If you love Fantasy Football, the Tote Ten To Follow is a terrific way of investing yourself in the National Hunt season. Find out who should be in your stable below and take advantage of the Tote’s welcome offer where you get £10 back as cash on your first bet.
The Tote Ten To Follow is back for the 2021/22 jumps season. With bonus points on offer for certain races, it can be key to target horses who are likely to pick up these prizes. Full rules and help for the competition can be found on the Tote Ten To Follow website, with entries closing this Saturday 13th November.
CHASERS:
GALVIN
You need to target the bonus races primarily, as this is where you will gain serious points. The 25 extra points available for both the Gold Cup and Grand National should allure all players to GALVIN, who is in the top five in the betting for both.
He might not have been many people’s idea of a Gold Cup horse at the start of this season, but his recent effort in finishing second to Frodon, beating Gold Cup winner Minella Indo in the process, elevated him to the top tier of staying chasers. It also raised his mark: winning a National off 165 would be no mean feat, but he’s proven his stamina in a very good edition of the National Hunt Chase in March.
He might not be one to race regularly, but could well pick up significant prizes where it matters.
A PLUS TARD
One who might well challenge regularly in top contests is A PLUS TARD, last season’s Gold Cup runner-up.
He’ll likely have three specific targets, but in each one he will have a massive chance of winning. That might begin in next Saturday’s Betfair Chase, for which he is the current market leader. Anyone who has him in their ten will have a marvellous chance of striking early.
Following that, the Savills Chase or King George will be on the radar, both of which offer bonus points, before he has a second tilt at the Gold Cup. He’s still only seven and is already achieving at the highest level. He’s a no-brainer for this list.
ENERGUMENE
The temptation would be to follow last year’s Arkle winner Shishkin, but with Willie Mullins set to send one of ENERGUMENE, Allaho or Chacun Pour Soi over to challenge him, he might be best avoided. Either he’ll have a seriously stern test, or he may even swerve the bonus awarding Tingle Creek and ultimately race at a lower level before Cheltenham.
It’s not a foolproof strategy siding with Energumene instead, especially if he is the designated invader for Sandown. However, the suggestion seems to be that it will be the more experienced Chacun Pour Soi who sails over, leaving Energumene with a wonderful opportunity to mop up the prizes in Ireland.
He missed Cheltenham last season, but Energumene looked just as dynamic over fences as Shishkin last year and if he’s fit, he’ll have every chance of compensating for last season when he turns up in the Champion Chase. He’s a ready-made points scorer for this competition.
EKLAT DE RIRE
The only handicaps worth bonuses throughout the season are the Ladbrokes Trophy and the Welsh and Aintree Grand Nationals. You could possibly find a horse who will win the latter two, but EKLAT DE RIRE is a horse with a primary focus on the first-named.
He is one of the early favourites for the Ladbrokes Trophy having won three of his four chase starts, losing only when falling in the Festival Chase at Cheltenham. He’s only 2lbs higher in the Newbury race than his Irish mark, which might prove very kind for a horse who could end up with Gold Cup ambitions.
He’s a best-priced 25/1 for the Festival showpiece and a win at Newbury could demonstrate that he’s capable at the top tier. If so, a number of bonus races will suddenly be within his sights.
APPRECIATE IT
Like handicaps, there’s slim pickings in terms of bonus points for novice races. However, the Arkle is one of those and APPRECIATE IT is already a strong favourite for that race.
It would be tempting to go with Bob Olinger, but the Marsh does not offer those extra 25 points. Grade 1s are worth 25 points on their own of course, but Appreciate It seems just as likely to clean up those in the build-up to Cheltenham as Henry de Bromhead’s star and he might target a more lucrative race.
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HURDLERS:
HONEYSUCKLE
Not the most original selection, but HONEYSUCKLE is virtually impossible to leave out.
Hurdlers don’t receive as many bonus options as chasers, but both the Irish and English Champion hurdles offer extra points. Both were won emphatically by Honeysuckle last season and with the majority of last year’s top novice hurdlers going chasing, she looks set to win them both again.
She remains unbeaten and she will win big races this season. She’s like the Mo Salah of the Ten To Follow: begrudgingly or not, you almost have to have her in.
KLASSICAL DREAM
This is definitively a risk. KLASSICAL DREAM hadn’t been seen for 487 days when winning Punchestown’s Champion Stayers Hurdle in late April.
That was an incredible performance given all the doubts and on collateral evidence, he’s now the top dog in the staying division.
He may unfortunately be set to clash with Honeysuckle in the Hatton’s Grace, but that should be the only time both horses meet before they take aim at separate targets. With a bit of luck, they’ll both be claiming glory at the Festival.
BUZZ
The Cesarewitch winner last month, BUZZ is in somewhat of a Noman’s Land in terms of trip. His best single effort last season was in the Aintree Hurdle over two-and-a-half miles, having been campaigned over two, with three miles the likely objective this season, according to Nicky Henderson.
However you see it, Buzz still has a mark (155) which could see him competitive enough in handicap company while his Aintree run proved he can mix it at the top level. With British staying hurdlers suddenly at a premium, Buzz could be the horse to take advantage, if not at Cheltenham, then elsewhere, including Liverpool at the season’s end.
METIER
The Betfair Hurdle is the only handicap hurdle that offers bonus points and I think there’s every chance METIER ends up in that race.
Harry Fry appears to have loftier ambitions from the outset for the Tolworth Hurdle winner. He was very disappointing in the Supreme at the Festival, but he clearly relishes the softest underfoot conditions which will make him very dangerous over the winter.
He’s entered in the Fighting Fifth at Newcastle. If he wins, that would be an added bonus, but if not, he currency has a mark of just 144 which could well be put to good use at some point this season.
ARAMON
The most left-field option of the lot, but if you’re to win the Ten To Follow, you need a rogue choice. Who’d have guessed Flooring Porter would be the third top scorer in the competition this time last year?
ARAMON is a very good horse already and certainly not an unknown. He won the Galway Hurdle in 2020 off 155 and was a Grade 1-winning novice hurdler in 2018/19. His performances in the summer of 2020 entitle him to be among the best to challenge Honeysuckle, so if he comes back from injury in the winter, expect him to run some big races.
And if not, there’s always the drop back to handicaps in which he could earn some big prizes.
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