[ad_1]
Having won all but one of his 16 hurdle races, it might seem a bit harsh to suggest that Altior has something to prove when he finally returns to action at Kempton Park this afternoon, 10 months after a Game Spirit Chase win at Newbury that it seemed, at the time, to set up a memorable clash with Chacun Pour Soi at the Queen Mother’s Hunt for Champions at Cheltenham.
Neither horse made it to the starting line at the end, of course, while Altior’s sudden departure from the field three days before the race was the fifth time in the 2019-20 season that he missed a competition that had already taken place. been inked before or at least, with a lot of pencil, on your schedule.
The counter was moved to six when it was pulled out of Tingle Creek in Sandown earlier this month, less than 24 hours earlier, but now, at last, a lucky few in Kempton Park will finally be able to see it in person.
If he’s near his best, the 4-5 currently being offered on Altior will look, in hindsight, to be one of the bets of the decade. He is 9 pounds ahead of second seed Sceau Royal in official standings and started a much smaller 1-8 when he won this race two years ago.
But that was two years ago and Altior is now in sight of his 11th birthday, which makes market skepticism much easier to understand. There is also little doubt that the Hunt for Champions in March is the only race on Nicky Henderson’s mind – he said so when Altior was pulled out of Tingle Creek, much to the chagrin of Grade One sponsor Betfair – and so it is. that is well over 80% ready for today’s comeback. And an Altior at 80% in December 2020 could be a very different animal than an Altior at 80% in 2018.
It should be a fascinating race though, as Duc De Genievres, Sceau Royal and Rouge Vif all have credible chances, and it will be run just an hour after Altior’s stablemate Shishkin., A potential heir to his two-mile mantle, he’s going to post for the Wayward Lad Novice Chase, a race that Altior himself won in 2016 en route to odds-on success at the Arkle in Cheltenham.
You can follow all the action and reaction live here throughout the day, while tips for the revised schedule on ITV after the abandonment of the Chepstow Wales national card this morning are here.
[ad_2]