The first Group 1 of the British National Hunt season, the Betfair Chase takes place at Haydock Park on Saturday.
Run over a distance of 3 miles and 1 and half furlongs, ten runners compete for a first prize of £116,029.
Haydock Park plays host to the Betfair Chase on Saturday (Pic – Haydock Park on FB)
Grey Dawning, The Real Whacker and Bravemansgame along with Scottish raider Ahoy Senor are four of the nine rivals defending champ Royal Pagaille contends with in a strong renewal.
The Irish are also in town. Hewick, winner of the King George VI Chase at Kempton last season makes the trip along with the JP McManus owned pair of Limerick Lace and Capodanno. The latter, trained by Willie Mullins was supplemented by his owner earlier this week.
Protektorat provided trainer Dan Skelton with his first victory in the famous race in 2022 but was withdrawn on Monday with the stable solely represented by last season’s exciting novice, Grey Dawning.
The Turners Novices’ Chase hero is ante-post favourite but missed his seasonal return in the bet365 Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby due to fast ground. However trainer Dan Skelton is confident conditions at Haydock won’t be an issue.
Grey Dawning carries a Timeform rating of 161p and is a horse connections have long thought could reach this sort of level.
Skelton observed: “I’ve always thought he was going to be really, really good. He just has the attitude at home, the way he gallops and the way he sees out his gallop, you always think there’s a bit left. They’re the best ones.”
“We want to go down the Gold Cup route, we’d love to become a Gold Cup horse. That’s what you start out hoping, then the racecourse will tell you whether that’s realistic or not.”
And after speaking to the media for about 10 minutes in the winning connections room at Cheltenham on Sunday, Skelton clearly felt it was time to cut to the chase.
“You all want to know the answer to the question – how good is he, don’t you?” he smiled.
“The truth is we’ll find out the answer on Saturday.”
With Galopin Des Champs and Fastorslow set to renew rivalry around 23 hours later in the John Durkan at Punchestown, this looks a good starting point for the striking grey.
Royal Pagaille and The Real Whacker, who defeated Bravemansgame at Wetherby last time out are quality front-runners who will ensure the pace is on from the start. Add in Hewick, last seen finishing second to Envoi Allen in the Champion Chase at Down Royal and the top-rated Ahoy Senor, and Grey Dawning will certainly know he’s been in a race.
