Haldon Gold Cup day is always popular among National Hunt fans and Exeter’ card certainly delivers again on paper today, with some terrific mid-week action in store. We have four bets there this afternoon, including a 9/1 selection in the feature contest.
Today’s Selections
EXETER
1.20 – Duke Des Champs E/w Ladbrokes, Betfair Sportsbook 3/1, double stakes
1.50 – Welsh Shadow 2/1 bet365 & BetVictor
2.20 – Third Intention 9/1 888sport, BetVictor
2.50 – The Tourard Man 11/2 BetVictor , Betfred
Comments:
The 1.20pm is a very interesting novice hurdle, the only shame being David Pipe’s Champers On Ice being a declared a non-runner. Duke Des Champs very much impressed me in his bumper Chepstow last October, displaying a lazy, lingering style of racing throughout, but expressing a considerable engine. He was niggled to make gainful ground in the home straight, but responded to every urge from Richard Johnson, as he ploughed on remorselessly to put two good lengths between himself and the very useful Herbert Park; who went on to have an excellent season. This well bred 5yo didn’t show his best at Newbury in February, but is built, bred and destined to be a far better proposition when jumping obstacles over further trips than he has encountered thus far. I’m really looking forward to him, and hope he is sharp enough to show something like his potential first time out.
Yanworth will be tough to beat in the 1.50pm, but it looks the flip of a coin, a two-horse race call it what you will, and if taking that line of view there is reasonable guts to Welsh Shadow being a decent win bet at 2/1. In a slowly ran Wetherby bumper back in March, this son of Robin Des Champs had a fair amount of work to do as they began to round the home turn, sitting around 7 or 8 lengths off the leader. But he responded in the style of a smart horse, lengthening rather impressively to get on terms and subsequently put a leisurely 7 lengths between himself and Dueling Banjos come the line. Now, it’s never easy to tell exactly what a horse has achieved until you see how the others run afterwards, and this particular piece of bumper form is as solid as it gets. The 2nd, the 3rd and 5th all came out and won well after that, so Welsh Shadow can be considered a top novice hurdling prospect. He really shouldn’t be far away.
Vibrato Valtat and Sire De Grugy are the absolute class angles into the 2.20pm Haldon Gold Cup, but win off 157 and 167 respectively, at the first time of asking, is no easy task. The Paul Nicholls trained grey is a superb talent, but his limitations were somewhat exposed in Grade 1 company last spring and it’s probably worth noting that he was beaten off a mark of 138 first time out last season, before going on his winning streak thereafter. Sire De Grugy will need to be near his best to win, which is perfectly possibly but he’s correctly priced, while to my mind last year’s winner God’s Own is the pick from those heading the market.
But the clear value is Colin Tizzard’s Third Intention, a talented but often underestimated chaser who put in a career best effort at Chepstow last time out. He jumped better than I’d seen him jump before and against a fit and in-form Astracad, he was just done close home. But this was a magnificent effort first time out, giving lumps of weight to a solid, fit horse. He was in front a long way from home and was a bit unlucky to go down by half a foot on the line. It could be that he proves too high in the handicap to win here, or that the race will leave its mark, but I’m taking the view that 9/1 is a massive price. He is fit, coming into the race on the back of a career-best effort and is a horse who stays really well, which could prove decisive in the final couple of furlongs here as early-season legs tire. If he turns up in a similar vein of form as he did at Chepstow, I think he’ll do his connections very proud once again.
Southfield Vic was the best of these (2.50pm novices’ chase) over hurdles and could be top notch over fences, he certainly wouldn’t need to show that to win here, but all told his form isn’t overly intimidating. The Tourard Man is described by Alan King as “one of the toughest horses I’ve ever trained” and he too has some very smart hurdle form, His 3rd in the Pertemps Final at Cheltenham in March the pick of it. His 5th and 11th placed effort after that are far from as bad as they may seem and this likeable 9yo should make his presence felt on the back of a decent pipe opener at Chepstow last month. He is a two time point winner, so fences are nothing new to him, it’s just a case of whether he’s good enough to beat this lot. At 11/2 I’m willing to take a chance he is.
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