Sizing Still Looms Large
This week’s betting blog reviews the gambling and racing news from the 28th of November to the 4th of December.
A fairly mundane racing week kicked into life on Wednesday when Alan Kings’ Kumbeshwar made a winning start to his chasing career, jumping well throughout and coming gradually clear from three out to eventually win by an easy 8 lengths from Royale’s Charter. Kumbeshwar was one of the top novices over hurdles last season where he had tussles with the likes of Zarkandar and Grandouet amongst others; on this evidence he could well make a better chaser than hurdler. It will be interesting to see how far up the chasing ladder he can go with much sterner examinations on the horizon.
Later that day, the listed feature at Kempton saw an impressive win for the Ryan Moore-ridden Barbican. He has been progressing well in recent months and maintained his unbeaten record on synthetics with a comfortable 5 length victory. He is now reportedly being sent to Dubai for the carnival and it would be a surprise, given his current form, if he wasn’t to make his presence felt.
Exeter on Friday staged a class 2 Novice Chase which saw the first two home in the 2009 Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham reverse placings when Walkon defeated Zaynar to provide Alan King with his second high-profile novice chase victory of the week. Always highly-regarded by his handler, Walkon looks yet another intriguing candidate in what looks to be an outstanding crop of novice chasers this season.
The Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown on Saturday saw Henry De Bromhead’s Sizing Europe stake his claim to be the leading two mile chaser in the land. The nine year old showed he retains all the speed and class that carried him to victory in last season’s Champion Chase. He asserted from between the final two flights to come home 8 lengths clear from Paul Nicholls’ promising young chaser Kauto Stone.
On this evidence he remains the one to beat in the two-mile division and will take all the beating come Champion Chase day in March.
Punting High: Few and far between during a tough week for ‘The Judge’ but had a stroke of luck when, through the wonders of iPhone, managed to find a quiet corner in the church whilst attending a friends’ wedding. I followed a colleague’s advice and got on Mauricetheathlete at Chepstow.
Punting Low: Being convinced about Lady Gar Gar’s prospects at Wolverhampton on Thursday but being less convinced about her finishing effort.
