Background To The Race:
The £35,000 Towton Novices’ Chase is one of the highlights of Wetherby’s NH calendar. First staged in 1996, the three-mile contest was won that day by the subsequent Cheltenham Gold Cup victor Mr Mulligan.
Noel Chance's Mr Mulligan was an emphatic 15-length winner in the inaugural running of this race. The following season he went to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Escartefigue, the winner in 1998, became one of the leading staying chasers, and finished second to Teeton Mill in the 1998 King George VI Chase.
2006 winner Halcon Genelardais went on to win the Welsh Grand National later in his career for Alan King.
All eyes will be on the result of this race on Saturday as it often produces potential stars that contest races like the RSA Chase, the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Aintree Grand National as they progress through their chasing careers.
Turning to the more recent winners of this contest and the 2016 renewal was won by Blaklion, trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies, who then went on to win the Grade One RSA Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.
Twiston-Davies’ 2018 winner Ballyoptic went on to run fourth in the RSA, just got touched off by a nose in the Scottish Grand National, then won the Charlie Hall Chase on his opening race of this season, all going to prove that good horses regularly come out of this race.
Last year’s Towton Novices’ Chase was abandoned due to frost.
Trends and statistics:
- Age: 7 of the last 10 winners were aged 7.
- Price: 4 of the last 10 favourites/joint favourites have won, 7/10 winners were in the top 3 in the horse racing betting.
- Last time out: 5 of the last 10 winners won on their last run before the Towton Novices’ Chase, 6/10 winners ran within the last 44 days.
- Course Form: 2/10 winners had at least 1 previous run at Wetherby, 0/10 winners had at least 1 previous win at Wetherby.
- Official Rating: 7/10 winners were rated 137 or higher.
- Current form: 7/10 winners had at least 2 runs that season, 8/10 winners had at least 1 win that season.
- Cheltenham Festival run in the same season: 4/10 winners ran in the RSA Chase at the next Cheltenham Festival, 1 of the 4 won, 1 placed.
Runner-by-runner guide:
Ardlethen (Dan Skelton)
This extended three mile Grade Two contest has been the six year-old’s main target for the season.
Ardlethen’s debut over fences was a triumphant one at Chepstow on October 11th, but in three subsequent runs since he has failed to get his head back in front.
He can reproduce anything like his four lengths defeat to Sam Spinner here earlier in the season he must have some semblance of a chance.
Boldmere (Caroline Bailey)
Caroline Bailey’s seven-year-old won two handicaps by wide margins in December but will find this an altogether much tougher assignment.
The gelding is most certainly improving so he must come into calculations.
Chapel Stile (Nicky Richards)
Nicky Richards won this race in 2017 with Baywing and looks well placed to do so again with his well-fancied eight-year-old Chapel Stile.
Chapel Stile won his final three starts over hurdles, two of which were over an extended three miles so there should be no issues over stamina with him in this contest.
This season he bumped into the useful Two For Gold on his chasing debut at Carlisle before returning to the same venue to account for Cloudy Glen in a Limited Handicap. He looks sure to go well.
Clondaw Anchor (Dan Skelton)
Clondaw Anchor would probably have given fellow rival Dominateur plenty to think about had he put in a more polished round of jumping down the home straight at Chepstow, and can give the market favourite plenty to think about once again.
The Highclere gelding will have no qualms about the going either.
Dominateur (Oliver Sherwood)
Oliver Sherwood’s Dominateur is the proverbial improving horse and has he has reached his lofty rating of 145 by the way of winning two if his last three races in novice handicaps.
Sherwood clearly holds the seven-year-old in high regard and he has entries in both RSA and the National Hunt Chase at The Festival.
Odds of 40/ and 25/1 respectively won’t last so long on Saturday afternoon should he sluice home in front.
Just Your Type (Charlie Longsdon)
The eight-year-old ran in the Eider Chase at Newcastle last season, where he almost got taken out of the race, but to his credit, he ran on to finish a very creditable fifth.
This season he won first time out at Hexham in a Novices' Chase, before finishing runner up in the Borders National and then second again at Lingfield.
If this race turns into a war of attrition in any way due to the ground, then this gelding will be in his element.
Newtide (Kim Bailey)
Newtide had a nice introduction to chasing in November at Ffos Las where he was always in command against his two rivals that day.
The seven-year-old has had an 83-day break since that run and one would suspect that he will be finely tuned and raring to go in this valuable contest.
He holds an entry in both the RSA and National Hunt Chase at the Cheltenham Festival as stamina is clearly his forte.
Royale Pagaille (Venetia Williams)
Royale Pagaille is the first runner Venetia Williams has ever trained for the well known owners of Rich and Susannah Ricci and they look to have a nice youngster on their hands.
The French import had a gentle introduction to UK racing a fortnight ago at Chepstow, finishing second in a match race to Vision Des Flos.
Looking back at the six-year-old’s French form, there looks to be a few jumping problems that Royal Pagaille needs to iron out and he will need to be totally match sharp around Wetherby to figure in the finish.
The Mighty Don (Nick Gifford)
It feels like the eight-year-old has been around forever as he is well raced for an eight-year-old (23 starts) and he dined at the top table in his hurdling days, with a certain degree of success.
He isn’t however a good a chaser as he was a hurdler and this looks an incredibly tall order for him.
Conclusion
Boldmere (nap) has progressed nicely from his early days with Graeme McPherson through to Caroline Bailey, and I was particularly impressed by the decisiveness of his victory at Doncaster last time out.
Also keep an eye out for the weather on Saturday afternoon as I believe Just Your Type (nb) will become an each-way steal should the going become really heavy.
888sports suggests: Boldmere (win).
*Credit for the main photo belongs to Mark J. Terrill / AP Photo*
