i cant see binocular getting up the hill
, plus i cant see another five year old winning it. Celastial halo was hammered by binocular and only just beat a re-appearing osana who in fairness wasnt pushed by the jockey. Osana is a very good horse but preparation has been flawed.
My money will be on punjabi
who i hold in very high regard he came 3rd last year then won four in a row before falling at the last when he had the christmas hurdle in the bag. Nicky Henderson said that he would need the run last time so he will be perfectly fit and at 16/1 hes the e/w bet of the festival
Welcome to the forum RVW, I agree about Binocular not getting up the hill, but think you are leaning towards another horse who wont get up the hill, Punjabi came late last year in a slow race, this year is almost guaranteed to be a fast paced event, and punjabi is another speedster, in todays racing post Pipe even says that he is considering running Lough Derg, which if he did would be to set the race up for osana (and possibly unwittingly Celestial Halo). Whoever makes the running, I cant see it being another snail’s pace, and thus I cant see Punjabi placing with so many of the others who see the trip out so much better than him.
One thing to remember about Punjabi is that whatever he can do Binocular can do better, if everything goes in punjabis favour then binocular will already be about 10 lengths clear of him and not slowing.