The Betfair Chase has now become one of the most anticipated races of the National Hunt season and on Saturday afternoon thousands of fans will be descending upon Haydock Park.
Established in 2005, the Betfair Chase has continually attracted some of the best chasers in the land and this year is no exception, even if it is a small but select field.
The Betfair Chase forms the first leg of the £1m Jockey Club sponsored Triple Crown, which is awarded to any horse that can win the Betfair Chase at Haydock Park, the King George VI Chase at Kempton Park on Boxing Day and the Cheltenham Gold Cup at The Festival next March.
Over the course of 13 years, the Betfair Chase has produced a highly esteemed roll of honour.
The people’s favourite Kauto Star won the race four times (2006, 2007, 2009, and 2011) with his last win lifting the roof off the Haydock stands. A statue was even erected in his honour at the track.
The Colin Tizzard-trained Cue Card almost pulled off the hat-trick of wins required to land the Triple Crown bonus but he fell when holding every chance in the Gold Cup. He managed to win the Betfair Chase a total of three times in his glittering career.
As well as saddling Kauto Star to win this race on more than one occasion, Paul Nicholls also trained Silviniaco Conti to win the highly coveted Lancashire Chase (registered name) twice.
Just five runners go to post on Saturday, but what a line-up it is:
Might Bite
The Nicky Henderson-trained nine-year-old is proving to be a very popular choice amongst punters due to the drying conditions being totally in his favour and with many of his rivals having several questions to face on the surface.
Track conditions and the sharper nature of the Haydock track all appear to be on his side this weekend and it will make a refreshing change to see the race run on decent ground at Haydock, which hasn’t been the case in recent years.
Might Bite encountered only one defeat last season when he was outgunned by Native River in the Gold Cup after an enthralling duel. Less than a month later he travelled with aplomb as he routed the field in the Betway Bowl and Aintree.
If he runs anywhere near that kind of level here he will be a tough but to crack under his regular pilot Nico De Boinville.
Native River
Native River has no problem with quicker ground, indeed five of his 11 wins have come on going described as good or good-to-soft.
His front-running style means that he often beats his rivals into submission but it is very unlikely he will get all his own way at the head of the field on this occasion.
Owned by Brocade Racing and trained by Colin Tizzard, the nine-year-old has won five of his last six chases, namely the Hennessy, Coral Welsh National, Denman Chase (twice) and the Gold Cup.
His only defeat in the last two seasons was a third-place finish behind Sizing John at in the 2017 renewal of the Gold Cup.
In the overall scheme of things this is a formable record which other owners can only dream about and he is sure to be on the premises once again on Saturday.
Bristol De Mai
Bristol De Mai needs no introduction as far as this race goes and his demolition of the field 12 months ago is still a statisticians dream to this day.
Even though every form student knows that the ground completely fell into his lap that day, he is certainly no one-trick pony and nobody can deny that his Haydock form is impeccable.
Twiston-Davies’ galloping grey is three from three at the venue. His first win at the track was in a Grade two novices’ chase, the second was in the Peter Marsh Handicap and the third was his runaway 57-length win in last season’s Betfair Chase.
All three of those wins however were in bottomless ground and there is a suspicion that he may get tapped for toe in these conditions against these top class rivals.
Thistlecrack
The 2016 King George winner has not won since his Kempton triumph but the Tizzard team still believe the ten-year-old is still a serious Gold Cup contender.
Injury has ruled Thistlecrack out of the last two Cheltenham Festivals and he has not been seen on a racecourse since his fourth-placed effort in the King George on Boxing Day last year.
The ten-year-old was head and shoulders above the opposition as a staying hurdler and his transition to fences had the fan boys and fan girls gaping in awe at his jumping prowess.
Unfortunately all that came to a juddering halt but it would be completely folly to rule a Lazarus style return on another big stage.
Clan Des Obeaux
Trained by Paul Nicholls, this six-year-old has very little mileage on the clock and looks a progressive type.
He won a graduation chase on this very card last year before finishing runner-up to Guitar Pete in the Caspian Caviar Gold Cup at Cheltenham when trying to give away 21lb to the winner.
The gelding, who is part owned by Sir Alec Ferguson, returned to action four months later finishing a keeping-on third behind Might Bite and Bristol De Mai in the Betway Bowl at Aintree.
888sport suggests: Clan Des Obeaux (e/w).
*Odds subject to change - correct at time of writing*
