McCAIN
HOPING FOR BIG RUN FROM WEIRD AL
Long Run heads nine five-day
confirmations for the exciting £200,000 Grade One Betfair Chase (3.05pm),
highlight of the Betfair Chase Festival at Haydock Park on Saturday, November
24.
The Nicky Henderson-trained
seven-year-old has five Grade One wins to his name, including a stunning
victory in the Cheltenham Gold Cup 2011, and was runner-up to the brilliant
Kauto Star in the Betfair Chase 12 months ago.
Kauto Star's handler Paul
Nicholls will be hoping that Silviniaco Conti can establish himself as a
top-class chaser and provide the champion jump trainer with a fifth Betfair
Chase success.
The six-year-old capped a
progressive novice campaign with victory in the Grade Two John Smith's Mildmay
Novices' Chase at Aintree and recorded a decisive verdict on his seasonal
return in the Grade Two Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby on November 3.
Nicholls may also be
represented by the 2010 runner-up Tidal Bay, who was the emphatic winner
of the Grade Three Sandown Gold Cup on soft ground in April and made a winning
return this season.
Last year's third Weird
Al is on course to make his seasonal reappearance in the Haydock Park
showpiece. The lightly-raced nine-year-old finished 10 lengths behind Kauto
Star last season after an easy win in the Charlie Hall Chase.
Donald McCain's charge
failed to complete in his final two starts last season, pulling up in the
Cheltenham Gold Cup after breaking a blood vessel and falling in the John
Smith's Grand National.
McCain said: "The
plan is to run Weird Al in the Betfair Chase. He is in grand form and I am very
happy with him.
"He didn't run in the
Charlie Hall Chase this year because I just wanted to give him a bit more time.
"He ran well in the
Betfair Chase last season and then he disappointed in the Gold Cup but that's
just the one run. He was still in with a chance when he came down in the Grand
National.
"You would not be
confident on Saturday when you are taking on horses of that quality but we
would be hopeful he runs a big race.
"He likes nice ground
but he will cope if the ground is soft as it was slow enough last year."
The 2010 Cheltenham Gold
Cup victor Imperial Commander will be making his third appearance in the
Betfair Chase following a year and a half on the sidelines. Nigel
Twiston-Davies' charge was beaten a nose by Kauto Star in 2009 and posted a
comfortable success over Tidal Bay the following year.
This year's Cheltenham
Gold Cup runner-up The Giant Bolster is set to line up for David
Bridgwater, while the entry is completed by the Charlie Hall Chase runner-up Wayward
Prince, from the stable of Hilary Parrott, the Neil Mulholland-trained Midnight
Chase and the dual course winner Cannington Brook, who is trained by
Colin Tizzard.
Betfair spokesman Tony
Calvin commented: "We have to be delighted with that field. Two Gold Cup
winners, the second and third from last year's Cheltenham race, and other
top-class entries such as rising star Silviniaco Conti. And, with the possible
exception of Tidal Bay, all look likely to stand their ground on Saturday.
"With that in mind,
our trading department are keen to take on Long Run, and offer a top-priced 6/4
about him.
"Timeform have him
8lb clear of this field, but he does have something to prove after failing to
reach his 2011 heights last season.
"And the Fixed Brush
Hurdle also looks a very strong field, as befitting a race that has thrown up
top class winners such as Grands Crus and Dynaste in the past two
runnings."
To win the Betfair Chase -
Betfair bet:
6/4 Long Run, 11/4 Silviniaco Conti, 7/1 Imperial Commander, 8/1 The Giant
Bolster, 10/1 Weird Al, 12/1 Tidal Bay, 20/1 Wayward Prince, 25/1 Midnight
Chase, Cannington Brook
Saturday's action also
features the £80,000 Betfair. Don't Settle For Less "Fixed Brush"
Handicap Hurdle (2.30pm) and a total of 24 five-day confirmations include Poole
Master (11st 3lb), Knight Pass (10st 10lb) and Katkeau (10st
2lb), who all represent the David Pipe stable that has taken the two most
recent renewals of the three-mile contest.
A seven-race card gets
underway at 12.15pm with the two-mile £40,000 Betfair Commits £40 Million To
British Racing, which has attracted 11 four-year-olds including this year's JCB
Triumph Hurdle scorer Countrywide Flame, Racing Post Hurdle third Cause
Of Causes and Balder Succes.
Coral Cup winner Son Of
Flicka and Imperial Cup victor Paintball are among 26 entries for
the £38,000 Try Racing Fixed Odds On Betfair Handicap (12.50pm) over two and a
half miles, while an entry of 21 for the Follow @BetfairRacing On Twitter
Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race (1.25pm) includes course and distance
scorer Lord Wishes.
The three-mile £35,000
Better Prices On Betfair Mobile Handicap Chase (2.00pm, 25 entries) and the
£25,000 Read Nicholls And McCain Exclusively On Betfair Handicap Chase (3.40pm,
21 entries) complete the card.
Day One of the Betfair
Chase Festival on Friday, November 23, includes the £25,000 Wingate Signs &
Graphics Graduation Chase (1.20pm, 11 entries), which could feature Grade
One-winning hurdler Overturn and Grade One John Smith's Maghull Novices'
Chase runner-up Toubab.
GOING
The going at Haydock Park
is currently:
SOFT, GOOD TO SOFT IN
PLACES
Kirkland Tellwright, Clerk
of the Course at Haydock Park, reported today: "It was a wet weekend at
Haydock Park and the going is currently soft, good to soft in places.
"The forecast was for
significant rain, up to seven millimetres, both today and tomorrow. We have not
had any rain yet today, but we are still expecting some to arrive.
"From Wednesday
onwards, we are forecast three millimetres of rain a day and I would think we
will be racing on soft ground for the Betfair Chase Festival."
THE
BETFAIR CHASE
Class 1,
Grade 1, £200,000 Total Prize Fund. 3.05pm, Haydock Park, Saturday,
November 24, 2012. For five-year-olds & upwards, three miles. Weights: 11st
7lb. Allowances: mares, 7lb. Entries closed November 6, entries revealed
November 7 (19 entries). Five-day confirmation & £10,000 supplementary
entry stage Monday, November 19 (9 confirmations). Final declaration
stage, 10.00am, Thursday, November 22. Form figures supplied by Weatherbys and
are correct up to and including the racing of Sunday, November 18.
Form
Horse Age Owner Trainer
15105-6 CANNINGTON
BROOK (IRE) 8 Sara Biggins & Celia Djivanovic Colin Tizzard
251U/1P/-
IMPERIAL COMMANDER (IRE) 11 Our Friends in the North Nigel
Twiston-Davies
11/2213- LONG
RUN (FR) 7 Robert Waley-Cohen Nicky Henderson
5/F310-3 MIDNIGHT
CHASE 10 Lady Clarke Neil Mulholland
31241-1 SILVINIACO
CONTI (FR) 6 Chris Giles & Potensis Limited Paul Nicholls
U02142- THE
GIANT BOLSTER 7 Simon Hunt David Bridgwater
32541-1 TIDAL
BAY (IRE) 11 Andrea & Graham Wylie Paul Nicholls
4/P40P-2 WAYWARD
PRINCE 8 John & Hilary Parrott Hilary Parrott
0P/13PF- WEIRD
AL (IRE) 9 Brannon Dick Holden Donald McCain
9
five-day confirmations
THE
FOLLOWING HORSES HAVE BEEN SCRATCHED:
AL FEROF
(FR), ALBERTAS RUN (IRE), BOBS WORTH (IRE), BURTON PORT (IRE), CALGARY BAY
(IRE), CAPPA BLEU (IRE), CRISTAL BONUS (FR), CUE CARD, DYNASTE (FR), GRANDS
CRUS (FR)
TIMEFORM
RATINGS ON THE BETFAIR CHASE
Betfair Chase (all ratings
weight-adjusted):
Long Run (FR) 192
Imperial Commander (IRE)
184+
The Giant Bolster 179
Tidal Bay (IRE) 179§
Weird Al (IRE) 178
Silviniaco Conti (FR) 176+
Midnight Chase 175
Wayward Prince 160
Cannington Brook (IRE) 159
THE
BETFAIR. DON'T SETTLE FOR LESS "FIXED BRUSH" HANDICAP HURDLE
Class 1,
Grade 3, £80,000 Total Prize Fund. 2.30pm, Haydock Park, Saturday,
November 24, 2012. For four-year-olds & upwards, three miles.: Entries
closed November 6, entries revealed November 7 (50 entries), weights revealed
November 14. Penalties: after November 11, a winner of a hurdle 5lb. Five-day
confirmation stage Monday, November 19 (24 confirmations). Final
declaration stage, 10.00am, Thursday, November 22. Form figures supplied by
Weatherbys and are correct up to and including the racing of Sunday, November
18.
Form
Horse Age/Wgt Owner Trainer
3110-01 FOX
APPEAL (IRE) 5-11-12 Fox Inn Syndicate 3 Emma Lavelle
33236-1 TRUSTAN
TIMES (IRE) 6-11-06 Mrs M E & Peter Armitage Tim Easterby
0001F-0 SON
OF FLICKA 8-11-06 Twenty Four Seven Recruitment Donald McCain
30P012- SUNNYHILLBOY
(IRE) 9-11-06 J P McManus Jonjo O'Neill
23P2-10 AMERICAN
SPIN 8-11-05 G Collacott & R Gadd Luke Dace
0001-R3 MAD
MOOSE (IRE) 8-11-04 Middleham Park Racing XXXV & Partner Nigel
Twiston-Davies
11/4U21- BEAR'S
AFFAIR (IRE) 6-11-04 G B Barlow Nicky Henderson
32U4-P1 SAPHIR
RIVER (FR) 6-11-03 Sandy Seymour Lucinda Russell
21F01-0 CUCUMBER
RUN (IRE) 7-11-03 The Goblyns Nicky Henderson
4/1110F- POOLE
MASTER 7-11-03 G Thompson David Pipe
3500-23 MR
MOONSHINE (IRE) 8-11-03 Sue Smith Sue Smith
P2P-010 OGEE
9-11-00 Sir Evelyn De Rothschild Renee Robeson
0424/-11 SIMARIAN
(IRE) 7-10-13 Peter Conway Evan Williams
10/2210/-
BARAFUNDLE (IRE) 8-10-11 Judith Ratcliff Jennie
Candlish
312/150- CEDRE
BLEU (FR) 5-10-10 Paul Barber & David Johnson Paul Nicholls
1316P0- KNIGHT
PASS (IRE) 6-10-10 Malcolm Denmark David Pipe
15140-4 SIVOLA
DE SIVOLA (FR) 6-10-10 D O'Donohoe, S & P Nelson & D Silvester Tom
George
31-22
HOLYWELL (IRE) 5-10-08 Gay Smith Jonjo O'Neill
3232-00 LOS
NADIS (GER) 8-10-08 Ian Dalgleish Jim Goldie
44620-0 ARCTIC
COURT (IRE) 8-10-08 Ray & Anita Anderson Green Jim Goldie
P312-33 LACKAMON
7-10-08 Sue Smith Sue Smith
2P004-F KATENKO
(FR) 6-10-07 A Brooks Venetia Williams
062FP-1 SIXTY
SOMETHING (FR) 6-10-02 Mrs A Timpson Paul Webber
F0-2321 KATKEAU
(FR) 5-10-02 Prof C Tisdall, J A Gent, R Wilkin David Pipe
24
five-day confirmations
THE
FOLLOWING HORSES HAVE BEEN SCRATCHED:
ALAND
ISLANDS (IRE), ALFIE SHERRIN, ALPHA VICTOR (IRE), BAKBENSCHER, BALLABRIGGS
(IRE), BAT MASTERSON (IRE), BIG BUCK'S (FR), BOUGGLER, CAPTAIN SUNSHINE, CLOSE
HOUSE, EL DANCER (GER), EXMOOR RANGER (IRE), GOULANES (IRE), KAFFIE, KAYF
ARAMIS, LOVCEN (GER), OUR FATHER (IRE), PROBLEMA TIC (FR), RANGITOTO (IRE),
REVE DE SIVOLA (FR), ROYAL CHARM (FR), SIR DU BEARN (FR), THE PACKAGE,
THEMILANHORSE (IRE), TOP SMART, TULLAMORE DEW (IRE)
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