The Long Walk Hurdle is Ascot’s feature Grade 1 on Saturday. Our experts have gone through the field and come up with a selection alongside an exclusive Betfair offer which provides £50 in free bets.
CHAMP 6/1
What to say about Champ? On the one hand, he is an exceptionally talented, multiple Grade 1 winner over both hurdles and fences.
On the other hand, we’ve seen him just twice since his extraordinary victory in the 2020 RSA Chase and though his second-placed effort in the Game Spirit Chase in February was very respectable over a trip too short for him, he was then pulled up early on in the Gold Cup.
Nicky Henderson has said that back issues hindered his jumping, leading to him being tailed off very quickly. Hurdles, theoretically, should be a gentler introduction after surgery and he was never the safest jumper of a fence anyway.
This will be his first hurdles start since April 2019, in which he won Aintree’s Grade 1 Sefton Novices’ Hurdle over three miles. There are too many questions for him to answer for him to be a reasonable suggestion, but it will be fascinating to see how he gets on.
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LISNAGAR OSCAR 33/1
Lisnagar Oscar has only won one race since February 2019. All the more remarkably it was the Stayers’ Hurdle at the 2020 Festival.
That was despite the field for that race looking a particularly strong one. In hindsight, it looks an immaculate blot, with him only having gone close to winning once since then.
That came in Haydock’s Grade 2 Rendlesham Hurdle last season, but he hasn’t landed a blow on two starts this term. He could also do with some rainfall, which looks unlikely to materialise before Saturday. For now, a return to past glories remains a long shot.
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ON THE BLIND SIDE 20/1
The third of Nicky Henderson’s trio in this race, On The Blind Side was one of the most reliably consistent performers last season.
He put in four successive RPRs of 153 between December and February and returned with a performance rated exactly the same in Newbury’s Long Distance Hurdle last month.
In so doing, he finished ahead of Paisley Park and was only beaten by Thomas Darby despite having to concede Olly Murphy’s charge 4lbs. That was probably a career best and he is still only nine, so it’s not beyond possibility that he’s improved.
On the form of the Newbury race, he is a truly ridiculous price and well worth chancing each way. Whether he’ll quite have the quality to win is another matter.
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PAISLEY PARK 10/1
Put simply, Paisley Park is nowhere near the force of two seasons ago. Despite that, he still won this race for a second time last season and the form of his third to Thomas Darby does not make him a forlorn hope.
Most unusually, he travelled strongly in the Long Distance Hurdle before fading late on which stands in stark contrast to almost every other race he has run in his career. That was in first time cheek pieces, which possibly helped him settle into the race more, but may also have drained his traditional late-race burst.
The pieces will be removed, with a tongue tie applied and while that seems sensible, it does suggest Emma Lavelle and her team are clutching at straws slightly. He is in contention to run well again, but he is not the dominant force he was and he shouldn’t be the shortest price of those who ran at Newbury.
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RONALD PUMP 11/2
It has been over two years since Ronald Pump won a race, but Matthew Smith must wonder how he hasn’t.
Ironically, that race was his chasing debut, but since being rerouted to hurdles, he has finished second four times, twice to Honeysuckle, once beaten only half-a-length by the champion mare. He has also been runner-up in the bizarre Stayers’ Hurdle won by Lisnagar Oscar, as well as a Pertemps qualifier off top-weight at Leopardstown.
He will win a race eventually and conditions look more or less perfect for a horse who goes on any ground. His trainer may have found a really good opportunity not just for a victory, but a Grade 1 at that.
Keith Donoghue comes over to take the ride and he can be trusted to run his race after his Cheltenham second in the past. This can be the time for him to break his duck.
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THIRD WIND 33/1
Hughie Morrison is rarely afraid of throwing horses into Graded company and he was rewarded last season when Third Wind won the Grade 2 Rendlesham Hurdle at Haydock in February.
That was definitely a career best effort, as he was fifth in this last year and was pulled up at Aintree in his only other Grade 1 start. As such, this looks an unlikely tilt at glory for now.
He has also often needed his first start of the season. At the very least, he is best watched for now.
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THOMAS DARBY 9/1
Now an eight-year-old, Thomas Darby finally won a Graded race for the first time when landing the Long Distance Hurdle at Newbury last month.
That race changed complexion a number of times from the home turn onwards and it may have represented a turning point for Thomas Darby. He had previously seemed an uncertain stayer at three miles, but saw out the trip well for the first time.
If that form can be trusted, he can still be competitive here without the allowances he got in weight from his closest pursuers last time out. He was also third in Aintree’s Stayers’ Hurdle last season, as well as runner-up in a Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, so he has gone close enough at this level before.
The tongue tie which worked so effectively last time remains and he should go close again.
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THYME HILL 5/2
Beaten just a neck in this last year, Thyme Hill proved himself a very high-class performer in staying hurdles last season, winning Aintree’s Grade 1 prize and arguably marking himself as Britain’s star name in this division.
He is particularly at home at this trip on a sound surface although any rain would not necessarily inconvenience him either. Unlike a few of his compatriot rivals, he looks like he should be arriving at the top of his game.
However, having never finished lower than fourth under rules, nor been beaten more than 2 ½ lengths, his venture to France last month proved borderline catastrophic, as he was tailed off having never taken to the different style of hurdles.
He should put that behind him, but it did raise a few question marks about his soundness.
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BIG RACE VERDICT
Stablemates Champ and On The Blind Side are respected, but RONALD PUMP has gone close to winning a number of times and looks to have a real chance again here. He has promised to win at the highest level between 2m4f and 3m for the last two seasons and can do so here. Thyme Hill should be back on song again, but he was very disappointing when travelling to France last month.
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