14:20 Leopardstown

Can A Plus Tard bounce back?

The Savills Chase has attracted another high-class field and includes Cheltenham Gold Cup winner A Plus Tard who will bid to bounce back from a disappointing run in the Betfair Chase and reclaim this feature race that he won two years ago before he was narrowly denied last season.

Last season’s Gold Cup winner faces competition from Galvin, course-specialist Kemboy and a host of other high-class operators. He is the highest-rated of these still and, if anywhere near his best, would probably win this race for a second time.

He is currently 9/1 to retain his Gold Cup crown and if he wins here, he would certainly shorten in the ante-post markets. However, that’s an if, as he was very disappointing in the Betfair Chase last month, and although Henry de Bromhead put that down to an allergic reaction, he is more vulnerable in this race than the previous two years and he is worth opposing at the odds here.

Similar comments apply to Galvin, who beat the former in this last year, and was largely underwhelming on his return last time. He was sent off favourite to make a successful return in a Grade 1 but trailed home a distant fourth.

He needs to bounce back in order to go back-to-back in this race and while likewise to A Plus Tard holds a good chance of recapturing this race on his best form, neither appeal to me for this year’s renewal.

Kemboy has a decent chance

Kemboy (best price 11/1) has an excellent record at this course and in this very race, in which his form figures in this reads 1423. The last time the ten-year-old won, he claimed the Paddy Power Irish Gold Cup over track and trip and performs better here than anywhere else.

This is basically his Gold Cup and he ran very well when second at Down Royal last time when a place in front of Conflated who was making his reappearance. He would ideally be better suited to better ground but I still think he has excellent place claims at least again here.

Kemboy - 1pt e/w