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Riverside Theatre Set to Make Return in Ascot Chase
16/02/12

The Nicky Henderson trained Riverside Theatre makes his eagerly awaited return to racing at Ascot this weekend where it is hoped he can defend his Grade One Ascot Chase crown. Fully recovered from a hairline fracture to his pelvis which has kept him out since winning this race 12 months ago, the Henderson stable seem very keen to get a run into the horse before he heads to the Ryanair Chase at next month’s Cheltenham Festival.

Riverside Theatre
© Racehorse Photos

Riverside Theatre

Before his injury, the eight year old had shown signs of real potential at Grade One level, firstly finishing second behind stablemate, Long Run, in the King George Vl Chase before going on to claim the Ascot Chase by ten lengths from Gauvain. Despite being off the track for so long, the bookmakers have seen it fit to install him as the 9/4 joint favourite to win along with Kauto Stone, the exciting youngster trained by Paul Nicholls and half brother to Kauto Star.

Six year old Kauto Stone only made his debut over jumps in the UK back in November, winning at the first time of asking. His success in the Grade 2 Ladbrokes.com Chase over 2½ miles at Down Royal was a great performance and had the tongues wagging that he could be every bit as good as his older sibling. However, he was tried next out over the shorter two miles of the Grade 1 Tingle Creek Chase where he ran with great credit to finish second behind Champion Chaser, Sizing Europe but it was quite evident that the trip was too sharp.

Now being tried over a longer trip, it should be easier to gauge just how exciting a prospect Kauto Stone is and if he can finish in front of Riverside Theatre then he would have to be considered a major player to win the Ryanair Chase.

Also in the field on Saturday will be Gauvain from the Nick Williams yard. He fell in the Tingle Creek Chase after a running battle with Kauto Stone and Sizing Europe, which suggested that he would prefer a slightly slower pace than that which two mile chasers tend to set. Over two miles and five furlongs, Gauvain should be a completely different proposition and if he reproduce the form that saw him win the Grade 2 Peterborough Chase at Huntingdon less than a week after his Tingle Creek fall, then he should have a decent chance of avenging last year's defeat in this race if Riverside Theatre isn't back to full fitness.

One other worthy of a mention is the former Paul Nicholls trained, Tatenen, who these days is in the hands of Richard Rowe. When at Ditcheat, hopes were high that Tatenen could become a very decent chaser, with targets like the Ryanair and possibly the King George in mind for him. He had won at Grade 2 level and was well fancied to win the 2009 Arkle Trophy Chase at the Festival but fell. A run of bad form followed which ultimately saw him leave Ditcheat for pastures new at Rowe’s stable. Since then he appears to have prospered, emphatically winning the very valuable BetVictor.com Handicap Chase at Ascot in January 2011 before following that up by winning the same race again this year. He loves Ascot it would seem and although stepping up class, he cannot be ruled out.

However, this race really does revolve around the front two in the market and the outcome of the race will undoubtedly have a significant impact on the antepost betting for the Ryanair for which, Noble Prince, Rubi Light and Somersby are all ahead of Riverside Theatre and Kauto Stone who are both around a 10/1 chance to win at the Festival.

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