlers
After a whizz-bang week in this division last time, this was much quieter with the Skelton-trained Zarib perhaps the most interesting contender after scoring on his hurdling debut at Newbury last Wednesday.
He hails from an Aga Khan family and is likely to be better on a sounder surface. He will go up in grade next time to ascertain whether the Triumph is a viable target.
Ante-post betting portfolio to date:
Douvan: Supreme Novices’ Hurdle – already advised at 12/1 with Skybet
Saphir Du Rheu: JLT Novices’ Chase – already advised at 14/1 with Paddy Power
Jezki: Stan James Champion Hurdle – already advised each way at 6/1
