Matt Brocklebank has tipped the past two Ladbrokes Trophy winners at 33/1 - do you need any other excuse to get stuck into his latest preview of Newbury's winter showpiece?
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2pt win Two For Gold in Ladbrokes Trophy at 20/1
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Having been taken out of Saturday’s Paddy Power Gold Cup on Monday, the decision has seemingly been made for TWO FOR GOLD (20/1 Betfair, Paddy Power) to tackle Newbury’s Ladbrokes Trophy and he looks a perfect fit for the big race on November 28.
Trainer Kim Bailey, who continues to fire in winners at an impressive rate this autumn, must have been in two minds given his seven-year-old’s fantastic form around the intermediate trip before Christmas last season, but it was the step up to three miles in Warwick’s Hampton Novices’ Chase that really hinted at his true potential.
He was really brave to beat the strong-travelling Hold The Note there, with Whatmore back in third, and while not one of those horses has gone on to taste success since, all three have effectively franked the form with good subsequent efforts in defeat.
Hold The Note went on to be third to Imperial Aura in the big novices’ handicap chase at the Cheltenham Festival, where Whatmore was just a place behind in fourth, while the latter has come out again this year with a fine second to established, older chaser Regal Encore in the Sodexo Gold Cup.
As for Two For Gold himself, he went for the Reynoldstown and was well beaten off by Copperhead who was in receipt of 5lb on the day, but ran like the experience in second would do him the world of good. The Colin Tizzard-trained winner, by contrast, had already won two big staying handicaps in open company so it was no real surprise to see he just had a few more hairs on his chest at that stage.
But if the pair meet again at Newbury, it’s not at all hard to see the 17-length Ascot deficit closing right up, not least due to the considerable 9lb swing in the weights.
The two rivals had their prep runs on the same day at Wetherby late last month, Copperhead – who is generally 10/1 second favourite for the Ladbrokes Trophy – eventually being pulled up in the bet365 Hurdle, and Two For Gold running a good second to Huntsman Son in a handicap chase over the extended two miles, three furlongs having been punted into 9/4 favourite.
Wetherby is a pretty sharp test these days and the Bailey horse was simply tapped for toe late on having led for most of the way.
The handicapper saw fit to nudge him up a couple of pounds to 148 and it seems a perfectly fair assessment based on the promise shown over an inadequate distance. Just how much was left to work on fitness-wise is a bit of a guess and there’s a feeling it might not have been all that much, but everything about the nature of Newbury – being a flat, left-handed galloping track which plays to the strengths of prominent racers – will be right up this horse’s street.
Further softening of the ground would also be welcome and there are just too many similarities to last year’s seven-year-old victor De Rasher Counter to pass him up at 20/1, especially now his chances of victory have increased significantly with the defection of Topofthegame.
His trainer Paul Nicholls has sufficient back-up through Danny Whizzbang, Secret Investor, Yala Enki and Truckers Lodge to think he’ll still be very well represented, though the biggest dangers I see are going to be posed by Sam Brown, Black Op and Kildisart.
Quite whether Kildisart is still a well-handicapped chaser from a perch of 155 has to be in doubt but he went down fighting off 150 to The Conditional at Cheltenham and is another who shaped with real promise on his seasonal reappearance at the Charlie Hall meeting.
He’s never been to Newbury before, somewhat surprisingly, but should also enjoy the place being an Aintree winner in the spring of 2019. His price (16/1 in a couple of places) is fair without being especially inviting.
Posted at 1030 GMT on 10/11/20
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