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Betfair Chase |
Barbers Shop to be Considered for Betfair Chase
29/10/09
This year’s £200,000 Grade One Betfair Chase could meet with the royal seal of approval with the Queen’s Barbers Shop under consideration for the prestigious three-mile contest, highlight of racing at Haydock Park on Day One of the Northwest Racing Masters, Saturday, November 21.
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The seven-year-old chaser was second to subsequent Ryanair Chase winner Imperial Commander on his seasonal return last year in the Grade Three BetVictor Gold Cup at Cheltenham in November before going on to a facile victory in a Listed Intermediate Chase at Sandown the following month.
He ended his campaign with a respectable seventh behind Kauto Star on his first appearance in Grade One company in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Sir Michael Oswald, racing manager for The Queen’s Jump horses, reported: “We will certainly think about giving Barbers Shop an entry in the Betfair Chase. He has also been entered in the Paddy Power Gold Cup and the Hennessy but, realistically, he might be too highly rated to run in handicap company. He would be giving lumps of weight away and it could be wiser to go for more open races like the Betfair Chase.
“From what he has done so far in his career, you wouldn’t see him threatening the likes of Kauto Star. I was worried about running him in the Cheltenham Gold Cup last year because there have been so many horses who experience a tough race at Cheltenham and never come back.
“But he didn’t really get involved in a hard finish - he ran well and jumped the course beautifully - and Barry (Geraghty) said that he wasn’t quite strong enough yet. He’s only seven and I would hope that, by getting a little bit stronger, he would be that much better.
“He has got an awful lot of promise over fences and it is just a question of how much improvement has come from a summer of strengthening up. Everything looks good at the moment - he is moving good, working well - but it’s hard to tell how good he is unless we test the water against the very top chasers.
“I think that the best plan is to enter him for all of the top races, see how they look, and then eventually we will have to go for one. We will have to bite the bullet at some point and see how good he is.”
This year’s Betfair Chase looks set to be another top-quality renewal, with the likes of Kauto Star, successful in the 2006 & 2007 Betfair Chase, Imperial Commander, Nacarat and last year’s winner Snoopy Loopy all set to meet at Haydock Park. A superb seven-race card also includes the £100,000 Listed Timeform Betfair Racing Club "Fixed Brush" Handicap Hurdle and the £50,000 Tune Into Timeform Radio Hurdle.
Entries for the Betfair Chase close next Tuesday, November 3.
The second day of the Northwest Racing Masters at Aintree on Sunday, November 22, features the £100,000 Listed totesport.com Becher Handicap Chase, which gives horses the chance to race over the Grand National Course.
Somerset trainer Bob Buckler sees the three and a quarter-mile contest as the ideal opportunity for The Sawyer to stake his claim for the John Smith’s Grand National. The nine-year-old landed a Grade Three handicap chase at Cheltenham in January before falling at the last when lying sixth on his debut over the formidable National fences in the John Smith’s Topham Chase on April 3,
He went on to post two solid efforts in the space of three days at the Punchestown Festival, including when taking second behind J’y Vole in a two and a half mile handicap chase.
Buckler revealed: “The Sawyer would need to be a bit higher in the handicap to be guaranteed a run in the John Smith’s Grand National and the totesport.com Becher Chase could be on the agenda for him .
“He’s a big, burly horse and I might just be a bit too easy on him at home - He actually looked half-fit having run twice at the Punchestown Festival!
“He was still going well when he fell in the last in the John Smith’s Topham Chase and it was just one of those silly mistakes. He might have been getting a bit tired but he seemed to take to the fences there and I would like to see him go over them again.”
Aintree’s six race card also includes the £70,000 totesuper7 Grand Sefton Handicap Chase, run over two miles and five furlongs of the Grand National Course, as well as the £30,000 Best Odds Guaranteed At totesport.com Handicap Hurdle.
