Go Conquer heads the betting in the market and is respected to put in a career best in the Silver Cup at Ascot. He does need to improve for the longer trip of 3m, and must beat a number of horses with superior chasing form already in-the-bag.
He is favourite on the basis of his second to subsequent graded winner Present Man with the booking of the champion jockey also drawing in the punters. That has made him a poor looking betting proposition at a best-priced 5/1 as he looks to deny a modest 4lb rise.
The Druid’s Nephew looks well-treated on his best form and will get his favoured ground. And although they are positives, connections may have their sights set on other matters again this season, and he hasn’t always consistently run well fresh off a significant break. His price is tempting and a bet on this nine-year-old would not be misguided.
However, another horse returning to chasing action is IRISH SAINT, who put in an excellent comeback run over hurdles after a 582 day break to finish fifth of thirteen in a 3m 1f Listed event.
He travelled well for the most part in his hurdle reappearance and his opening handicap mark of 150 looks manageable for a horse that has smart novice form (season before last). A fourth to Vautour in the JLT Novice Chase, and a third in a Mildmay at Aintree represent two solid Grade 1 performances.
We are yet to see him win over the three mile trip, but has run well enough on the previous two attempts. Irish Saint has bolted up twice on his last two starts at Ascot so he certainly thrives around this course and trainer Paul Nicholls is expecting him to put in a big run.
The other one we like is EDUARD who remains lightly-campaigned for an eight-year-old. He made his comeback appearance in a Grade 2 over a 2m 5f race at this track where he shaped quite well, before hitting a flat patch during the middle of the race.
He pinged the last couple of fences that day before staying on strongly on the flat to finish a two and a half length fourth to Royal Regatta. There is a fair chance he got just outpaced over that trip, and the step up to 3m could be what he is crying out for at this stage in his career after proving he still retains plenty of ability.
The Tingle Creek third God’s Own, and highly rated chaser Kylemore Lough (who ran well last week at Cheltenham) finished in between, so that looks like solid graded form. His previous chase start in 2015 was at The Festival and featured a career-best fourth in the Ryanair Chase so we know Eduard has the quality.
Eduard’s chasing mark is 8lbs lower than his previous high of 159 raced over at the Cheltenham Festival and is 4lbs lower than his return, which makes him look very attractive from a handicapping perspective, and his connections clearly fancy their chances of landing this prize.
The step up in trip is a slight unknown, but he has done all his best work at the end of his races, and has plenty of staying-chase pedigree in his family including Grand National winner Monty’s Pass for further encouragement that he can improve for this distance.
1pt win Eduard @8/1, 15:00 Ascot Saturday
1pt win Irish Saint @8/1, 15:00 Ascot Saturday
PaddyPower is offering 8/1 on both selections and a MBS if you finish 2nd to the SP favourite.
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