Ryanair Chase 2014 - Towards Raceday

* Personal order of preference indicated by descending order of reference

Winter is a season of recovery and preparation
- Paul Theroux

Which may describe two of the leading contenders for this contest. As does something else, because nothing describes the 2008-2013 Grade One Ryanair Chase more simply than the fact that all bar one of the last six winners (with Albertas Run counted twice) ran in the King George VI Chase in the same season and Riverside Theatre was second in the race in the season before his win. The structural reasoning behind this preparatory golden pathway can be left aside here; but that we are looking for a top class horse to emerge as the winner is - until the evidence presents itself otherwise - not in doubt. 

First Lieutenant ran with great credit in this race last year. He has become a metronome for Grade One races but, Aintree last season apart, he has never really threatened the top ranks often enough. He has been analysed in detail elsewhere and is talented but on any ground over any trip his energy distribution is too even and lacking in power behind the bridle. If others falter he can go close, however.

Benefficient showed he had progressed into open company elite status when backing up his Irish Arkle and Jewson Novices Chase wins from last season with victory in the Grade One Dial-A-Bet Chase (17f, Soft) at Leopardstown. Last season he ran five times prior to beating Dynaste at Cheltenham (20f, GS) whereas this season he has run only twice (bar a seemingly random flat run in September). His trainer admitted to working him too hard prior to his run over three miles at Wetherby, where in the lead-up to the race he had worked Benefficient with the all-or-nothing input of Flemenstar. The strenuous workout apparently hollowed the Beneficial chestnut. Yet the mental and physical resolution that was the hallmark of his Jewson Novices Chase win emerged once again at Leopardstown: recovery and preparation combined to deliver an effort that made his running after the last fence stronger than his rivals. 

The question mark for Benefficient is residual class. With his Charlie Hall Chase excursion finishing with a tailed off effort his only run with intent this season was his win over two miles. The dominance of King George runners in this race shows the extent to which stamina is a pre-requisite under normal conditions - it is possible that this was the reason for starting in the three mile Charlie Hall Chase but the plan went awry. His beating of Dynaste at the Festival is covered in more detail below, but there were few stamina concerns evident given that he was sent into a positive front-running gallop from the off. He stayed there until brushing through the top of three out at which point Dynaste, then alongside him, flew the fence and the differing physical momentum of the two horses at that point separated them by a few lengths as they made their descent (with Captain Conan jumping in between them). Benefficient's two mile pace gallop had been jolted slightly but it was nonetheless impressive how, gathered in and allowed to fill up down the hill, he was able to command a transfer of energy behind the bridle to such an extent that he could surge to the head of the field once more after jumping the last impressively. He was aided in that quest, without doubt, by the fact that Captain Conan was emptying and that Dynaste was feeling the strain of his own pace injection three out, compounded by a preparation for the race that had not been physically straightforward. Dynaste tired notably close home, for example. 

Energy Delivery Systems: Captain Conan (left) tired dramatically into fifth; Dynaste (middle) tired notably close home but held second; Benefficient had experienced a more robust season of the three and his physicality had been hardened as a result

Benefficient is therefore a strong, tactically versatile horse that tries extremely hard on any kind of ground. He can be asked to lead, race prominently or in smaller fields be held off the pace a little. He is capable of using his energy with great efficiency. So for him it depends on the extent to which a Grade One Festival gallop over a furlong further than the Jewson Novices version affects the class of performance delivery against horses that have shown themselves adept at Grade One level over that distance or further. In that sense for a horse that thrived on racing in his novice season it is perhaps a slight concern that he has not stood more racing this season. Whether that inaction compromises his effort remains to be seen.

On first glance Al Ferof's career has stalled. That is obviously true to a point at the time of writing but the interesting question is to what extent has his season been mapped out that way. His ebullient owner had dreamed of Gold Cups after his Supreme Novices Hurdle win in the hottest renewal of recent times. His Paddy Power Handicap Chase win began to align him with the Imperial Commander pathway and - delayed by a tendon injury - that initial point has now been reached. Imperial Commander went from winning the same handicap, to a no-show performance in the King George owing to a physical conformation issue that hindered right-handed participation, to winning the Ryanair Chase on his next start (and later on the Gold Cup itself). Al Ferof's progression was halted just prior to the King George of 2012, but he made the 2013 version to run a fifteen lengths third to Silviniaco Conti (winner) and Cue Card (second), but never really looked comfortable on his second start back from absence on tacky, soft ground.

As highlighted at the start, running in the King George is significant because it is an indicator of the kinds of residual class and stamina levels required to win what is a demanding Grade One Chase at the Festival (Imperial Commander himself was beaten 72L in the race prior to his Ryanair Chase win; Albertas Run by 69L prior to his first win). In that sense and in its own right, Al Ferof's run was pleasing enough especially in light of the fact that the two in front of him were top class animals. What was not so pleasing was the extent to which he appeared to fold into his shell on his next start at Newbury in the Denman Chase (24f, Heavy), beaten twenty-five lengths by the mud-loving Harry Topper having been in close touch to that horse rounding the final turn, albeit still with a long way to go in the race. Analysing the run is a question of physicality, training programmes and trainer intention. On the surface the run was disappointing: he had been expected to win or at least improve upon his Kempton run but he faded in the manner of a horse with a physical or stamina issue. However, it could also have been the case that he was still fatigued from his King George exertions and/or that again the very deep ground was not to his liking on the day; and it is possible that he was sent to the race purely in preparatory terms - the race is one that his trainer has often used for horses he is preparing for the Festival and the instructions may have been to race for as long as possible before easing off with the expectation that he would tire, leaving over four weeks to train the horse into peak physical condition for March. 

Vain Pursuit: But was Al Ferof expected to run any differently in a race so close to his seasonal target

There are many unknowns: the weight of the horse pre- and post-race; the extent to which he had been prepared at home for a race that is not a target race for top horses; what was revealed privately after the race to connections by the jockey and so on. What we do know is that his trainer has long thought the Ryanair Chase as the most suitable target for his horse. His owner and former jockey repeated the Gold Cup mantra prior to Newbury, but Paul Nicholls always had Silviniaco Conti for the King George-Gold Cup route. Given that Al Ferof won a Supreme over two miles and travelled smoothly and easily through a Paddy Power Gold Cup over 20.5f, allied to time off the track and two defeats over three miles, this race offers the grey the chance to exhibit his potential once again where better ground would be a big help. His overall profile remains in-keeping with Ryanair Chase winners: Supreme winner, Paddy Power Gold Cup winner, King George third; and he is with a trainer adept at bringing talented horses back to their peak or somewhere near it. It remains a big task but one well within the realms of possibility.

Recovery and preparation will also hold the key to the chances of DYNASTE. From the outset it is worth noting that his trainer has quite a poor record in Graded races at the Festival, something he will be hopeful of improving upon with his talented grey. To do so he will need to have had a smooth pathway to the Festival with his horse following Dynaste's recovery from pulled muscles sustained in the King George VI Chase as a result of which he finished fifth, beaten 47L. Had he just had an off day or problems with the ground the run would have been a positive - the timing of the race some eleven weeks before the Festival is ideal for keeping a horse ticking over through the winter months in preparation for March; but picking up a physical issue is not ideal. That said Dynaste runs well fresh; with this in mind it can be seen how his overall level of physicality will determine the strength of his effort in this race. 

Over hurdles Dynaste tangled three times with Big Buck's for a combined defeat of seventy-two lengths, sufficiently inferior enough to indicate that he would make a better chaser and that three miles would likely be too far for him. He was swiftly transferred to fences thereafter where he won three in a row prior to an interrupted pathway to the Jewson Novices Chase. His wins included a Grade One Feltham Novices Chase over three miles on heavy ground but the description is misleading: two fences were omitted and such was the moderate class level of his opponents that the race was run at a crawl early on and Dynaste won the race easily with a surge of tactical pace jumping four out. 

A similar pattern emerged in the Jewson Novices Chase. He tracked Benefficient in third or four place before moving alongside on the run to three out at which point he was moving so well that he outjumped his rival and held the race advantage going downhill to the final turn. It was a fairly bold move although whether it was determined by the jockey or the horse himself is hard to say. Dynaste had travelled well and injected decisive raw pace into each of his previous three chase runs. The difference here was that he was meeting a top novice with hardened race conditioning and a resilient mentality. Although capable of staying further than 20f (as he would later prove in the Betfair Chase) Dynaste began to physically tire from his own lack of race fitness and conditioning and approaching the last Benefficient had transferred his energy behind the bridle to continue galloping with power, moving past his rivals to win comfortably, his jockey celebrating well before the finishing line. 

Jolt: Benefficient ploughs his legs through the top of the third last fence, halting his momentum briefly; Dynaste flies the obstacle, moving strongly within his comfort zone at the time

Leader: the descent has confirmed the difference in momentum at the third last fence; Captain Conan advances also; gathered together and "filled up" running downhill, Benefficient now has energy to transfer behind the bridle

Left Leg In (image zoom): The difference in energy distribution from the third last to here, the final fence, sees a turnaround in fortunes; Dynaste and even more so Captain Conan are left with diminishing reserves of energy. Benefficient is more powerful behind the bridle

Fatigue: Captain Conan is fading into fifth; Dynaste has almost been caught by horses from a long way off the pace; Benfficient is dominant

The front two produced impressive performances in different ways and it is likely that this race brought Dynaste to a physical peak at Aintree next time out, where again he was visually impressive this time over three miles on good ground. His main opponent (Third Intention) was one he had already outclassed in the Feltham Novices Chase and is a non-stayer to date over three miles (W0 L5). 

Three miles would remain Dynaste's distance assignment for his first season in open company, where he ran the best race of his career at Haydock in a high class renewal of the Grade One Betfair Chase. This race would see the association between Cue Card and the adjective "stayer" grow closer, but the analytics of the race confirm that it was a masterclass in tactical pace control from the front, rather than a performance that relied in any meaningful way on stamina or, more accurately, sustained racing energy and power from behind the bridle. Cue Card was still a highly impressive winner, backing up his win with a creditable second in the King George. This provides the context for assessing Dynaste's effort in chasing Cue Card home at Haydock, where he gradually and continually crept closer and closer to the top class front-runner without in the end being able to land a telling blow from behind the bridle. The future King George winner, Silviniaco Conti, was just behind him although admittedly his trainer was using the contest as a prep race for his staying star. Dynaste's energy distribution was incredibly even but it was too even - the class of opponent and energy-sapping distance stretched out Dynaste's On/Behind bridle ratio into a straight line, whereas before there were spikes of decisive energy bursts. 

Just Too Far: Dynaste (left) splits two horses of the highest class in the Grade One Betfair Chase. If operating with maximum physicality he will be a potent threat in March

Over a shorter distance, on better ground, against slightly less imposing elite horses, Dynaste should prove capable of delivering a high class Grade One performance. As the Jewson Novices Chase showed he will need to be operating at maximum levels of physicality to do so. His trainer has sometimes struggled to prepare his horses in this respect with regard to the Festival and top class races; it is therefore a test for him as much as it is for Dynaste.

RSA Chase 2014: Towards Raceday

* Personal order of preference indicated by descending order of reference

Success depends upon previous preparation, and without such preparation there is sure to be failure

- Confucius 

For nearly half a century trainers of RSA Chase candidates have assured themselves and those interested that a "prep run" is not required. For nearly half a century they have been wrong. The last 49 winners of this race had run in the same calendar year. In some renewals all the main players will have had a prep run, with no "fresh" candidates, which only serves to emphasize the overall point. Rigid minds. In another twenty two years or so the length of this statistical anomaly will have matched the age at which Confucius passed away. Those betting on the race who suggest they are "not bothered" by this equine sponsored educational message are deceiving themselves but it is possible that within the riddle is a deeper meaning. For sure, preparation is important, but in open company absence did not stop Bobs Worth from winning the hardest physical test of all - the Gold Cup - having not run since December 1. It is not so much that potential RSA Chase horses need a prep run, although there are clear physiological reasons why they do. It is more to do with the fact that horses that are asked not to prepare on a racecourse are either a) not actually top class novice prospects and/or b) carrying physical problems that need managing rather than exacerbating but which are then fundamentally exposed by the demands of an RSA Chase. In some way such horses are being "looked after", whilst the real/better contenders are allowed by their connections to get out and prove it. Experience of running and defeat for RSA contenders is often crucial to their development.

The honourable First Lieutenant is an interesting recent example, given that he was "fresh" for his RSA Chase in which he was beaten by Bobs Worth (who was, simply, the better horse) but over hurdles had been prepared in exactly the same way by his trainer to win a competitive renewal of the Neptune Novices Hurdle. Chasing is far more demanding, of course, and when he was runner-up in the RSA Chase he may have been fortunate that Last Instalment, who had beaten him convincingly by 6L earlier that season in the Topaz Novices Chase, and Invictus, who had beaten Bobs Worth and Silviniaco Conti in the Reynoldstown at Ascot, both missed the race through injury. One day, one year, sure, the winner of the RSA Chase will buck the increasingly iron-clad trend. Of the five prominent opponents in place this season, only one is arriving fresh (Morning Assembly). 

Smad Place ran for the third time this season in February and as a seven year old he may only now be maturing into his physical capacity. It could be that he is a slightly fragile type, also. The reasoning for this stems from his ten months off the track following his Triumph Hurdle season. Following his comeback in January 2012 his trainer revealed that: 

He's had some problems and we never had him right last year [2011]. He spent most of the winter on antibiotics, and although he did well in the summer, he went and threw a splint and we couldn't get him ready.

He subsequently recorded a respectable third to Big Buck's in the World Hurdle, but was again presumably experiencing problems at the start of the 2012-13 season (beaten 39L in his two starts) and only came right in the Spring, with solid third placings to Solwhit at the Cheltenham and Aintree festivals. It is therefore likely that he summered well and was strong enough to begin a novice chase campaign but this time misfortune constrained him: he unseated with the race at his mercy on his chase debut and after winning comfortably on his next start his stable had to be closed down due to problems affecting many runners. He reappeared in February at a near-waterlogged Newbury to beat Sam Winner by 2L but whilst this was again meritorious he did not stamp the authority of a top novice prospect on his rival and goes to Cheltenham without experience at Graded chase level. 

Right Place What Time? Smad Place has run his best races in the second half of the season to date

That said for whatever reason Smad Place does seem to come to himself in the second half of the season. As well as overall class the question mark for the athletic grey is his energy distribution, which at the top level over hurdles was extremely even. This means he could gallop towards the front of an elite race without ever really threatening to land a blow in the contest. His latest win at Newbury was of a similar kind but at Cheltenham his opponents will have more residual class than Sam Winner - his Irish counterparts have been trading blows at Graded Chase level for most of the season.

One of whom is Carlingford Lough, who in March will be having his fourteenth chase start in just eighteen months. His main recent target was last summer's Galway Plate, which he won as a heavily backed favourite in the process ending a run of eight consecutive defeats. Perhaps the win gave him wings because following a short break over October and November he grew into a leading Grade One novice chaser. Firstly pushing Don Cossack all the way in the Drinmore Novices Chase; secondly beating Morning Assembly in the Topaz Novices Chase; and most recently being well in contention jumping the last fence in the Dr P. J. Moriarty Novices Chase against Ballycasey and, again, Don Cossack but being caught slightly short of room on the inner causing a peck on landing and a jockey exit. That he has prospered over the winter months without a summer break reveals a high level of mental toughness that cannot be ignored, especially in a race where focusing the mind is key. 

The evidence so far suggests that Carlingford Lough is a thorough stayer - he was an 8/1 favourite for the Irish Grand National (2013, pulled up) - and had stayed on well to win the Galway Plate on soft ground. His On/Behind bridle ratio stresses the "behind" aspect and because he seems to start most of his races in rear his mentality is important: he must be willing to commit himself to the contest then match and surpass what those in front of him are demanding. His best run so far came in the Topaz Novices Chase over 3m where he was able to race powerfully for a sustained period behind the bridle to get the better of Morning Assembly. Either side of that race he was perhaps just caught out for pace/gallop class when run down by Don Cossack (20f, G/Y) and in the Moriarty when trying to challenge Ballycasey's dominance. Against Don Cossack he looked to have his rival in trouble but it was likely that the shorter distance and better ground did not stretch his rival's energy reserves enough and, perhaps, the race exposed a class differential. It looked that way visually at least. It has to be considered by way of balance that that particular race was Carlingford Lough's first after his mini-break following the summer, whereas Don Cossack had run just two weeks prior. 

Carlingford Lough is a strong stayer with a toughened mentality and is unlikely to be affected in any way by being tightened for room at the last fence at Leopardstown. His biggest obstacle looks set to be conceding ground via race position to horses who in all probability have more residual class than him: his continuous race profile, the assault on prestigious handicap chases, and the fact that he is already an eight year old may just signify that connections were always fully aware of his limitations on some level. He will have Synchronised as his shadow through the race and remains a potent threat.

I Will Find You: Carlingford Lough (left) has Graded chase talent, power behind the bridle and an all-action mentality

And so enters the "fresh" horse, the one charged with turning over the hands of Confucius without touching him. That Morning Assembly has the raw ability to win based on this season's evidence is not in doubt: he has run easily with his main rivals in Ireland bar Ballycasey. But he has done so only in the first half of the season and the reason why has been stated specifically by his trainer:

It was always the plan to go straight from Christmas to Cheltenham as we don't want to over-race him. His real strong point is stamina and the RSA Chase has been the aim all along, but he's really a horse for next year. 

This is the crux of the matter. Next year he will be forced to race in open company, against hardened elite class horses and horses out of the very top drawer - the kind of experience that his trainer says he lacks now, in his novice season. If he is thought good enough for open company Graded races in the future, the aim for a top staying prospect is either to master the Cheltenham Festival or avoid it, as Paul Nicholls chose to do with Silviniaco Conti, for example. Instead, with a committed hesitation and whatever the reasons be they to do with quality or physicality, a mixed message is sent to the horse on raceday: give your all, even though we have not prepared you to do so and this, more than anything else, seals the fate of the "fresh" RSA Chase horse.

Fresh Fear: Morning Assembly will make RSA Chase history if overcoming racecourse absence to win

Barring one fall over hurdles Morning Assembly has finished first or second on every start under Rules. He has shown himself adaptable to small and large field sizes and to varying degrees of ground conditions. He was classy enough to win a Grade One novice hurdle at the Punchestown Festival last season. Having won his tussle with Don Cossack he then faced off with the steely, progressive and experienced Carlingford Lough in the Topaz Novices Chase over three miles. In that race he travelled prominently and comfortably in terrible weather but as his trainer has noted he was a little "careful" with some of his jumping, which led to some of his galloping pace advantage being shorn off. What was interesting analytically about the race was the different stages at which both transferred their energy behind the bridle. Carlingford Lough had done so out of necessity much earlier - he had to make ground from rear and his On/Behind bridle ratio strongly favours the latter aspect in this company, so getting rolling early was important. Morning Assembly's optimal bridal ratio is more central, by contrast. He was able to travel more easily through the race but that meant that he had less time to respond behind the bridle. He had begun the transfer of energy process after the final bend but had to be held together at the final fence and therefore only got racing proper after landing, whereas his main rival had been rolling behind the bridle with increasing power from some way out and mastered him late but with authority on the run to the line. With no more experience, no more miles in the legs, Morning Assembly will have to prove he can cope with more rivals pressing and harrying him through the race and then deal with other, classier horses racing proper over a longer distance than was the case in the Topaz. It is a tall order indeed.

Ballycasey made his way to the Festival last year but he was withdrawn from the Albert Bartlett Novices Chase on the morning of the race owing, officially, to abnormal blood analysis. With an infrequent racecourse appearance pattern, Ballycasey brings a sense of fragility to a tough race. Yet that he is potentially the classiest horse in the race is perhaps not in doubt and, analytically, he possesses the requisite characteristics to win the event. He was initially unextended over hurdles, winning easily twice in the manner of a potentially elite racehorse before being withdrawn from Cheltenham and running next at Punchestown, where he ran as if not at his best but was nonetheless beaten 7L into third by a horse he may meet here, Morning Assembly.

Despite always being thought of as a stayer, his trainer had no concerns about starting his novice chase season in a moderate race over 17f on good ground. Ballycasey didn't turn a hair in winning but then suffered a setback of some kind over the winter and did not reappear next until the three-runner Grade One Dr. P. J. Moriarty Chase - almost a rite of passage for future Irish RSA Chase winners. The trial race is a stepping stone and winning is by no means imperative but Ballycasey did win, making all and staying on well from the front to confirm the promise of his prior runs. The somewhat limited evidence suggests that his curve of energy distribution is quite even but that it is underpinned by a certain amount of residual class. He can probably jump and progress through any intensity of race transitions to a certain point but there has to be a concern regarding the amount of energy and intensity he will be able to transfer behind the bridle towards the end of a three mile Festival race. Class dispensed in the form of "On" bridle work within a comfort zone only carries a racehorse so far. This is not to suggest that Ballycasey cannot race effectively once forced to switch behind the bridle - he did so in the Moriarty - but lack of racecourse evidence makes it possible only to estimate the extent to which he can successfully knit together each successive race transition once faced with peak fitness competition, better ground and harder, longer running. The demands on his energy distribution curve will potentially skew the evidence generated under less demanding circumstances so far (the Moriarty was a classy race but its effects were generated by only three runners).

Class Power: Ballycasey's physique does not lend itself to intense training and racecourse frequency

His physicality must also be noted. He is not in the "bruising" or "strapping" chaser mould. He offers elegance and refinement in a way that suggests his training problems correspond to a physical constitution of silk rather than toughened leather. There is no doubting his mentality when he is sound but time and again the RSA Chase knowingly gathers in the excuses for connections to use after defeat is announced. There is a proviso amongst this. Firstly that the runners from the UK actually lack the class suggested in their runs to date (only the Reynoldstown Chase can now change that); and secondly that Ballycasey himself improves and matures for having something of a proper race over fences. The blood and thunder RSA Chase does not always materialise. It is always physically demanding but some are brutal affairs; however only recently Bobs Worth's defeat of First Lieutenant was a little more serene. In that kind of race, Ballycasey's high levels of residual class would be strongly favoured.

As is now apparent, a win for any of the four main Irish challengers would not be a surprise. But they will be separated in the race by specific racing reasons be they predictable, explicable or not. This is the attempt being made here. Small setbacks that will be revealed after the race will largely be unknown before it; there can be a difference between progression and thriving leading into the race. In many ways given that Ballycasey outpointed DON COSSACK quite readily at Leopardstown, it may seem counter-intuitive to expect the defeated horse there to prevail in the bigger event. Nor would Ballycasey confirming the form be in the least bit surprising. But as with Lord Windermere last season, the racecourse evidence strongly suggests that winning the RSA Chase is within the compass of the Gigginstown runner. 

In the Grade Two Florida Pearl Novice Chase (22f, Y) Don Cossack was jumping out of his jockey's hands, Cooper having to hold onto him on landing several times to prevent him from doing too much, often moving forward when galloping also but then restrained slightly, in so doing using up precious energy through the race which was ultimately why he was outstayed at the end of it, allied to the fact that it was in the early season stage of training. The horse that used his energy more efficiently on the day, Morning Assembly, will reoppose in March but the circumstances of their subsequent development and training programmes are very different. That November race is likely to have told his trainer most of what he wanted to know about his horse. Just two weeks later, again relishing dry ground, Don Cossack took down the Drinmore Novices Chase beating Carlingford Lough, who would then go on to beat Morning Assembly in the Topaz at the end of the month. Here, the Drinmore, early December, the efforts of his race just two weeks prior meant that Don Cossack was unable to run as effectively as before. He travelled okay but had to start switching behind the bridle notably early compared to his previous run. He then seemed to lack some strength and conditioning as Carlingford Lough, himself racing behind the bridle, pulled away a bit. What was impressive in this respect was the way in which Don Cossack responded to being organized behind the bridle and, eventually finding his breathing rhythm, finally stayed on powerfully to mow down his determined rival. He found a way to win. 

Power-packed: Don Cossack (right) did most of his racing in impressive fashion before jumping slightly left at the last fence in the Florida Pearl Novices Chase. He was still able to fight back alongside Morning Assembly, but was outstayed by a more energy efficient rival on the day

His prep run (21f Soft/Heavy) in the Moriarty signified his continued seasonal progress. It would have been surprising had he been able to move easily with the fluent class of Ballycasey on this ground at this distance but nonetheless he was far from compromised. His transfer of energy phase was notably smooth, shaken up with the reins to keep close contact with the leader approaching the final bend the switch behind the bridle began but there was no loss of momentum. Slightly behind him, Carlingford Lough was being given encouragement from the whip but Don Cossack was not: he was transferring his energy behind the bridle and after jumping the last was then asked for maximum effort and responded well. He was unable to match the class of Ballycasey over this distance, on this ground, on this day but he did not let him get away from him by too much, suggesting an examination over further and on drier ground (or ground less deep) would match the range of his energy distribution curve far more. 

Over hurdles Don Cossack ran with some illustrious names: Defy Logic, Sizing Gold, Pont Alexandre, The Tullow Tank, Mozoltov, Annie Power. And although unsuccessful in that sphere in Graded company, he was expected to emerge a tougher, more resolute and more effective staying novice chaser. He clearly summered well as evidenced by starting his campaign as early as October and he has progressed through each stage of the season, absorbing four races into his legs and responding to each physical challenge and race recovery period. He has always had great scope, a physical size and composition that would require staying distances and whilst clearly handling heavy ground he has proved his preference for drier surfaces on which he travels and jumps with alacrity. In 2011 his trainer went very close in this race with a horse that travelled supremely well throughout but who just failed to handle the final uphill demands of the contest behind the bridle. Don Cossack's On/Behind bridle ratio is more even, more atoned to the demands of this race and as was the case last year he may tell us that defeat in the Moriarty is an ideal way to prepare for the big day.