In his second best bet in one of the championship Cheltenham Festival contests, Matty Sutcliffe has an early ante-post fancy for the Stayers’ Hurdle, available at 20/1.
Stayers Hurdle – Impose Toi 20/1 1pt EW 3 places
The Stayers’ Hurdling division has been yearning for some new faces for quite some time now as Teahupoo currently heads the betting for a fourth consecutive year. The son of Masked Marvel’s form figures in the race read 312, as he was just pipped on ground lively enough for him by the well backed other Robber horse in Bob Olinger, who took his record at the Festival to 111.
That pair are a year older now and perhaps vulnerable to any younger legs, though there’s much in betting to suggest who that may be. That was until IMPOSE TOI comfortably landed the Pertemps Network Handicap Hurdle at Aintree last Saturday.
The son of It’s Gino was a well backed winner for the column there, with the view that visually the step up in trip would match the belief it would suit based on his pedigree. He’s a half-brother to Floueur for Gordon Elliott whose peak RPR came over 3m4f, and progeny of It’s Gino have generally fared strongly over a trip with Datsalrightgino winning the Coral Gold Cup, Victtorino winning back to back Howden Silver Cup among multiple other winners over this trip.
Impose Toi jumped off in rear under Nico De Boinville and despite top weight and five omitted hurdles, he was still pulling double running around the last with the rest bang at work. It was pleasing to see him pick up sharply once pulled out for daylight, particularly given he was giving at least 12lbs to the field, with the right pair in the market finishing second and third.
Nicky Henderson didn’t immediately seem to think this was the type of horse to go on to graded contests, but I was surprised by such a comment as he’s evidently just posted a career best over a staying trip. He’s clearly a classy animal with career form figures of 11212112312421, backed up by his three-length third in the Coral Cup last season.
A mark of 153 would suggest graded contests will have to be on the agenda, for all he is entered in the Betfair Stayers’ Handicap Hurdle at Haydock in two weeks time and a revised mark of 153 doesn’t look all that beyond him for that race. Paisley Park won that contest off top-weight (rated 13lbs inferior to Impose Toi) in 2018 before winning the Long Walk, Cleeve Hurdle and the Stayers’ Hurdle, and I’d like to see Impose Toi given a similar campaign to brighten up what is otherwise a dull staying division.
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