Monday, November 16, 2009

totesport.com BECHER CHASE AMONG STATE OF PLAY’S OPTIONS AT THE NORTHWEST RACING MASTERS

A total of 24 horses were entered for this leading trial for the world’s most famous steeplechase, the John Smith’s Grand National, run over three and a quarter miles of the famous Grand National course.

Trained by Evan Williams, State Of Play landed the competitive Betfair.com Handicap Chase on the Mildmay course at the John Smith’s Grand National meeting in April, 2006, before going on to glory in the Grade Three Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury that November.

The nine-year-old has contested some of the leading staying chases in Britain and Ireland, including when coming sixth behind Kauto Star in the 2007 Cheltenham Gold Cup. He landed the Grade Two Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby last November prior to taking fourth behind Mon Mome at Aintree.

Williams revealed: “The Becher Chase is an option for State Of Play at the moment. We also gave him an entry in the “Fixed Brush” Handicap Hurdle and he’s in the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury as well.

“The original plan was to give him a couple of starts over hurdles and then go for the Grand National. But he is so well with himself at the moment that we wanted to give him entries over fences. Chasing is his game but I just wanted to see what the handicapper would do with him over hurdles.

“He jumped so well in the Grand National last season that it would have been silly not to give him the option of the Becher Chase. I had thought that he wouldn’t be ready to race until Christmas time but he seems fresh, happy and well so we gave him the entries and keep on eye on them.

“I actually thought that he was going to win the Grand National at one stage but he made a mistake and got shuffled back through the field. It was still a great performance by a great little horse.

“He has won on soft ground so it wouldn’t be too much of a concern for us. He’s very well and we look forward to hopefully seeing him in action at either Aintree or Haydock over the weekend.”


Champion trainer Paul Nicholls has entered Hoo La Baloo and Nozic, who had State Of Play back in third when scoring in the Grade Three Rowland Meyrick Chase at Wetherby lin December, while the in-form Nigel Twiston-Davies is set to run last season’s John Smith’s Topham Chase victor Irish Raptor and Scottish Grand National winner Hello Bud.

A strong Irish potential challenge of seven includes the Gordon Elliott-trained Silver Birch, one of only two horses to have followed up victory in the totesport.com Becher Chase with success in the John Smith’s Grand National. He may bid for a third victory over the National fences. Dessie Hughes, successful 12 months ago with Black Apalachi, could go for back-to-back victories with Vic Venturi, a Grade Two scorer over hurdles as a novice, while Charlie Swan may be represented by Grade One scorers One Cool Cookie and Offshore Account, who was 15th in last season’s John Smith’s Grand National.

Other notable entries include the Philip Hobbs-trained Parsons Legacy and Can’t Buy Time, from the stable of Jonjo O’Neill, who both fell in last season’s John Smith’s Grand National, and the Howard Johnson-trained pair of Abbeybraney and Companero.

Latest betting from totesport on the totesport.com Becher Chase: 7 Vic Venturi, 8 State Of Play, 9 Offshore Account, 10 Abbeybraney, Companero, Irish Raptor, Nozic, 11 Can’t Buy Time, 12 A New Story, Hello Bud, One Cool Cookie, 14 Keenan’s Future, 16 Idle Talk, Pak Jack, Palypso De Creek, Silver Birch, 20 Always Waining, Hoo La Baloo, Parsons Legacy, Valley Ride, 25 Royal Rosa, 33 Cleni Boy, Trotsky, 100 Runshan

Sunday’s six-race programme at Aintree also features the £70,000 totesuper7 Grand Sefton Handicap Chase (12.35pm) over the Grand National fences. An entry of 26 for the two mile, five furlong contest includes Brooklyn Brownie, who finished runner-up behind Endless Power in last year’s contest and the smart Bible Lord from the yard of Grand National-winning trainer Andy Turnell. Paul Nicholls could run Oslot, successful in the 2008 Galway Plate.

13 CONFIRMED FOR BETFAIR CHASE

A total of 13 horses have been confirmed at the five-day stage for the highlight of day one of the Northwest Racing Masters, the £200,000 Grade One Betfair Chase (3.00pm) over three miles.

Kauto Star, the Betfair Chase winner in 2006 and 2007, is the one to beat. The Clive Smith-owned superstar, who also won the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2007 and 2009 as well as three King George VI Chases at Kempton between 2006 and 2009, was denied a treble in last year’s Betfair Chase when unseating Sam Thomas at the last fence. His trainer Paul Nicholls could also run Nozic.

As expected, Irish challenger Notre Pere has been confirmed by trainer Jim Dreaper. Successful in the Grade One Punchestown Gold Cup in April and last season’s Welsh National at Chepstow, the eight-year-old fell when travelling well on his seasonal reappearance at Down Royal.

The colours of HM The Queen could be seen on Barbers Shop. Trained by Nicky Henderson, Barbers Shop was a progressive performer last season and ended the campaign by finishing seventh behind Kauto Star in the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Imperial Commander boasted a similarly progressive profile last season, winning the Paddy Power Gold Cup and the Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham and he could represent trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies’ stable on Saturday.

David Pipe saddled Tamarinbleu to finish second in the 2008 Betfair Chase and could be represented this time around by Madison Du Berlais, who gained two high-profile successes last year in the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury and the totesport Bowl at Aintree.

Other possible starters include Albertas Run from the Jonjo O’Neill stable, successful in the 2008 RSA Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, and Nacarat, who gained the biggest success of his career in the Racing Post Chase at Kempton last season. Howard Johnson has entered the 2008 Arkle Trophy winner Tidal Bay, who finished second to Monet’s Garden on his seasonal reappearance at Aintree on October 24 while soft ground specialist Halcon Genelardais, who landed the 2006 Welsh National, could line up for trainer Alan King. Completing the possible line-up in the Betfair Chase are course specialist Rambling Minster, Seymour Weld and The Sawyer.

Betfair spokesman Tony Calvin commented: “For all his brilliance, it doesn’t look as though Kauto Star has scared off the opposition this time, and he could just be sent off at odds against on Betfair, with the proviso that his main rivals stand their ground and it is heavy going come the weekend.

“And, having spoken to the course today, both scenarios are a distinct possibility.

“It is currently soft and a wet and windy week is forecast, and who would have thought Kauto Star could possibly start at odds against on his next start after trouncing the Gold Cup field by 13 lengths in March?”

To win the Betfair Chase – Betfair bet: 5-6 Kauto Star, 3-1 Notre Pere, 11-2 Madison Du Berlais, 9-1 Imperial Commander, 10-1 Barbers Shop, 13-1 Tidal Bay, 20-1 Nacarat, 25-1 Halcon Genelardais, 33-1 Nozic, 39-1 Rambling Minster, Albertas Run, 139-1 The Sawyer, 199-1 Seymour Weld.

TIMEFORM WEIGHT-ADJUSTED RATINGS FOR BETFAIR CHASE

KAUTO STAR 198
MADISON DU BERLAIS 184
NOTRE PERE 181
ALBERTAS RUN 180§
IMPERIAL COMMANDER 179
HALCON GENELARDAIS 179
TIDAL BAY 178§
NACARAT 175
NOZIC 171
BARBERS SHOP 169+
RAMBLING MINSTER 164
THE SAWYER 148
SEYMOUR WELD 143
THE BETFAIR CHASE
Class 1, Grade 1, £200,000 Total Prize Fund. 3.00pm, Haydock Park, Saturday, November 21, 2009. For five-year-olds and upwards, three miles. Weights 11st 7lb, mares allowance 7lb. Entries closed November 3, entries revealed November 4 (26 entries), five-day confirmation & £10,000 supplementary stage November 16 (13 remain), final declaration stage 10.00am, November 19. Form figures supplied by Weatherbys and are correct up to and including the racing of Sunday, November 15, 2009.

Form Horse Age/Wgt Owner Trainer
P2303-P ALBERTAS RUN (IRE) 8-11-07 Trevor Hemmings Jonjo O'Neill
121/210- BARBERS SHOP 7-11-07 The Queen Nicky Henderson
42/232P- HALCON GENELARDAIS (FR) 9-11-07 Ian Payne & Kim Franklin Alan King
14/161-P IMPERIAL COMMANDER (IRE) 8-11-07 Our Friends in the North Nigel Twiston-Davies
22/1U11- KAUTO STAR (FR) 9-11-07 Clive Smith Paul Nicholls
F/61101- MADISON DU BERLAIS (FR) 8-11-07 Roger Stanley & Yvonne Reynolds II David Pipe
FP/2113-0 NACARAT (FR) 8-11-07 Simon Clarke Tom George
P/4112-1F NOTRE PERE (FR) 8-11-07 Tillie Conway Jim Dreaper IRE
2//U1P00- NOZIC (FR) 8-11-07 Sam McVie Paul Nicholls
56511P- RAMBLING MINSTER 11-11-07 The Lingdale Optimists Keith Reveley
0111-FP SEYMOUR WELD 9-11-07 Charles Pogson Douglas Pryde Charles Pogson
545F-262 THE SAWYER (BEL) 9-11-07 D R Fear Bob Buckler
22345-2 TIDAL BAY (IRE) 8-11-07 Andrea & Graham Wylie Howard Johnson

13 five-day confirmations
1 Irish-trained




Haydock’s six-race programme on Saturday also includes the £100,000 Listed Timeform Betfair Racing Club "Fixed Brush" Handicap Hurdle (2.20pm) over three miles and a furlong. Among the 28 entries for this contest are Diamond Harry, who finished third in the Grade One Ballymore Properties Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival and Souffleur, who finished runner-up behind According To Pete in this race 12 months ago.

The other main contest on Saturday is the £50,000 Tune Into Timeform Radio Hurdle (1.15pm) for four-year-olds, which has been re-opened until 11.00am tomorrow.

LATEST GOING NEWS

Haydock Park’s Clerk of the Course, Kirkland Tellwright, reported: “We are soft at the moment. We are forecast a wet week. Thursday and Saturday, particularly, are wet days but there will be bits and pieces of rain every day.

“We seem to have got off on the right foot for the season and the outward signs regarding the course seem to be encouraging. I am also encouraged by the entries for Saturday, so now we will just keep our fingers crossed.”

Andrew Tulloch, Aintree’s Clerk of the Course, revealed today: “The going is good to soft, soft in places - lovely jumping ground. It is a bit easier down by the Canal Turn. We have an unsettled forecast but we are expecting showers off and on. On Wednesday, we’re expecting it to be a bit damp and then on Thursday it is looking wet. We are basically looking at showers, sunny intervals and spells of wet weather.

“All the fences in the country have been built and are ready to go, so we will now start building 13, 14 and The Chair. The entries look good and I am really looking forward to the day.”

DREAPER AIMING NOTRE PERE AT BETFAIR CHASE

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