The Grade 1 Ascot Chase headlines one of the final big racing weekends in the run up to the Cheltenham Festival. Joe Napier analyses the six-strong line-up for this season’s renewal and gives his verdict.
At a track he has a superb record at over fences, Pic D’orhy saw out an accomplished victory 12 months ago for his second Grade 1 success.
PIC D’ORHY
(Paul Nicholls/Harry Cobden)
Although one of his two Grade 1 wins came at left-handed Aintree, it is far more common to see Pic D’orhy on a clockwise track. Since his first win at this venue, 11 of his 14 chase runs have come on right-handed tracks, Aintree hosting the other three, and he has won eight of those 11 too.
He has been an admirably consistent horse in a relatively turbulent period for the Nicholls yard. He won this with consummate ease a year ago over one of today’s rivals, but he was pulled up at Aintree afterwards and he briefly looked in danger against significantly inferior rivals in the Grade 2 1965 Chase on his only run earlier this term. With his trainer remaining in the doldrums, and more credible dangers existing this time around, he could be vulnerable at the age of ten.
CORBETTS CROSS
(Emmet Mullins/Mark Walsh)
One of two serious Gold Cup contenders lining up in the Ascot Chase, Corbetts Cross’s entire season looks to have been about preparing him for Cheltenham. The eight-year-old was an emphatic winner of the National Hunt Chase last term, as well as finishing third in the Bowl in open company, though two efforts this term appear to have cooled momentum.
He surely wasn’t fully tuned up for his reappearance at Wexford, while the pace of the King George caught him flat-footed when a well-backed sixth at Kempton. Even in this shallower field, the suspicion is he may lack the pace to win a Grade 1 at this trip as long as his rivals put pressure on his jumping and galloping, though he does have class and has already been nibbled at in the betting.
L’HOMME PRESSE
(Venetia Williams/Charlie Deutsch)
Another into his twilight years, L’Homme Presse has taken the mantle of Britain’s best staying chaser ever since Galopin Des Champs broke Bravemansgame’s heart in the 2023 Gold Cup. Injury issues kept him off for too much of his prime, so his best crack at Gold Cup glory may have passed, but he retains plenty of his ability and zest.
He was a gallant third in the King George in December, despite preferring left-handed tracks, and was ultimately a cosier winner than likely appeared in the Cotswold Chase on Trials Day last month. However, he is versatile in terms of trip, so while this track might not see him at his very best, he did win here easily as a novice and is in the best form of any in this field.
THE FIELD
The ground was deemed unsuitable for Le Patron at Newbury last week, thus the change of route to this race. His Newbury handicap win earlier this campaign was taking, but he looked to have a better chance in the Denman Chase than he does in this, with him never having raced at Ascot and three genuine Grade 1 opponents at their best.
Blue Lord would be another of those Grade 1 level candidates if recapturing his best and this trip offers hope he can improve slightly. However, the 2023 John Durkan was the last time he was seen in good form and two runs so far this season do not offer much hope, while Flegmatik has been outclassed by Pic D’orhy already this season and will only be best seen returning to handicaps.
VERDICT
Pic D’orhy is usually so reliable on right-handed tracks, but his one run this season, coupled with the Nicholls yard’s continuing struggles, make him opposable on this defence. His three likeliest rivals are L’HOMME PRESSE, Corbetts Cross and Blue Lord, preferred in that order. The selection was only second in this last year, but comes into this with a better preparation and has proven he is in good form after his third in the King George and win in the Cotswold Chase. Corbetts Cross is feared most, though definitely wants further to be at his best and has nearly ten lengths to make up on L’Homme Presse from Kempton, while Blue Lord has disappointed in 2m contests this campaign, but might be revitalised by the step back up in trip.
- L’Homme Presse
- Corbetts Cross
- Blue Lord
