Available at up to 10/1
in the ante-post betting for the race – exactly
twice the odds of Silviniaco Conti who finished fifth, beaten 8
lengths behind him at Wetherby – Menorah demonstrated beyond any
doubt that he now stays three miles well, having been fast enough in
his youth to win the Grade 1 Supreme Novices Hurdle over the minimum
trip of two miles at the 2010 Cheltenham Festival. A consistently
high-grade performer, the Philip Hobbs-trained gelding also ran a
fine fifth to Hurricane Fly in the following year’s Champion
Hurdle, then a year later finished third behind the great Sprinter
Sacre in the Arkle Chase.
His four length defeat of the smart
Taquin du Seuil at Wetherby opened up a whole new range of options
for Menorah, who jumped impeccably and impressed his regular partner
Richard Johnson, a man who has always held the son of King’s
Theatre in high regard. Some will suggest that he may well have been
fitter than both Silviniaco Conti and Taquin de Seuil, but at current
odds there appears plenty of value in taking a chance on Johnson’s
judgement that his mount has finally found his trip and could be
worth following.
Silviniaco Conti, who won
the 2012 Betfair Chase when beating the former
Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Long Run, and was impressive when winning
the 2013 King George VI chase from old rival Cue Card, can be
expected to have improved for his first run of the term. The Nicholls
team has also hit top gear over the last week – they saddled five
winners on Saturday November 8 alone – so he should get much closer
to Menorah at a track that clearly suits him well.
There shouldn’t be much between him
and Cue
Card, winner of the Betfair Chase last season and who
clearly blew up on his reappearance run at Exeter recently in the
Grade 2 Haldon Gold Cup. Colin Tizzard’s stable star had appeared
to be going well approaching four out, but soon after began to toil
and was not knocked about in coming home a fairly distant fourth
behind God’s Own. He will be a different proposition at Haydock and
is very much respected.
Wetherby runner-up Taquin du Seuil,
winner of the Grade 1 JLT Novices’ Chase at the Cheltenham
Festival, is an interesting contender but may be a few pounds short
of the required standard at this stage of his career, while Dynaste
is another serious prospect, David Pipe’s charge,
winner of the Ryanair Chase last season and also runner-up in the
Betfair Chase earlier in the term, is a proper horse on his day and
invariably runs well fresh.