Dunlop To The Double In The Chester Cup
May 6, 2008
Wednesday afternoon brings the running of the Chester Cup. This is a hugely competitive handicap run over 2m 2f furlongs so it requires horses that will stay the gruelling trip.
One such horse is last year’s winner Greenwich Meantime who is only 1lb higher than when winning this race 12 months ago from Fair Along. Greenwich Meantime has not run for 180 days, but this is a horse that normally runs well fresh. I feel that this year there are a lot more horses which are better handicapped and a lot of horses who are potential improvers and are more consistent.
Fair Along was second in this race last year behind Greenwich Meantime. This is another horse that was much better last year than this. He has been very disappointing over fences, more than 48 lengths behind Twist Magic and 35 lengths behind Master Minded. Also Fair Along runs off 10lb more than he ran off last year and this will greatly hinder his chances.
The Antepost favourite for this race is Highland Legacy which will be ridden by Jamie Spencer. This is a very well handicapped horse and has won its last 3 races including a facile win at Ripon over 2 miles, only a couple of weeks ago. This horse will stay and will act on the ground and must be high on the shortlist. Although Highland Legacy has won his last 3 races he has not beat very much so I would advise looking else where.
Missoula is an interesting contender and is great each way value at 14/1. Missoula demolition at York was very impressive. She beat Kayf Aramis by 13 lengths and will relish the forecast good to soft conditions. She has also won at Chester and will appreciate the extra two furlongs in this race.
Black Rock is another interesting contender hailing from Michael Jarvis’s yard. Just like Highland Legacy he has won 3 of his last 4 races. This including a cosy win at Ayr over 1M 5F last time out where he comfortably held off Sphinx. This is a fast improving horse and has been tried over a variety of distances normally around the 1M 2F to 1M 5F, but I think he will appreciate the step up in distance and he should stay. The only slight negative is that this horse is not greatly handicapped given his 3 wins have not been against very good opposition.
My idea of the winner is Double Banded. John Dunlop’s colt is well handicapped on 8’8 and is partnered by the very adept Kerrin Mcevoy. He’s very lightly raced and has only got into the race on the back of a 3lb penalty which he picked up for his recent win. Double Banded seemed at home on soft ground and won quite convincingly last time out at Nottingham over 1M 6F at Nottingham where he beat Tilt by 1 and ¼ lengths. He also won over 2miles where he beat Dr Sharp by 5 lengths. This step up to 2miles 2f will be ideal and this horse should go close.
Shipmaster seems a good bet. Came 6th, 5th, 4th, 3rd, 2nd and 1st in its last races according to sportinglife. Seems like its on a good roll.