Sky Sports Racing's Alex Hammond reflects on last weekend's action while looking forward to Cheltenham this weekend where War Sound is her fancy in the big handicap.
How impressed were you by Altior in the Tingle Creek – if he carried the Hammond silks would you be tempted by a King George bid?
If he carried the blue and orange Hammond silks (not seen for a couple of decades!) I could die happy. Is there anything more thrilling than top class two mile chasers going head to head at speed over birch fences? I personally don’t think so, so would I be tempted to step him up to three miles when the going was so good? His epic battle with Un De Sceaux was a fine example of what makes jump racing so special, both horses giving their all, pulling clear of the remaining duo up the Sandown hill. Horses like Altior don’t come along very often and if the plan is to try and emulate the likes of Viking Flagship and Master Minded by winning back to back Champion Chases, then I don’t think I’d be in a hurry to step up. He’s eight years old, so there is still some time to experiment over further and I think I’d be inclined to get this season out the way and try next year. I can see the case for trying it, he does seem to dig deep and stays on well in his races, but he’s so good over two miles, I wouldn’t take the risk.
Fair few Ryanair clues over the weekend – who impressed you the most, Un De Sceaux, Min or Charbel?
Probably Un De Sceaux to be honest. He’s a game warrior and lost nothing in defeat behind Altior. That Tingle Creek was a race that will live long in the memory and it proved that you don’t need more than two horses to make an epic race. He’s 7/1 with Sky Bet to try and win a second Ryanair Chase and if I was clutching an ante-post voucher for the same, would feel pretty comfortable at this stage.
How concerned would you be by Lalor’s defeat in the Henry VIII?
Not concerned at all. The going was much more testing than he enjoys and trainer Kayley Woollacott reported afterwards that he’s absolutely fine, but just doesn’t enjoy ground that soft. The exciting news is that we will see him next on Sky Sports Racing at Doncaster at the end of January, in the Lightning Novices’ Chase at the Sky Bet Chase meeting. The ground at Doncaster tends not to gets too testing, so whatever the winter throws at us, hopefully it won’t be too much out of his comfort zone. His trainer is of the opinion that the experience will have done him good last Saturday and he should certainly be much wiser for what was just his second start over fences. He’s now 7/1 with Sky Bet for the Arkle at the Cheltenham Festival in March where you’d hope the ground should be right up his street.
The Caspian Caviar Gold Cup is the big betting race of the weekend – who catches your eye?
My first inclination was to stick with Rather Be having backed him in the BetVictor Gold Cup at Cheltenham last month, only to see him brought down when going well four fences from home. But, Nicky Henderson’s horse is 11/4 favourite with Sky Bet, which isn’t really floating my boat. So, given his likely starting price, I’m happy to take him on with something like War Sound for Philip Hobbs. He’s nine years old, but has only had 15 starts in his life, so it’s feasible he could overcome a 10lb rise for his easy Aintree win five weeks ago. It’s probably fair to say that whatever he achieved last season is going to be improved upon, given that his stable were under a cloud for much of it. Well, thankfully, the Hobbs team have come out the other side of that quiet spell kicking and screaming and should easily improve on last season’s numerical tally. With 54 winners already, compared to 63 in total last campaign, things are going well. War Sound is 9/1 with the Leeds-based firm and that appeals much more.
Where else should we look for our weekend best bets?
Theatre Territory has a handy weight in Cheltenham’s 3m2f grade 3 Handicap Chase on Friday and that might be enough to get this consistent mare off the mark over fences on her eighth start over the larger obstacles. Warren Greatrex must be frustrated not to have won with her as she’s incredibly consistent and has run well in some very competitive heats including the Topham Chase over the Grand National fences at Aintree back in the spring. This could be her day, she’s 7/2 with Sky Bet for the contest.
On to Saturday at Prestbury Park and wouldn’t it be magnificent to see The New One run another great race for Nigel and Sam Twiston-Davies in the International Hurdle? The 10 year-old is an 8/1 shot, but I can’t really see him beating Laurina who is the 4/5 favourite with Sky Bet. She’s unbeaten in all four starts since joining Willie Mullins and has been a revelation for Ireland’s Champion jumps trainer so far. The world appeared to be her oyster back in the spring with a win in the Grade 2 Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at the festival, followed by a Grade 1 win at Fairyhouse. This will be a different test as she takes on established hurdlers and the boys as well for the first time. Whatever happens, it should be an informative heat, but it could be the last time we see The New One as his future will be determined by how he runs on Saturday.
It might be worth taking a chance with Chilli Filli in the OLBG Mares’ Handicap Hurdle; at 8/1 with Sky Bet. Henry Daly’s five-year-old ran pretty well at this track in decent company back in April and had a nice confidence boosting win at Ludlow on her last run in October. She is a likely improver and providing the ground isn’t too soft, should run well.
