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Bigger entry here than I expected…..
https://www.racingpost.com/racecards/87/wetherby/2019-11-02/741091
https://www.oddschecker.com/horse-racing/ante-post-racing/national-hunt/charlie-hall-chase/winner
Top Ville Ben is the one for money so far. I’m glad someone is confident here, cause I’m struggling to take a string view at this stage.
My shortlist would be….
Definitly Red
La Bague Au Roi
Elegant EscapeThat’s the three I’d be looking at right now, with a nod to Molly The Dolly, who might be overpriced too.
This is never a big betting race for me, and that won’t be changing at the Antepost stage this year either.
Tough one to call.
La bague au roi for me if turning up, probably with a saver on definitely red given the stable form
Vindication is also entered in the Sodexo Gold Cup, but a best price of 12/1 could be worth taking. Elegant Escapes is fav at the moment best price of 4/1 and already jockeyed by Tom O’Brien so their entry is serious, while the consistent La Bague Au Roi is also worth considering. Definitly Red is best in small fields so if the field cut up, could be worth a saver.
You've got to accentuate the positive.
Eliminate the negative.
Latch on to the affirmative.
Don't mess with mister in between.La Bague Au Roi should be 3/1 or thereabouts with her fresh record, ground looking decent and it’s not the greatest of renewals TBH. I’ve had a decent swing at the 5/1.
Tbh with her wins over lostintranslation, topofthegame and santini looking very very strong form given what they did at Cheltenham and aintree I’d argue even 3/1 is generous
I took some of that 5/1 too Kev. Absolutely agree that she ought to be around 5/2 – 3/1.
I’ve also doubled her with Paisley Park for the Stayers Hurdle
I joined in with La Bague Au Roi here. Looked it over again, and if all is ok after her exploits in Ireland, then she should be hard to beat though.
Think Definitly Red in particular will give a good showing.
The question is how fit will some of them be , I’d reckon this maybe definetly red,s gold cup while the likes of elegant escape and la bague au roi will be aimed at bigger prizes further down the line , saying that if elegant escape is to head towards the gold cup he needs to be winning a graded race sooner or later …….if he was mine it would be grand national all day long
Elegant escape is a tug boat
Needs 5 miles
Like VTC I see definitely red as the main danger to la bague au roi
That stable form cant be ignored
Greatrex is reportedly now pondering the wisdom of running La Bague Au Roi in taxing ground on Saturday.
Even if she runs it’ll be a watching brief for me. I loved her last year and was convinced she’d be the best chase mare since Dawn Run. But I’d bet something went wrong with her on that Irish trip. She never travelled with her customary zest in that race and won it on guts. Johnson reportedly got off and the first thing he said to Greatrex was ‘No Cheltenham’.
She looked dull too at Aintree and again just her courage kept her in it. To my eye she was a different horse to the one who smashed them up at Kempton.
I hope she is over whatever was ailing her. She is a hell of a sight on song and I’ve no doubt she could win a Gold Cup if she could recapture her early chase form. I’ve an awful feeling Greatrex made a big mistake running her in Ireland. That race has thrown up just 2 winners from 13 runs.
Id take the EW bet on JETT 14/1. He looked good in that 3 mile chase at Punchestown and finished really well. Better class here of course, But like someone said, fitness could be key? and it was the key in that last race for him. I thought at the time jett looked a different animal at 3
Greatrex is reportedly now pondering the wisdom of running La Bague Au Roi in taxing ground on Saturday.
Where’s it say this?
Twitter: Jackh1092
Hindsight is 20/20 so make the most of it!What greatrex said
“We’re quite pleased Bristol De Mai wasn’t in but my slight concern would be the ground regarding the issue they’ve had down the back straight – I don’t want to give her a real hard race if it’s on tacky ground but the Charlie Hall is her first option.
“At the moment she’s right where we want her. There’s every chance she will tighten up and improve for the run but she has got a good record first time out. She’s ready to go and is in as good form as I’ve ever had her. Hopefully she can build on last year and have a really good season.”
What the Clerk of the course said
“It is still soft, good to soft in places. We’ve got bright blue skies today and similar weather for tomorrow, then we’ll get cloud on Wednesday and it’ll warm up a bit.
Unless we get a deluge, which we aren’t forecast, I doubt the ground will get any easier so it might even go back to good to soft, soft in places but I would expect it to remain as it is.”
Think Aso is interesting as all his winning has come on ground ranging from good to soft all the way through to heavy – ran a personal best to finish 2nd in the Ryanair to Frodon and may have a little too much pace for some of these. I would have been interested in Black Corton but for the fact that a lot of Nicholls have been needing their 1st runs quite badly and he hasn’t run since the Galway Plate in July.
Everything about EE tells you he will invariably be outpaced at a vital stage of the race (especially on this track) and will stay on to be closest at the finish (having said that now watch him go and smash them Saturday lol) – this run will put him spot on for the Welsh National, which given the likely deep going will be tailor made for him especially given that the race is now almost 1F longer with an extra fence to jump.
The favourite for me I am not too sure that 3m on soft ground really plays to her strengths unless she gets an easy lead – the more a test of stamina it becomes the more vunerable I think she will be especially on her first run where she might be a bit fresh.
Jack, I think that Joe may have been referring to this interview which was in
the racing Post on Sunday …………..Greatrex said: “We’re quite pleased Bristol De Mai wasn’t in but my slight concern would be the ground regarding the issue they’ve had down the back straight – I don’t want to give her a real hard race if it’s on tacky ground but the Charlie Hall is her first option.
The ground was waterlogged on the back straight when the drainage dykes burst their banks,
but according to the Clerk Of The Course it is draining well and although soft (Sunday’s report)
he thought it may improve to good to soft, soft in places. I think he, as we’ve grown accustomed
to with Clarks Of The Course, is being a bit optimistic as there is a fair bit of rain forecast
for Fri/Sat.There’s no doubt LBAR has the form to take this if all is well, and if he is fully (or nearly)
wound up, and if the conditions are acceptable to Greatrex, but it does leave a little doubt.
I’m inclined to take a chance with Molly The Dolly at 14/1 with Bet365. She has run well enough on heavy, and Dan Skelton mentioned in his stable tour some time back that
this was the intended target. She is clearly progressing, and won very nicely last time out in
the Novices’ Champion Handicap Chase at Ayr. She wont be 14s if she runs, and if for whatever
reason LBAR doesn’t turn up I reckon she would be no better than 5/1, perhaps less.I see you beat me to it with the update form Greatrex FF, I hadn’t seen your post before I
pressed the button to send my post off.
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