Road to the 2013 Gold Cup

Former Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Imperial Commander is reported to be on course for a return to action at Haydock in November.

The Nigel Twiston-Davies-trained 11-year-old claimed the blue riband when beating Denman by seven lengths at Prestbury Park in 2010, a race in which Kauto Star fell.
However, he has been off the track since being pulled up in last year's Gold Cup.
Ian Robinson, part of the owning Our Friends In The North syndicate, posted on imperial-horseracing.com: "Imperial Commander is making good progress to the extent that he will start to canter early next week.

"All being well the plan is to start off in the Betfair Chase at Haydock on 24 November - fingers and everything else crossed."
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Of the Gigginstown lot, I'd quite like to see First Lieutenant come over for the KG, especially given his preference for better ground. He's much more likely to get a surface approaching good at Kempton than in Ireland.

Sir Des Champs is not short of gears so would be another obvious candidate, and another whose best form has come on a sound(er) surface.
 
Ardross said:
What's the news on Ireland's answer to Monsignor - Weapon's amnesty ?
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Mark Pitman reports Mongisnor to be remarkably well forward for the time of year, and they're hoping to get him ready for the Charlie Hall.

"He may have lost a little of his old dash" said Pitman, "but he's never been better, and behaves like a yearling at home. He may be rising 19 now, but Sonny Somers was still going strong at 18, and he's got very few miles on the clock for a horse of his age. I think William Hill's quote of 50/1 for the 2013 Gold Cup is an insult."

Hills have since gone 33/1 after 'sustained support'.
 
Hunt Ball is interesting - went from 0/R 69 to O/R 164 (official mark O/R 157) IMO and improved every race - is there more to come? He will only be an 8yo and has had only 13 races under rules.
 
rorydelargy said:
Out of interest, where are you getting 164 from?
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I'm using the bunch finish for 2nd place in the Betfred Bowl at Aintree where he split the lightly raced but consitent Burton Port and Medermit - I know the form can be shot down with Follow The Plan winning at 50/1 and missing Cheltenham but I can't accept they all ran that much below par. The fact the time was very slow could explain the winner but the fact Hunt Ball was able to quicken up with the other two was also encouraging. At worst I would have him 157++ but again this is a personal opinion. I can't wait to see if there's more improvement in the locker.

You could also say Master Of The Hall ran his race - it was only his 4th race of the season and he was saved for Aintree and missed Cheltenham - I had him rated 153+ and he was 9L+ behind Hunt Ball.
 
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That Betfair Bowl reads like a ropey handicap rather than Grade 1 - I couldn't have much faith in the result myself. I don't think there's a horse to take out of the race, to be honest.
 
Grasshopper said:
That Betfair Bowl reads like a ropey handicap rather than Grade 1 - I couldn't have much faith in the result myself. I don't think there's a horse to take out of the race, to be honest.
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Riverside Theatre. I suppose taking him out of the race is pushing it but his run should be forgiven for sure.
 
I wouldn't be so certain. The last I heard was that he will be aimed at the King George and Gold Cup only. He enters considerations for both races at this stage as far as I'm concerned.
 
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At this stage, it might be helpful if I pointed-out that the list of horses I do fancy from last season is considerably shorter than the list of ones I don't. :)

The exploits of Sprinter Sacre (and Kauto's King George) apart, I found last season to largely be one of across-the-board averageness.

More fool me, perhaps. :cool:
 
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Some horses you know pretty quickly that what you have seen is what you are going to get but RT isnt one of those. Perhaps simply because he is so lightly raced but more way he has gone about things I wouldnt rule him out of staying the trip. I havent seen anything that suggests he certainly wouldnt stay
 
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I don't like any of his form from 22f up. That's enough for me
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Christ its two races, one a couple of years back and the other when he more than likely OTT. i couldnt rule out on that at all
 
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