Energumene holds all the aces over Edwardstone ahead of Saturday’s Champion Chase dress rehearsal in the Clarence House at Ascot, writes Andy Holding.
When is the Clarence House Chase at Ascot?
The Clarence House Chase at Ascot is this weekend's marquee event (3:35 pm on Saturday) and it could see a clash between the big two players in the division, Energumene and Edwardstone.
Currently the top two in the Champion Chase betting (4/5 and 11/4 respectively), many will see this as a dress rehearsal for what will take place at the Cheltenham Festival in March and of the pair, the former seemingly holds all the aces at time of writing.
Read Architect Tips’ ante-post preview of the Champion Chase 2023.
Energumene eyes Clarence House redemption
Just touched off in the same race last year, there is a school of thought to say he might have won had he not raced on the slowest part of the track (inside) in the latter stages and he backed up that theory to gain revenge on his old rival Shishkin in the big one itself at Cheltenham two months later.
Already announcing himself as good as ever with a silky-smooth display of his seasonal bow at Cork, his preparations couldn't have gone any better and with ground conditions likely to be in his favour come the weekend, quotes around the 8/13 looks about right.
More insight available on this week’s Road to Cheltenham blog.
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Can Edwardstone contain the Irish raider?
In contrast, Edwardstone (6/4) has to dust himself off after coming a cropper in the Desert Orchid Chase at Kempton last time out and although it's highly unlikely the same will happen in successive races, it's still not ideal for his supporters.
The only one capable of living with Energumene at his best, he will need every aspect of his game to be firing on all cylinders to topple the Irish raider.
