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First Season Chasers Making a Big Impression Just by taking a look at the antepost betting market for the Arkle Trophy and the RSA Chase for the Cheltenham Festival allows us to note how competitive the Novice chasing division is this season and just how many potentially top class first season novice chasers are currently making an impression in Jumps Racing. The Arkle and the RSA Chase are effectively championship races for Novices, which are run over two miles and an extended three miles respectively. The usual trend is for is for those acquitting themselves well in the Arkle being aimed ultimately at the Queen Mother Champion Chase the following year as well as other chases over the minimum trip, such as the Grade 1 Tingle Creek and Victor Chandler chases. Those horse with a little more stamina that are campaigned towards the RSA are usually considered potential Gold Cup horses with races such as the Betfair Chase, the King George Chase and the Cheltenham Gold Cup obvious future targets after their Novice year. The trends for these two feature Novice races don't always follow but recent Arkle winners, such as Voy Por Ustedes, Azertyuiop, Moscow Flyer, Flagship Uberalles and more recently Sizing Europe have all gone on to become the champion two miler in the National Hunt. The RSA however has not enjoyed the same amount of success, with only Denman in 2007, Garrison Savannah in 1991 and Arkle himself back in 1963 going on to win the Gold Cup but it does not detract from it being a useful insight in to future top staying chase prospects. Al Ferof from the Paul Nicholls stable also looks like a very strong contender for the ‘Arkle’. Winner of the Supreme Novices Hurdle back in March in the 2011 Cheltenham Festival, this six year old has already won two from two in chases, the first a Grade 2 at Cheltenham and then he won the Grade 1 Henry Vlll Stakes at Sandown a couple of weeks ago. In the latter race it has to be said that he did not look quite so commanding and was given a hard race by For Non Stop, who was only a neck behind at the finish. Sprinter Sacre, third behind Al Ferof in the Supreme Novices Hurdle in March, is another who is destined for a big future over fences. He has been out only once over the bigger obstacles so far this season, winning a two mile chase by no less than 24 lengths. He certainly has trainer Nicky Henderson excited about his prospects and was shortened in the latest Cheltenham betting for the Arkle to 6/1, a point less than Al Ferof. Peddlers Cross also features prominently in the RSA betting but the favourite to win that this season is the David Pipe trained Grands Crus at odds of 5/1. He too is twice a winner over fences in his first season since switching to bigger obstacles and comes to the chase game having finished a very creditable second behind Big Bucks in the World Hurdle at the Festival in March, he has looked a promising sort over fences and there's even talk of him bypassing the RSA and going straight for the Gold Cup but that may just be a little too optimistic. A lot can happen between now and March but as it stands, the picture for the Festival's leading Novice events look as exciting as they have done for years and whilst the attention come Cheltenham week will be firmly on the four championship races, expect the Arkle and RSA chases to grab plenty of headlines!
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