Saturday Review

There had been some small rumours circulating that the Ditcheat stable of Paul Nicholls was 'out of form'. How fickle this game can be as he banged in a big race treble as his championship rival Nicky Henderson was conspicuous by his absence from the winner's rostrum. As the Champion trainer has shown time and again it pays to side with him on the big Saturday afternoons. This was a pleasing outcome with so many hopes riding on Kauto Star at Kempton in just 9 days time.

The banker of the day was Big Buck's. I decided to have a wager sufficient to cover all my other bets for the day, plus a little bit. Assuming that Big Buck's won I would be in profit whatever happened elsewhere. He didn't disappoint, though I must admit that it wasn't as smooth a ride as I would have liked. Dynaste set a ferocious pace at the head of affairs and down the side of the course into Swinley Bottom looked like he might have the champion in trouble. However, appearances can be deceptive and once Walsh asked the question Big Buck's fairly sauntered to the lead, eye-balled the young pretender, and swiftly asserted to record the comfortable victory that we had all expected. He seems the finished article nowadays and it is very hard to imagine defeat any time soon. A 4th World Hurdle back at Cheltenham in March seems a formality, even with 3 months still to go.

Big Buck's is well clear at the last to make it 14 consecutive wins.

Others have suggested that Dynaste was a disappointment but I think this criticism is wide of the mark. He might have finished a tired and well beaten 4th in the end but he ran with great promise for a long way. He tried to put it up to Big Buck's from the front, which is a near impossible task, but against less supreme opposition he is well capable of registering a graded success in the near future.

The Minack and Reve De Sivola, the two I liked in the 3m Handicap Chase nearly managed to bring up the forecast. Both seemed to benefit to a certain extent from the blunder of Vino Griego two out. That is another I have had my eye on but I wasn't sure the 3m trip on soft ground would suit. And so it proved with him tiring in the last half mile and I suspect he would have been caught even without the mistake. The winner looks a progressive stayer and is one to respect in the big Handicap Chases when the ground is on the soft side of good. Nicholls seems to hold him in some regard, especially as he purposefully bypassed the Welsh National for fer of bottoming out his young chaser. There appears every chance that his faith might be rewarded. Reve De Sivola again ran his customary frustrating race with a series of slow jumps costing him ground before he stayed on very strongly at the death. He is definitely fairly weighted and I'm sure that Nick Williams will win a valuable race with him at some stage, the question is when.

The Ladbroke was as competitive as it looked on paper with about 6 in the air together at the last. In the end the Alan King trained Raya Star battled to victory with the Tim Vaughan trained outsider Rigidity in 2nd and Alarazi a short head 3rd. The hot favourite Prospect Wells ran a pleasing enough race in 4th without ever looking like winning. Back on a sounder surface he is entitled to run well in the Supreme at the Festival. The form of the race was a big boost to another Nicholls Festival challenger in Rock On Ruby. This one has outside Champion Hurdle aspirations and his credentials are set to be tested in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton. He had both Raya Star and Alarazi a long way behind him when winning the Gerry Fielden and looks a smart prospect. I doubt the Christmas Hurdle will play to his strength but it will be interesting to see how he fares. Sailors Warn ran a fair race but could never quite get on terms. The unusually slow pace might not have been the biggest help. Another not helped by the pace was the 3rd horse Alarazi. He travelled very keenly for a long way after finding himself with little cover. I thought he might drop away as the rest came to challenge but he kept on really nicely and looks capable of winning another big handicap. His next target will be the Totesport Trophy at Newbury. I am sure he will meet a few of today's rivals there.

Things were less of a success up at Haydock and this just reaffirms my belief that it is best to leave racing on heavy ground well alone. Wymott was disappointing and never really got into it at all. Jason Maguire wasn't hard on the horse and I'm sure his day will come. Reindeer Dippin was a lot closer to a return in 4th but I am disappointed that he wasn't at least in the frame. He plugged on past beaten horses but to be honest never looked dangerous. In those conditions it is hard to make up ground and he never threatened those in front. He is still a horse to keep on side when the mud is flying.