Architect Tips reviews today's action at Sandown with an eye on potential market movers for the Cheltenham Festival.
Edwardstone romps to Tingle Creek success
Last season's Sporting Life Arkle hero Edwardstone returned with a bang in the Tingle Creek, as he pulled clear from last year’s winner Greaneteen to land a third Grade One success over fences. Alan King’s brilliant chaser was always travelling well and having cruised into contention to draw upsides the eventual runner-up two out, and he then booted clear to score by nine lengths under a confident Tom Cannon ride.
The favourite Shishkin travelled well for a long way but was brushed aside then the taps were turned on and was eventually well-held in third place. It was a first win in the race for Alan King though, who deserves plenty of credit considering he sent the Arkle winner for this race on the back of no prep-run and his dominant display has seen him slashed in the betting for the Champion Chase by most firms as he’s now installed as the 11/4 second-favourite with PaddyPower and BetFair from 16/1, which was quoted in this morning’s preview piece. He has to be considered a big player in the feature race on the third day at the Cheltenham Festival.
Authorised Speed survives final-flight blunder to book his ticket for the Tolworth Hurdle
Gary Moore’s Authorised Speed landed the odds in the Brian Giles Memorial “National Hunt” Novices’ Hurdle but isn’t without a brief scare at the last hurdle, where Jamie Moore did well to keep the partnership intact after his mount made a bad mistake before readily drawing clear to score by six-and-a-half-lengths. It was twelve months ago that this race won by Constitution Hill and this year’s Champion Bumper fifth, who had emphatically opened his account on his hurdles debut at Lingfield last month, was sent off the 1/3 favourite in the opener to remain unbeaten in this sphere.
As the race started to develop, it soon become apparent that Nicky Henderson’s Immortal was Authorised Speed’s only realistic danger but once the eventual winner started to kick clear of his opponents approaching the last hurdle, he gave the eventual runner-up a second chance when meeting the obstacle on the wrong stride in which he nearly threw Jamie Moore out of the side door on the landing side. However, Jamie gathered him up and he soon stretched clear to record a smooth success and he’s sure to improve going forward, especially in the jumping department, which he’ll need to do if he’s to be a big player next March.
His connections confirmed shortly afterwards that he will now be targeted at the Grade One Tolworth Hurdle and while no odds have been released yet for this race, we can assume he’ll be near the head of the betting once the declarations are released. Described by Jamie Moore afterwards that ‘he’s the best we’ve had since Goshen’ most bookmakers cut the winner to 25/1 from 33/1 for both the Supreme and the Ballymore and, if he can take the rise in class in his stride in the Tolworth, prepare to see his odds shorten again for one of these two possible assignments at Cheltenham.
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Jonbon sparkles in the Henry VIII Novices' Chase
The SportingLife Arkle favourite Jonbon, who was flawless on his chase debut at Warwick, was sent off a warm favourite and made all the running to record a second Grade One success of his career as he strolled home by an easy eight-lengths in the hands of Aidan Coleman.
Likewise to his impressive chase debut, he produced a fantastic round of jumping again and while Boothill valiantly gave chase and briefly closed down the winner approaching the second last, Jonbon went through the gears to pull away from his rival after the final fence to score easily and remain at the head of the betting in the Arkle market for the time-being.
On the back of that Grade One victory, most firms have cut him into 7/4 from 2/1 and I still think that is quite a fair price as he appears to have all the attributes to make his mark over fences in the two-mile chase division this season for trainer Nicky Henderson as he jumps well, travels well, has gears and undeniably has a lot more to come. He’s exciting indeed.
Noble Yeats enters the Gold Cup picture
Elsewhere, the defending Grand National champion, Noble Yeats, made a triumphant return to Aintree in the Boylesports Many Clouds Chase. Sent off a 3/1 chance, having been well-supported in the market beforehand, he was tracking the pace in third behind Ahoy Senor and Dashel Drasher and once Sean Bowen asked him to go about his business, he came alive and showed a brilliant turn of foot as he swept past the front pair on the run down to the final fence, who are very good horses, and cleared away to score by three-lengths plus.
A few firms such as Bet365, 888Sport and Coral shortened him into 12/1 from 25/1, while SkyBet and BetFair were even more impressed, cutting him into 10/1 from 25/1 for the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Based on that likeable display, he has to be considered a genuine contender but Emmet Mullins has left both options open as he could come back to try and repeat what Tiger Roll did in the National and potentially win it for the second consecutive year. If they do go for the Gold Cup, he’ll be looking to go one better than when Hedgehunter finished second to War Of Attrition in 2006, who claimed the National before an excellent second in the Gold Cup the following year.
