Oddschecker punters are piling in on the Willie Mullins superstar for Saturday's Grade 1
There has been strong market support for Douvan in Saturday’s Tingle Creek as expectations grow that the Rich Ricci seven-year-old will travel over from Ireland after he was one of 11 runners declared for Sandown’s Grade 1 Chase.
Previously unbeatable before suffering a shock defeat in the Champion Chase at Cheltenham last season, the eight-time Grade 1 winner looks set to make his first start since he was subsequently found to have suffered a small stress fracture.
As big as 5/2 in the market just a few weeks ago, the market vibes have been strong for the last seven days as the former Arkle Chase winner has been cut into 8/11 with some firms (best price 5/6).
In total, over the last 48 hours Douvan has accounted for 64.12% of all ante-post bets on the race, well clear of the second monst popular horse on the list Politlogue on 12.94% and main market rival Fox Norton on 8.24%.
Mullins has already overseen the return of one of his stable stars from a long absence with Faugheen winning the Morgiana Hurdle at Punchestown off the back of a 655 day lay-off. His performance that day had punters lumping on the nine-year-old for the Champion Hurdle in March and a smart performance on Saturday could see a similar story. Douvan is currently 3/1 for the Queen Mother Champion Chase behind last season’s star novice Altior at 7/4, who himself has had his own injury concerns.
Oddschecker spokesperson George Elek: "Fans are making a huge leap of faith to back Douvan at odds-on for the Tingle Creek, but sounds coming from the Willie Mullins camp are that the star chaser is back to his imperious best. If that is the case, the 5/6 on offer could be the biggest price about Douvan for quite some time."
