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By Dylan Jenear ValueChecker
Binocular Sights Set on Christmas Hurdle at Kempton
23/12/10
Binocular, winner of last season’s Champion Hurdle, will continue his preparation to retain his crown at the Cheltenham Festival in March by running in the Williamhill.com Christmas Hurdle at Kempton on Boxing Day.
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The Nicky Henderson-trained gelding folded rather tamely at the business end of the race when beaten over seven lengths into third behind Peddlers Cross in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newbury last month. He was well held in that race last season, too, before finishing third in the 2009 renewal of the Christmas Hurdle.
Binocular has proven in the past that he can go well fresh, so it’s probably unwise to assume that he needs a run or two before coming to the boil. Conversely, it could be that Henderson simply fine-tuned his training regime last term to get him to Cheltenham at his peak and, chances are, the six-year-old will be below his very best again on Sunday. Bookmakers appear to have factored this into the mix, as the son of Enrique is available at 2-1 at the time of writing.
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The ground is currently described as ‘good’ at the Sunbury venue and, providing conditions don’t deteriorate markedly ahead of Boxing Day, I believe that the Key Of Luck gelding’s potent turn-of-foot will make him tough to beat, especially with a strong pace virtually guaranteed with the likes of Barizan and Overturn likely to go to post. The 10-3 on offer with William Hill about Starluck is very appealing (VC bet go 5-2, which is more reflective of the five-year-old’s prospects).
Overturn shouldn’t be underestimated. The hard-pulling and sketchy hurdling which blighted him initially in this sphere is very much a thing of the past, and he was highly progressive over hurdles during the 2009/10 campaign. He landed a valuable handicap off a mark of 145 at the Galway Festival in July and, on the proviso that he and Barizan don’t cut each other’s throats by going off like scolded cats, I won’t be surprised if Donald McCain’s representative is bang there at the finish.
Another second-season hurdler that interests me is Escort’men. The French-import, trained by Paul Nicholls, was sent off at 16-1 in a Grade 2 novices’ event here in February, but won hard held. He was too keen at the Aintree Grand National meeting next time, but settled well on his return to action when landing a handicap at Chepstow in October. He was conceding at least 10lb to his rivals that day, and it was a competitive heat, so he has to be taken seriously with the prospect of more to come.
Khyber Kim is the second highest-rated horse of the 10 entries. Runner-up to Binocular in the Champion Hurdle, Nigel Twiston-Davies’ charge went on to land the Aintree Hurdle in fine style a month later. However, while I like Khyber Kim a lot – he’s a tough and genuine performer – I very much doubt that, even with the prospect of a very strong end-to-end gallop, 2m around Kempton will be a sufficient stamina test for him. Furthermore, he is conceding race-fitness to his rivals, so I’m inclined to lay the eight-year-old at around the 7-2 mark.
Recommendation: Starluck (back at 10-3 with William Hill);
Khyber Kim (lay at around 3.50)
