The Grade 2 Haldon Gold Cup is the feature race at Exeter on Friday, and has giving us some notable winners over the years, including the likes of Cue Card, Politologue and most recently Eldorado Allen.
Since 2009, Paul Nicholls has won the race five times, so his runners have to be taken seriously. His main chance looks to be with Greaneteen, who won the race in 2020, but he may struggle to concede weight to some progressive rivals this year.
A small but select field of five will go to post on Friday, and editor Tom Aldridge is on hand to talk us through each of the runners chances, before giving us his big-race verdict.
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Runner-By-Runner Guide
Greaneteen – 11/4
Paul Nicholls star will be running off top weight again for the second year runner, but is by far the highest rated horse in the line up. He won a thrilling renewal of the race in 2020, but struggled to give weight away last year when finishing fourth. Since then, he has won the Tingle Creek Chase and the Celebration Chase, plus chased home Shishkin in the Desert Orchid Chase. The going may be a big deciding factor on his chances, having won all three races on good ground, so if the rain stays away he could be in with a big chance. However, he may struggle to give weight away again this year, and might struggle to stay with a couple of his lighter rivals.
Third Time Lucki – 15/8
Dan Skelton’s gelding has already made a better chaser than he was over hurdles, and was hugely impressive in his debut season over fences. He finished a nose behind War Lord when the pair chased home Edwardstone in the Henry VIII Novices’ Chase, before he demolished his rivals in the Lightning Novices’ Chase. He then found Edwardstone too good again when chasing him home in the Kingmaker Novices’ Chase, before signing off for the season by finishing third in the Maghull Novices’ Chase. The forecast good ground is a further boost to his chances, having won all three races on good ground last year. He has run well fresh in the past too, winning on seasonal reappearance for the past two years, so has obvious claims to give team Skelton their first win in the race.
War Lord – 2/1
Joe Tizzard won this race as a jockey on board Cue Card back in 2007 for dad Colin Tizzard, and bids to win the race at the first time of asking as a trainer with War Lord. He had an impressive debut season over fences last year, winning all three of his races outside of Graded company. His three races at Grade 1 level saw him well beaten by Edwardstone in both the Henry VIII Novices’ Chase and the Arkle, and a runner-up effort in the Manifesto Novices’ Chase, where a poor jump at the last put paid to his chances. He can run well fresh, with a record of 121 when returning from a 200+ day absence, so the fact he comes here without a prep run isn’t an issue. He receives weight from both his major rivals here and that could prove decisive.
Dolos – 6/1
Paul Nicholl’s second string finished runner-up in the 2019 renewal of the race, but has only won twice since. Both victories came in class 2 company and has failed to handle the step up to Graded company in recent years. Since finishing second in this in 2019, his Graded record reads 74677, and that includes getting beat a whopping 72 lengths by Greaneteen in the Celebration Chase last year. He had a slight return to form last time out when second behind Leapaway, but the joint-bottom weight might struggle to match the class of some of these in here.
Us And Them – 50/1
Hasn’t won for almost four years and has failed to repeat the form of his debut chase campaign, when finishing runner-up in four consecutive Grade 1’s. Has failed to finish in both races since joining Alan Jones’ yard and would be a huge shock if he won this. One small chance is the fact two of his three career victories have come in November, but this is a much stronger race than the races he won then and it’s likely he will be last home here.
Haldon Gold Cup Verdict
This should be an absolute cracker of a race! Greaneteen is the classiest horse in the race but the fact he has to concede over a stone in weight the field may be too much for him to handle, but you can never rule out a Nicholls horse in this. War Lord has failed to win in his past two efforts at Exeter, and with the forecast good ground a bit of an unknown, the safer option looks to be THIRD TIME LUCKI, who has a 100% record on good ground over fences and has run well fresh in the past. Joe Tizzard’s runner does look the best option to chase him home, whilst Greaneteen should be able to comfortably finish ahead of stablemate Dolos and the outsider Us And Them.
- Third Time Lucki (15/8)
- War Lord (2/1)
- Greaneteen (11/4)
*Odds Correct at time of posting – 3:15pm Wednesday 2nd November*
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