Gordon
Elliott is no stranger to taking a big handicap pot having won the Ladbroke Hurdle
before Christmas with Cause Of Causes. Another big prize the County Meath based
trainer has landed is the Coral Cup which he won at the Cheltenham Festival in
2011, and it is with the very same horse that he could well win another in a
fortnight. It is fair to say Carlito Brigante hacked up that day, and whilst
For Non Stop was the only horse near him when falling at the last, the race
winner had the race in the bag by that stage. Carlito won off a handicap mark
of 142 and that alone would suggest he’d have a big race in him off his current
chase mark of 137 but there is more to it than that. At first glance one may
just assume Elliott’s charge is simply not as good over the bigger obstacles as
he was over hurdles, but if you look at his chase runs that wouldn’t appear to
be the case. Having won at the first time of asking over fences he finished 3rd
and 2nd in his next 2 starts (somewhat disappointing given what was
expected of him) before returning to Prestbury Park in October to take a 2m4f
novice chase. He then finished 4th of 6 at Aintree but that came
just 8 days after his Cheltenham victory and he was hampered in running so I’d
be willing to excuse him that run.
Given 3 weeks to freshen up he then returned
to the scene of his Festival triumph in November and ran in what I believe is
the most interesting of his races over fences as although finishing 4th
of just 5, it looks to be arguably one of the hottest novices chases of the
season. The winner, Dynaste (pictured above), is some people’s idea of a “good thing” whether he
goes for the Jewson or the RSA; the 2nd, Fingal Bay, is a very good
horse who would more than likely have been a major player in staying novice
chases if not picking up a season-ending injury; and the 3rd,
Unioniste, has since become the only 4yo ever to win the December Gold Cup
before up with success in a potentially decent race at Newbury on Betfair
Hurdle Day recently. Both of the horses still in training are the top 2 in the
RSA market and Carlito Brigante ran a massive race in defeat, going with them
front 3 until fading late on, yet was still dropped 3lb by the handicapper.
Often with horses fading late on at Cheltenham the question is asked as to
whether they “get up the hill”, but there is no such worry for the County Meath
based 7yo and I’d be confident that the reason he stopped was the heavy, tacky ground stretched his stamina. The return to
better ground should bring about improvement which suggests he could have plenty in hand in the Centenary
Novices Handicap Chase on the first day. He’s no fancy price at 8/1 but I think
he’ll go off somewhat shorter on the day so is definitely worth having an each
way punt on with the NRNB concession now in play.
Attaglance
and Colour Squadron have also attracted support in the race but although the
former was a Festival winner over hurdles last season, the latter is seemingly
priced on expectation and not previous form, with his jumping certainly leaving
something to be desired. There will no doubt be plenty of horses on favourable
marks in all the Festival handicaps but Carlito Brigante (pictured above) looks a solid each way
shot.
