Betfair Chase tips for Saturday’s Grade 1 at Haydock from Architect, including an in-depth look at the race’s four declared runners.
15:00 Haydock
The Betfair Chase at Haydock on Saturday is set to be a high-class and hugely informative contest and is recognised as the first Grade 1 Chase of the season.
The race is often used as a stepping stone towards a potential tilt at the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March and is the first installment of the modern-day Stayers’ Chase Triple Crown.
The Triple Crown was first formed in 2005. Any horse that is able to win this race, the King George VI Chase and the Cheltenham Gold Cup will earn a £1 million bonus.
Kauto Star remains the only horse able to achieve this feat, having claimed all three major wins in the 2006–07 season.
Paul Nicholls’ stable star Bravemansgame heads the confirmed field of four and will attempt to complete the famous treble this season. Last year’s winner Protektorat, Haydock specialist Royale Pagaille and Grand National hero Corach Rambler complete the quartet.
Let’s take a closer look at this year’s Betfair Chase runners and try to identify the winner with a potential bet.
Bravemansgame vs Protektorat – Andy Holding & Steve Ryder Verdict.
2023 Betfair Chase Runners & Riders
Bravemansgame
- Trainer: Paul Nicholls
- Jockey: Daryl Jacob
- Form: 11232
- Odds: 10/11
A three-time winner at the highest level, last season’s King George winner established himself as the best staying chaser in Britain when he finished runner-up to Galopin Des Champs in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
This top-class eight-year-old will be fitter from his pleasing return at Wetherby, where he travelled beautifully throughout before he was overhauled in the closing stages by the race-fit winner, who was in receipt of 6Ib.
This will, however, be the quickest turnaround he has had in his career, so unless the ground dries out, the soft ground will really test his stamina limitations.
Conversely, though, his connections would not be running him so soon after his marginal Wetherby defeat without good reason, and his generally consistent jumping could prove a real asset around a course that often favours the best jumper in the field.
The fact that Harry Cobden, who has ridden him in all his 18 previous starts, heads to Ascot instead certainly doesn’t diminish his chances. Daryl Jacob is an excellent substitute in the saddle who is seeking a fourth win in the race, while Paul Nicholls has won this six times in his training career, making him the most decorated trainer in the history of this illustrious Grade 1 event. Despite his skinny odds, he will be hard to beat.
Corach Rambler
- Trainer: Lucinda Russell
- Jockey: Derek Fox
- Form: 154115
- Odds: 9/1
Lucinda Russell's charge is a two-time Cheltenham Festival winner who recorded back-to-back wins in the Ultima Handicap at the Festival and returned as an impressive winner of the Grand National in April.
In all three of those triumphs, he has beaten a huge quantity of rivals (85 in total), and the way he can jump and travel at a fast pace has really seen him excel in this sphere.
The form of his second Ultima win at the Festival earlier this year was endorsed by the runner-up, Fastorslow, who improved beyond all recognition to return a shock winner of the Ladbrokes Punchestown Gold Cup, beating the Gold Cup first and second, Galopin Des Champs and Bravemansgame.
He turned in a downcast performance on his seasonal reappearance at Kelso when last of the five completed field, but he’s needed his first run of the campaign, given he has now been beaten first-time out in each of the past three seasons, with the exception of his debut.
If Cheltenham Gold Cup ambitions are to materialise, he will need to pull out a new personal best. Not only does he have a lot to find on official ratings, taking on rivals rated 166 and 170 with himself rated 159, but also prove he has the capabilities in this grade.
It would be foolish to rule out further improvement, and he could get involved if that’s the case, given stamina and mostly accurate jumping, which is very much his forte.
Protektorat
- Trainer: Dan Skelton
- Jockey: Harry Skelton
- Form: 134145
- Odds: 9/4
The defending champion. His absence won’t be of concern given that he won this race in great style 12 months ago by 11 lengths. In his previous seasonal reappearance, he was marginally beaten into second in the Paddy Power Gold Cup when tasked with top-weight, and his first-time-out record reads 22121.
He might have been slightly flattered by the proximity between himself and the winner, though, given that the winner, Midnight Shadow, stumbled badly at the final fence when clear. He is effective on soft ground; he has finished third and fifth in the last two Cheltenham Gold Cups, and this has been the plan, so he has obvious claims.
That said, the form of his win in this race last year looks questionable, as three-time winner Bristol De Mai was nearing the end of his career and the favourite, A Plus Tard, ran an absolute stinker when pulled up. Another monition is the stable's current form, as Dan Skelton’s stable is still struggling for winners at present.
Royal Pagaille
- Trainer: Venetia Williams
- Jockey: Charlie Deutsch
- Form: 25526F
- Odds: 7/1
This 10-year-old doesn’t have the best of records at the highest level, which reads 625526, but one thing he does have is vital course form.
His record over fences at this venue reads 1121, and his only defeat came in this race two years ago behind former Gold Cup winner A Plus Tard, where he encountered ground far too fast and suffered a wound in the interim.
His back-to-back wins off top-weight in the Grade 2 Peter Marsh Chase over course and distance are high-quality pieces of form, plus he ran a good race in the King George when second to Bravemansgame, albeit beaten 14 lengths.
Still, there were encouraging signs in that outing, and although he fell when last seen in the Irish National, he has been given plenty of time to recover.
Most evidence suggests he is just below Grade 1 level, but he does have two Grade 1 runner-up efforts to his name and has finished sixth and fifth, respectively, in the last two editions of the Gold Cup at Cheltenham.
The stable's good form can be recognised as a positive, so while a new career-best is required to improve on his second from two years ago, it would be dangerous to completely rule him out.
2023 Betfair Chase Tips & Prediction
Despite just the four runners for this year’s renewal, there’s serious depth to the contest as all of them are high-class horses, and we should be in for a treat.
Last year’s winner Protektorat will be raring to go, but even with his preferred soft ground and proven course and distance form, I just get the feeling BRAVEMANSGAME (best price 13/8 with Betway) will have his measure again and land the spoils.
This might at first glance seem like Plan-C, but Paul Nicholls clearly feels this is winnable, and the King George winner was well in front of Dan Skelton’s charge when the pair finished second and fifth in the Gold Cup in March.
The ground is currently described as soft, and the forecast suggests the weather will be dry throughout Friday and Saturday. This can only benefit the eight-year-old, who also has the beating of Royale Pagaille, while Corach Rambler has plenty to find on ratings.
I have no qualms if this turned into a stamina test, as he proved in the Gold Cup he stays further, and in all fairness, he was going to beat L’Homme Presse in the King George fair and square anyway without that rival's departure.
I have no doubt he is a better horse than Royale Pagaille, while Dan Skelton’s current form is a concern in regards to the defending champion, so the likelihood is that Paul Nicholls’ high-class participant will get a soft lead.
Three-time winning jockey of the Betfair Chase Daryl Jacob is booked to ride, who is a perfect substitute for regular rider Harry Cobden, and this multiple Grade 1 winner can showcase his qualities in Merseyside by handing the champion trainer a record-breaking seventh win in the feature.
