Arkle looking likely target for smart Cue Card
January 9, 2012
Although his pleasing victory at Newbury on New Year’s Eve was over two-mile-three furlongs connections of Cue Card appear now to be focusing on a crack at the two-mile Arkle Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in March after their stable star had showed plenty of pace against useful opposition to score by four-lengths, writes Elliot Slater.
Beaten in the very last stride at the Berkshire track by the talented Bob’s Worth in a Grade 2 affair some five weeks earlier, that form was made to look very decent after his Newbury conqueror went on to run third to Grand Crus in the Grade 1 Feltham Novices Chase at Kempton Park on Boxing Day, but punters and tipsters in the horse racing betting news appeared to give the West country-trained chaser the swerve in sending him off third-favourite of the four-runners for the December 31 contest.
Trainer’s son Joe Tizzard clearly believed his horse had the speed to get his rivals in trouble and set out from flagfall to make it a good pace, a tactic that worked like a dream as both his main rivals Walkon and For Non Stop made bad mistakes down the home straight when under pressure to close on the son of King’s Theatre. In the end Tizzard only had to keep his mount up to his work in the closing stages to score comfortably, a performance that reminded layers that on his day the 2010 Cheltenham Festival Bumper winner is a very useful tool and prompted them to cut his odds for the Arkle Chase to just 12/1 in the horse racing betting , having been available at up to 20/1 prior to his pleasing victory.
Beaten in the very last stride at the Berkshire track by the talented Bob’s Worth in a Grade 2 affair some five weeks earlier, that form was made to look very decent after his Newbury conqueror went on to run third to Grand Crus in the Grade 1 Feltham Novices Chase at Kempton Park on Boxing Day, but punters and tipsters in the horse racing betting news appeared to give the West country-trained chaser the swerve in sending him off third-favourite of the four-runners for the December 31 contest.
Trainer’s son Joe Tizzard clearly believed his horse had the speed to get his rivals in trouble and set out from flagfall to make it a good pace, a tactic that worked like a dream as both his main rivals Walkon and For Non Stop made bad mistakes down the home straight when under pressure to close on the son of King’s Theatre. In the end Tizzard only had to keep his mount up to his work in the closing stages to score comfortably, a performance that reminded layers that on his day the 2010 Cheltenham Festival Bumper winner is a very useful tool and prompted them to cut his odds for the Arkle Chase to just 12/1 in the horse racing betting , having been available at up to 20/1 prior to his pleasing victory.
Posted by Robert James.
