Passage plunge makes perfect sense

The entries for the Arkle and RSA Chases released on Thursday made for interesting reading. No Zaarito in the novices speed championship on the Tuesday for example : that certainly raised a few eyebrows. Maybe it’s not the greatest shock though ; after all, Colm Murphy’s charge took a very heavy fall in the Irish equivalent and there is a suspicion that Cheltenham might not be his track. It’s not exactly looking like being a weak renewal either. Perhaps more surprising was the absence of Roberto Goldback’s name from the RSA list.

Jessie Harrington, whose team is clearly in great fettle at the moment, will no doubt have been thrilled to see how her seven year-old put a high-class field to the sword in a 2m5f Grade 2 at Leopardstown when she returned from her skiing holiday. However, although it appeared as though he was doing his best work at the finish that day, should he contest a top-level event at the Festival it will be the Arkle and you would have to think that he could struggle back over the minimum trip there given that all four of his career victories have come over further.

The RSA is also shaping up into a very hot contest, with Diamond Harry throwing his hat into the ring with an impressive debut success at Haydock and Nicky Henderson holding a very strong hand courtesy of Punchestowns and Long Run – both of whom are due to run again soon. Knight Frank Novice Chase 1-2 Pandorama and Weapon’s Amnesty are the pick of the Irish challenge according to the betting, but Uimhiraceathair could be an interesting dark horse depending on how he fares next time. The son of Old Vic certainly created a very good impression when scoring at Gowran Park on Thyestes day.

Bookmakers require little encouragement to shorten up horses for these big races, but at the same time it’s difficult to ignore the huge contraction in price of Rite Of Passage for the newly-titled Neptune Investments Novice Hurdle following his stylish jumps bow last Sunday. I had my doubts about how strong a race it was at the time, and the midweek defeat of Prince Of Fire – who beat runner-up Grey Soldier on his previous outing – raised further doubts. But, as the old saying goes, you can only beat what’s put in front of you – which Rite Of Passage did comfortably despite the unwelcome attentions of a loose horse – and when you look at the market for the 2m5f event where is the opposition going to come from? Quel Esprit will surely go for the Albert Bartlett, which is also the target for yesterday’s impressive winner Restless Harry and Tell Massini, after getting outpaced by Coole River at Leopardstown, Reve De Sivola likewise has the longer race as an alternative, and in his absence only Quantitativeeasing and Peddlers Cross would be of comparable ability on all known form. Either way it seems clear now that those who snaffled the 10/1 about Dermot Weld’s star are sitting on a value bet.

Categories: Horse racing