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2025 Imperial Cup (Handicap Hurdle)

Ian_Davies

Ian_Davies

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28 entries for this historic 2m contest at Sandown Park on Saturday and I shall add a link to the price comparison web page at Oddschecker as soon as I can see it.

Knockanore (40/1 Eider, Maurice) and Booster Bob (SP 16/1 and goodness knows what earlier in the Greatwood, Barjon) were winners for these threads the last two Saturdays, so no pressure! 😂
 
Ian_Davies said:
Ante-post betting: https://www.oddschecker.com/horse-racing/ante-post-racing/national-hunt/imperial-cup/winner
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You're making me unpopular with Mrs O, Ian.

I usually wait until the final decs before doing these races but already I'm having my ear chewed, and not exactly in a style that would amount to foreplay, about studying the racing...

"Zat you bliddy intae thae hoarses again, ya useless fud?"

For those of you who missed Stanley Baxter's Parliamo Glasgow back in the 1970s, I can tell you this translates roughly into Received Pronunciation English as:

"I say, darling, are you researching the Sport of Kings's important event this Saturday by any chance?"

(She is Mary Doll to my Rab C Nesbitt.)

Anyway, I digress since I have one or two things to do before I get my nose into the form but, just looking at the card, a couple catch my attention for reasons that have nothing to do with racing.

One of the entries is Tom Doniphon and I will be looking for a reason to back it. I don't know if I've admitted it on here before, but I am a huge fan of John Wayne and, especially, his Westerns and one of my all-time favourite films is The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, co-starring James Stewart, Lee Marvin and the wonderful Vera Miles. Tom Doniphon sees John Wayne in one of his finest performances (imo) and this is one of my favourite scenes. The best bit starts just after the 2-minute mark:


Others of interest purely on account of their names are:

Knickerbocker Glory - Orchidette was, by the age of three, a very skilled eater of said ice cream treat in the local cafe.

Ooh Betty - because that was my M-i-L's name and we used to say it to her.

Norman Fletcher - The brilliant Ronnie Barker's character in Porridge.

Big Ginge - the nickname I had for a young woman I fell in love with when I worked in France (long before I was married, I should stress). She was very tall, very slim and had a shock of bright red frizzy hair. If you were behind her walking down the street you'd be forgiven for thinking you were following a giant Swan Vesta. (Just thinking of her again has me humming Sinatra's classic My Lean Baby**.)

Digression over. I'll get back when I've looked at the race in detail...


** For those unfamiliar with it:

 
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There are four other Saturday ante-post threads I could have created - and two of these are "4/1 the field" contests currently - but until MisterB creates a section where I can fly a kite by creating such threads and see if anyone is interested in them, I'll restrict these threads to stand-out races so they don't clutter up General Racing Topics.
 
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simmo said:
To Chase a Dream? :)
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I think a case can be made, that's for sure mate.

He might be better right handed, as with Carlisle. He had Hardy De Seuil 6 and a half lengths back in second place that day. Hardy then ran fifth at Windsor next time, only a nose behind the future Newbury handicap hurdle third. Navajo Indy. So the collateral form is strong.

He's closely matched with Bo Zenith on their Cheltenham run too.

Even the horse he was second to last time, Classic King, came out to be a good third the other day.
 
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I strongly expect Paul Kealy to put it up in his Weekender column on Wednesday although this afternoon's move might change his mind for him. He might think the value has gone.

When it disappointed at Newbury I started to wonder then if the Imperial Cup / County double was the aim. Certainly handicapped now for it to be a possibility.
 
From an initial glance the ones that I like at the top of the market are Bo Zenith and Wreckless Eric and at bigger prices I am interested in Knight of Allen and Sorcereur
 
On a point of handicapping there is only one winner of this race.

Go Dante won this off a 2lb higher mark last year and 20/1 earlier today was simply too big.

He's not been in the best of form so far this season, but I'd say he ran better than his finishing position suggested in the "Schweppes."

He was just making headway when clouting three out, then he was hampered at the last, yet he still finished 16.5l seventh to the thrown-in winner.

The yard could win a Grade 1 with a rabbit with tonsillitis and an anxiety disorder at the moment, that's what scintillating form they're in, and what beats Go Dante wins it in my book.
 
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I can totally see the case.

I said at the time a better run at Newbury in the 'Scweppes' would set him up nicely for another crack at this.

I don't necessarily think it will be a stroll for him, as his form this season overall hasn't been as good.

20/1 was a more-than-fair enough price to find out though.

We saw on Saturday Moroder win the Doncaster race again and Cracking Rhapsody in the Morebattle aswell.
 
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I must admit I took 16s earlier on go dante (win only) and I,like Ian,thought he ran better than his finishing position last time. The 2 bookies offering 20s I'd never heard of.
 
Copied from the longshot thread:

We're Red And Blue 20/1, 4 places - this is a hunch bet for now and I'm half-expecting it not even to run. However, here's my thinking:

The trainers have two in the race and the other has Kielan Woods booked and sits at 10/1 tops in the betting. It's possible the jockey arrangements will change by Saturday but maybe not. WRAB is a first-season novice, an ideal type for this race, and his only entry next week is the County which he's unlikely to get into even under a penalty but the penalty will certainly help is chances.

It's rated 120 but three runs back it beat Jet To Vegas which was raised to 137 after taking the decent televised novice hurdle at Kelso on Saturday. It pulled up next time due to a bleed from the nose and then came out and hacked up in a weak novices' race, thus preserving its mark. Assuming Lump Sum stands its ground it will have to run from out of the weights but they might then put up a smart claimer.

The JTV form shouldn't be taken at face value but it shows the kind of improvement these novices can make and the County entry suggests they like the horse.

Stranger things have happened.
 
Ian_Davies said:
On a point of handicapping there is only one winner of this race.

Go Dante won this off a 2lb higher mark last year and 20/1 earlier today was simply too big.

He's not been in the best of form so far this season, but I'd say he ran better than his finishing position suggested in the "Schweppes."

He was just making headway when clouting three out, then he was hampered at the last, yet he still finished 16.5l seventh to the thrown-in winner.

The yard could win a Grade 1 with a rabbit with tonsillitis and an anxiety disorder at the moment, that's what scintillating form they're in, and what beats Go Dante wins it in my book.
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Hear, hear. In the Welsh Champion Hurdle in October Go Dante was giving Lump Sum 5lbs and was beaten nearly six lengths. The race report said that he probably needed the run since he was said to be preparing for the Greatwood. It’s also worth noting that Lump Sum had been aimed for the race and won easily, presumably with much in hand. In Saturdays’s race Lump Sum, the favourite at the moment, has to give Go Dante 20lbs which is a 25lbs turnaround for a 6 length beating of a horse that needed the run by one who was spot on.
 
I can totally buy into Go Dante's claims.

But...

This was how they compared going into the Schweppes:


Horse​
OR​
MON
156+​
Notes​
Lump Sum​
144 ​
154​
p nov?​
Go Dante​
130 ​
?​
157​

So while GD is so much better off with LS his 3lbs lower mark will put him 4lbs in front of my 'target' figure for the race and normally that will make him of interest but in the actual race {Schweppes] Joyeuse exceeded that target by a lot more than 4lbs. There is more than a fair chance that a couple of Saturday's runners will also beat that target by more than 4lbs.

Caveat puntor.
 
In theory, on the basis of the WCH Go Dante should have been up with Lump Sum in the Schweppes. I don’t think he would have been, but he would certainly have been a lot closer without losing so much momentum after the last. Of course, seeing a handicap treat is one thing, seeing it come home is quite another :)
 

Free horse racing tips: Best Bets for Sandown and Wolverhampton on Saturday

Andrew Asquith has looked through the entries this weekend and has selected two bets at Sandown and Wolverhampton.
www.sportinglife.com www.sportinglife.com

Andrew Asquith from the Sporting Life is another in the Go Dante camp.

I was substituting my two new horses for my Tote Ten To Follows last night and realised I had Go Dante in my lists.

So it would be a good start for myself were he to do this, for the month of March of course, not the overall competition, which I have no chance in.
 
On a different tack there’s one that might be worth a watch. David Maxwell has got Just Ennemi from France and he’s with Harry Derham. Could be anything and presumably for the sporting gentleman to ride. French horses sometimes take a bit of time to acclimatise, but it’ll be interesting see how he goes thrown straight into this for his UK debut if he takes part. Might be one for the notebook.
 

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