News 
/ Timeform / 24 February 2012 / Leave a Comment 
Can Nacarat win the race again?
"Tom George admitted he made a mistake by running him at Aintree in early December on unsuitably soft ground..."
Tom George feels Nacarat is showing all of his old sparkle ahead of his fourth appearance in the Racing Plus Chase at Kempton on Saturday.
Having run to a Timeform rating of 157 when winning the race in 2009, Nacarat was narrowly denied back-to-back successes by Razor Royale and finished a gallant third to Quinz 12 months ago. He's top-rated for the race this time round.
Tom George admitted he made a mistake by running him at Aintree in early December on unsuitably soft ground and has given the 11-year-old, who has been some way below his best since winning the Aintree Bowl last April, a break since he ran in the King George on Boxing Day.
"He's been good since the King George.It was probably an error on my part to run him as he'd had a very hard race the time before at Aintree." said the trainer.
"We thought we might get away with it, but it came too soon and, consequently, Paddy Brennan said he felt a bit flat.
"The ground went very soft at Aintree on the day and we thought we might just get away with it as it looked winnable, but it backfired and because of that we've given him a nice, long break before this race, which is always a big aim for him.
147-rated chaser Fiendish Flame has won twice since joining Jennie Candlish from Donald McCain at the start of the season, most recently running away with a decent handicap at Musselburgh on New Year's Day.
Alan O'Keeffe, Candlish's assistant and stable jockey, admits the eight-year-old has more on his plate this weekend as he tackles three miles for the first time in his career.
"He's had a very good season, but obviously life is going to be tougher for him now. We thought the handicapper was quite hard on him after winning at Musselburgh last time as he's gone up 10lb but there aren't that many opportunities for him, especially as he needs to go right-handed." sais the rider.
Philip Hobbs has won the race three times in recent years and runs top-weight Planet Of Sound, rated 159 over fences by Timeform.
The 10-year-old has not run since a fine second in the Hennessy in an aim to keep his weight down for his ultimate aim, the Grand National.
"He ran very well in the Hennessy and we did have entries in December, but the ground was soft, which he doesn't really like, and races were competitive," said Hobbs.
"We didn't really want him to have too hard a time before the spring as it (Grand National) has been very much the aim since the beginning of the season.
"He's in good nick so I hope he will run well.
"I suppose he's deserved that (top weight) over the years - the plan has always been to go to Kempton and then the National if all goes well.
Currently heading the market for the Racing Plus Chase is Planet of Sound at [4.8], while Hector's Choice ([9.0]) and Paul Nicholls' Michel le Bon ([7.0]) are also in the line-up.
...............
The Timeform Jury has made profit in six out of six months from August to January. Sign up for March now and get the rest of February free.
Grandouet will not run in the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, trainer Nicky Henderson has confirmed......
A Betfair punter was celebrating yesterday after he included the 730/1 Betfair SP winner, Tayarat, in a Multiple selection helping him to turn £5.89 into nearly £17,000......
Paul Hanagan has been named as Richard Hills' successor as retained rider for Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum......
No comments:
Post a Comment