Savills Chase 2022

There is no doubt Leopardstown’s four-day Christmas Festival is amongst the best meetings of the Irish National Hunt season and the headline act is the Grade 1 Savills Chase over three-miles. 

Formerly known as the Lexus Chase before the sponsorships changed hands, this race has been won by some of the greats in the sport and whoever adds their name to the roll of honour in this year’s renewal is sure to shape up the ante-post markets for the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March. 

Who is the favourite for the Savills Chase? 

Given its lofty stature and the fact that the race has predominantly been a good trial for the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March, the 2020 winner and defending Gold Cup champion A Plus Tard is at the head of the ante-post market at 6/4 and will bid to bounce back from an uncharacteristic defeat at Haydock last time. 

A brilliant winner of the Betfair Chase last year, when winning by 22 lengths, he was unsurprisingly a short price to win the race for a second consecutive year this time round. However, the writing was on the wall a long way from home as he never travelled or jumped well as he often does and was eventually pulled up in the home straight.

That was the first real sign of a crack in his armour as he had yet to finish out of the frame in his 14 starts beforehand since joining Henry de Bromhead’s team. 

Nothing came to light as to why he underperformed until a travel-related illness was identified as the reason behind his poor showing but even so, he’s still favourite to regain his crown in the Savills here and some critics have already asked the question as to why that is? 

Well, firstly this race has provided a grandstand finish in recent seasons and it’s worth recalling that A Plus Tard overhauled both Kemboy and Melon within the shadows of the pose having traded 100+ on the exchange at one point two years ago. 

12 months on and it was Galvin who caught A Plus Tard in the final few strides, while Delta Work beat Monalee by a head in the 2019 version of the race. 

Clearly, this race is never as straightforward as some might seem, especially in regards to a favourite, as we have only seen one winning favourite since Tidal Bay produced a power-packed late surge under the guidance of Ruby Walsh to take the spoils a decade ago. The horse who justified favouritism in this 10-year period was Don Poli in 2015. 

A breath-taking winner of the Gold Cup in March earlier this year, A Plus Tard undoubtedly had an “off-day” at Haydock last-time-out but theoretically, he is still top of the official ratings amongst the intended runners at 180 and is has 12Ib and upwards in hand on his rivals here with Minella Indo his nearest pursuer on 168, so it’s no surprise he is still favourite, especially with his record at the course reading two wins and a second from three starts. 

The only reason to oppose him would be because of his latest rare below-par effort last time which was put down to travel-related illness, otherwise, he still remains the one to beat plus there isn’t any doubt he would be trading a lot shorter for this race if he had made a successful return last time. 

It would be great to see him bounce back to his best which would be enough to see him go close in this again and if you can forgive him for last time, he would appeal to a lot of punters but can you put all of your eggs into one basket and trust in him after that display? I am not sure as he has questions to answer and better value might be elsewhere in this year’s field. 

Galvin and Conflated head Gordon Elliott team

With some big names set to be scattered across the four-day meeting by the Cullentra handler, A Plus Tard could be set to face the horse who conquered him last year, Galvin, who’s available at 7/1, while the latter could be joined by stablemate Conflated (second favourite at 11/4), who bolted up in the Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown last season. 

He could only finish 3rd on his return at Down Royal last time when Galvin was only 4th in the same race but both are expected to improve for the run. Galvin scoped dirty after Down Royal but is reported to be back in good nick now and will potentially try to repeat last year’s heroics in the race plus Conflated will bid to add to his big win at this course last season too. 

With Davy Russell announcing his retirement earlier this week, Jack Kennedy will have a tough decision to make as to whether he will ride last year’s winner Galvin or Irish Gold Cup winner Conflated, who have both won the big races over course-and-distance. If both turn up, we can expect them both to be at peak-fitness and are huge dangers to the favourite. 

Kemboy back for more 

Willie Mullins is likely to supplement course-specialist Kemboy (10/1), and could bid to regain his title that he won in 2018. The 10-year-old stole the show that day, winning by seven-lengths, and has been 4th, 2nd and 3rd in the last three renewals of the race, beaten under a length in the last two.

This race clearly brings out the best in him as he performs better here than anywhere else and his record over track and trip is quite remarkable too. He ran a very fine race to finish second to Envoi Allen last-time-out in a Grade 1 which suggested the fire still burns in his belly and Willie has no doubt targeted him at this race again.  

This is technically his “Gold Cup” and while a trip to the Cheltenham Festival might not be on the agenda this season, he will be entering familiar territory back at Leopardstown. 

Even though he’s likely to be the second-string for the stable, his current odds of around 10/1 significantly underestimates his chances once again here. He has excellent place claims at least. 

Stattler a big player if declared 

The Willie Mullins-trained Stattler has yet to make his eagerly-awaited return and had the option of returning in the John Durkan. However, he wasn’t declared in the final declarations for that race and it is possible we will see him line-up here instead, for which he’s available at 7/2 with most firms. 

Since being beaten by Galopin Des Champs over hurdles, he has improved enormously since switching to fences and his jumping was electric in the National Hunt Chase at the Cheltenham Festival. He showed plenty of speed and stamina to win easily and those two attributes are exactly what is required to enter the Gold Cup reckoning in March as he possesses both in buckets. 

A trip to the Grand National could be on the cards but his owners might be tempted by the Gold Cup route and it would come as no surprise were he to take up this engagement as the same owners, coincidentally, won this last season with Galvin, who went onto finish 4th in the Gold Cup. 

He is a perfect three-from-three over fences and the ceiling of the seven-year-old’s ability is far from reached with further improvement to come. He surely has to be considered a strong candidate for Willie Mullins if his participation is confirmed plus Paul Townend is will probably ride him as well. 

 

Savills Chase Ante-Post Tips

The Cheltenham Gold Cup has a wide-open feel about this season and the Savills Chase is likely to prove informative with a view to the big one in March.

A Plus Tard and Conflated head the ante-post market for the race and would have obvious claims if able to produce their best but that is an “if” as they both tasted defeat last time and, with this in mind, I much prefer the chances of STATTLER (best price 7/2) for the Willie Mullins team. 

This seven-year-old established himself as a possible top-class staying chaser going forward, who’s unbeaten in three starts over fences and produced a career-best performance when easily brushing aside Run Wild Fred in the National Hunt Chase at the Cheltenham Festival earlier this year. 

He appears to have all the ingredients to develop into Gold Cup material and while he would be conceding fitness to most of the opposition, improvement is to come and he appeals most at the odds for the Savills. I recommend backing him for this race at 7/2 and for the Cheltenham Gold Cup, each-way at 16/1.

From an each-way perspective for the Savills, look no further than stablemate KEMBOY (best price 10/1), who has an excellent record at Leopardstown, especially in this race with his form figures reading 1423 and has ultimately been aimed at this race again by his masterful handler. 

He loves the nature of this race and has been a tad unfortunate not to win this three times having gone close the last two year’s following an easy success in it four years ago.

This is the 10-year-old’s Gold Cup and although there are potential improvers in the field, it would come as no shock to see him make the frame once more.