Betfair Chase Tips: No confusion over this tip

The top class action continues to come thick and fast, and Joe Tuffin has previewed the first Grade 1 of the season, the Betfair Chase...

Though the National Hunt season is now in full swing and many of the sports stars have made their re appearance’s, we’re still yet to be blessed with a Grade 1 on UK shores, but that all changes on Saturday with Haydock’s Betfair Chase.

A race dominated by some of the sports legends of yesteryear such as Kauto Star and Cue Card, it forms the first leg of the ‘Chase Triple Crown’, an achievement only seen once which involves success in this, the King George and the Cheltenham Gold Cup in the same year. Though the field is a small and select one for this renewal, there is certainly a possible Triple Crown hopeful in the form of Lostintranslation, the winner of this last year and the current favourite at the time of writing. A fairly classy horse throughout his career, he really has come into his own over this three mile trip where his form reads 11P3 - all at Grade 1 level. After winning this last season, he became one of the hot favourites for the King George and was eventually sent off at 15/8, only to jump poorly throughout before Robbie Power called it a day and he was pulled up. The question marks began to float around his head and he ended up rocking up at Cheltenham a double-figure price, only to outrun his odds and expectations and finish a brilliant and somewhat unexpected third. That run really shouldn’t be understated, his trainer Colin Tizzard had a Cheltenham Festival to forget as all his big guns failed to fire, so for Lostintranslation to put that King George behind him and finish just over a length off in the most prestigious race on the National Hunt calendar really is impressive, and speaks volumes of the horses quality. He really is shaping up as a serious contender for the triple crown, and though short in the betting, he seems hard to oppose with the proven form and class behind him.

There are some more than worth advisories opposing him however, none more so than Haydock specialist Bristol De Mai, a two time winner of this race who once broke the record for the furthest winning distance in Grade 1 history when pulversing a classy field - which included the likes of Cue Card - by 57 lengths. So impressive is his Haydock form in fact, that his first and only loss at the Merseyside course (From five races) came in this race last year, when the lack of race fitness in comparison to Lostintranslation could potentially have cost him. Although I can see a similar result this time round, he is one to right off at your peril and it would shock me not if the nine-year-old lit up the course once again and recorded a third win in this race, but on class alone he does have a bit to find with the favourite. A more than worthy opponent and a horse that attracts plenty of affection from the racing community, he’ll be a delight to watch at his adopted home is sure to serve up a sizzler to Lostintranslation and Clan Des Obeaux, the other main protagonist and headline attraction in this five runner field.

Paul Nicholls’ charge is one that won’t be lining up at Cheltenham next year however, with a record of 0/6 at HQ putting to bed any thoughts of another crack at the Gold Cup, but while he may not act on the underlations of Prestbury Park, the flat fair tracks suit him to a tee and he has two King George’s to show for that. He has form at Haydock too, winning at this meeting in 2017 before having a crack at the Betfair Chase a year later. He only finished fourth that day, but he’s been a bit of a different horse since then and that performance looks like the Clan of old. With the Cheltenham Gold Cup now off the cards, master trainer Nicholls will be very keen to sweep up as many prestigious Grade 1 chases elsewhere with the eight-year-old as possible and this is as good a place as ever to start, but race fitness may halt him here, afterall, he has never won first time out in his five year career. This certainly feels like it will fine tune him for a third King George next month more than anything and while he could serve it up to Lostintranslation on class alone, it’ll be a big ask to dethrone the reigning champ and break that seasonal debut hoodoo.

Though this is, by all accounts, a three runner race, the field is completed by Bellshill and Keeper Hill, with both of them a long way out in the betting at around 50/1 at the time of writing. The former is some 15 lb off the main market principles when it comes to ratings, and though he is a Grade 1 winner and was once considered one of the best for Willie Mullins, that was four years ago and that spark seems to have gone. He’s now trained by Sandy Thompson, but he’d have to be a wizard to get him back to his best at ten-years-old, and he’s no wizard. A good trainer yes, but in possession of magical powers? I doubt it.

The same can be said for Keeper Hill, he’s a very useful performer and is a course winner to boot, but he’s 21 lb down on ratings and was last seen beaten 17-lengths in the Charlie Hall, a race you really need to be winning or coming close to for this to be considered a realistic achievement. Either of them could sneak a place, but it would probably require those at the top of the market to fall, and when you consider between them they’ve had 71 races and only one fall - that’s unlikely.

Selection:

Betfair Chase, Haydock, Saturday 21st November - back Lostintranslation at 11/10