The Nicky Henderson-trained Snake Eyes remains one of 12/1 co-favourites with the sponsors for Britain's richest handicap hurdle, the £155,000 Betfair Hurdle, following the publication of the weights today for the Newbury race on Saturday, February 7th.
Snake Eyes (9st 8lb) is also among the entries for this Sunday's BoyleSports Hurdle at Leopardstown. Owned by J.P. McManus, the lightly-raced seven-year-old is 57th in the weights for the Betfair Hurdle. There is a maximum permitted field of 24 for the extended two-mile contest. Snake Eyes won for the first time when taking a listed handicap hurdle under A.P. McCoy at Sandown on December 6th.
Henderson has nine entries in total. The pick of the remainder include Grade 1 Christmas Hurdle fourth Sign Of A Victory (11st 1lb - 14/1), plus Vasco Du Ronceray (10st 9lb - 20/1), an impressive winner at Haydock in November, exciting juvenile Top Notch (10st - 16/1) and Dawalan (10st 8lb - 20/1), last seen out when successful at Aintree in December.
Harry Whittington, based at Sparsholt Firs close to Wantage, previously operated a satellite yard for Nicky Henderson before taking out his own training licence in September, 2012.
Whittington is considering the Betfair Hurdle for the exciting Arzal (10st 5lb - 25/1). The French import finished second in a maiden hurdle on his British debut at Chepstow in November and later in the same month upset 2/9 favourite West Wizard when recording an impressive seven-length victory in a novices' hurdle at Kempton Park. The five-year-old was last seen out at the same venue on December 26th when beaten just over nine lengths in third behind the well-regarded Jollyallan.
Whittington reported: "The Betfair Hurdle is an option for Arzal. It has been a good race for novices in the past. We are just trying to settle him better at home as he has been a bit exuberant in his races so far and is still a big baby.
"If we can get him to switch off, we might take our chance in the Betfair Hurdle. We just need to get him to settle better and grow up a bit. He showed his exuberance last time at Kempton but it was still a cracking run.
"To give ourselves a chance in a big handicap like the Betfair Hurdle, you do need a horse to settle so you can be where you need to be. It could be that 10st 5lb is a nice weight to carry."
Champion British trainer Paul Nicholls, successful two years ago with Zarkandar, has two leading contenders in Calipto (10st 9lb - 9/1 favourite), who is unbeaten at Newbury and the useful novice Emerging Talent (10st 2lb - 14/1).
Betfair spokesman Barry Orr commented this morning: "A growing liability on the Paul Nicholls-trained Calipto has resulted in his price contracting from 14/1 to 9/1 clear favourite, while we have pushed Snake Eyes out to 12/1.
"It is already a decent betting contest and another entry attracting ante-post support is the John Quinn-trained Chieftains Choice (10st) - we've seen some clever money for him at 25/1, he's now 16/1.''
Heading the weights on 11st 12lb is the Willie Mullins-trained Diakali (14/1). A Grade 1 winner in France in 2013, the six-year-old was last seen out when fourth in the French Champion Hurdle in June. Mullins, Ireland's champion Jump trainer, is also responsible for Arctic Fire (11st 7lb - 12/1), third in the Grade 1 Ryanair Hurdle at Leopardstown over Christmas. Mullins, who also has nine entries in total, could also run Daneking (10st 4lb - 14/1), successful in a valuable handicap hurdle at Fairyhouse in April and Clondaw Warrior (9st 7lb - 14/1), who took fourth behind the Philip Hobbs-trained Garde La Victoire (11st 6b - 16/1) in the Grade 3 Greatwood Hurdle at Cheltenham in November.
Fascino Rustico (9st 10lb - 12/1) is co-second favourite with the sponsor but is another who faces a close call to make the cut as he lies 56th on the list. The seven-year-old, owned by John Hales and trained by Dan Skelton, was an eye-catching winner in novice company at Bangor on January 6th.
Other leading contenders include Pine Creek (10st 10lb - 16/1) and Activial (10st 9lb - 14/1), who finished second and third respectively in the Ladbroke Handicap Hurdle at Ascot. Harry Fry, trainer of Activial, could also run Jolly's Cracked It (10st 6lb - 14/1), who was runner-up in the Grade 1 Tolworth Hurdle at Sandown on January 3rd.
There is a scratchings stage for the Betfair Hurdle on January 20th.
Newbury's Betfair Super Saturday also features the £50,000 Grade 2 Betfair Denman Chase, a trial for the Cheltenham Gold Cup, and the £50,000 Grade 2 Betfair Price Rush Chase over two miles and a furlong.
THE BETFAIR HURDLE
Class 1, Grade 3, £155,000. 3.35pm, Newbury, Saturday, February 7th.
Horse Age Wgt Owner Trainer
DIAKALI (FR) 6 11-12 Wicklow Bloodstock Limited Willie Mullins IRE
ARCTIC FIRE (GER) 6 11-07 Wicklow Bloodstock Limited Willie Mullins IRE
GARDE LA VICTOIRE (FR) 6 11-06 Diana Whateley Philip Hobbs
GET ME OUT OF HERE (IRE) 11 11-03 J P McManus Jonjo O'Neill
BERTIMONT (FR) 5 11-01 Christopher Giles Dan Skelton
SIGN OF A VICTORY (IRE) 6 11-01 Matt & Lauren Morgan Nicky Henderson
ROLLING STAR (FR) 6 11-00 Michael Buckley & The Vestey Family Nicky Henderson
HAWK HIGH (IRE) 5 10-12 Trevor Hemmings Tim Easterby
SEA LORD (IRE) 8 10-12 Bloomfields John Ferguson
ANALIFET (FR) 5 10-11 Gigginstown House Stud Willie Mullins IRE
CINDERS AND ASHES 8 10-11 Dermot Hanafin & Phil Cunningham Donald McCain
SEEDLING 6 10-10 Equis & Christopher Spence Warren Greatrex
PINE CREEK 7 10-10 Bloomfields John Ferguson
HAMMERSLY LAKE (FR) 7 10-10 Michael Buckley Nicky Henderson
VASCO DU RONCERAY (FR) 6 10-09 Simon Munir & Isaac Souede Nicky Henderson
CALIPTO (FR) 5 10-09 Chris Giles & Ian Fogg Paul Nicholls
ACTIVIAL (FR) 5 10-09 Potensis Bloodstock Limited Harry Fry
LUCKY BRIDLE (IRE) 6 10-08 Andrea & Graham Wylie Willie Mullins IRE
DAWALAN (FR) 5 10-08 Simon Munir & Isaac Souede Nicky Henderson
GOODWOOD MIRAGE (IRE) 5 10-08 Lady Bamford & Alice Bamford Jonjo O'Neill
ROYAL IRISH HUSSAR (IRE) 5 10-08 Triermore Stud Nicky Henderson
SLEEPY HAVEN (IRE) 5 10-08 Alan Baxter Anthony Bloor Dave Cheetham Jennie Candlish
CHELTENIAN (FR) 9 10-07 Roger Brookhouse Philip Hobbs
BALLYGLASHEEN (IRE) 5 10-07 R J Gambarini Evan Williams
JOLLY'S CRACKED IT (FR) 6 10-06 GDM Partnership Harry Fry
STARLUCK (IRE) 10 10-06 Andrew Wates David Arbuthnot
ROCK THE WORLD (IRE) 7 10-06 Michael Buckley Jessica Harrington IRE
AMORE ALATO 6 10-06 Sarah Faulks Nick Williams
WICKLOW BRAVE 6 10-06 Wicklow Bloodstock Limited Willie Mullins IRE
FOX NORTON (FR) 5 10-06 B Dunn Nick Williams
MIJHAAR 7 10-06 Bloomfields John Ferguson
RED MERLIN (IRE) 10 10-05 Matthew Taylor Donald McCain
ARZAL (FR) 5 10-05 The Hennessy Six Harry Whittington
BLAIR PERRONE (IRE) 6 10-04 John Breslin Tony Martin IRE
BORDONI (USA) 6 10-04 Bloomfields John Ferguson
ASO (FR) 5 10-04 The Bellamy Partnership Venetia Williams
DANEKING 6 10-04 Susannah Ricci Willie Mullins IRE
ON TOUR (IRE) 7 10-04 T Hywel Jones Evan Williams
MINELLA PRESENT (IRE) 6 10-04 Lady Clarke Neil Mulholland
BALGARRY (FR) 8 10-03 Brocade Racing David Pipe
EMERGING TALENT (IRE) 6 10-02 Mr & Mrs Paul Barber Paul Nicholls
LASER HAWK (IRE) 8 10-01 W J Evans Evan Williams
SWING BOWLER 8 10-01 K Alexander David Pipe
CHIEFTAIN'S CHOICE (IRE) 6 10-00 Carl Hinchy John Quinn
FORCED FAMILY FUN 5 10-00 The Top Silk Syndicate John Quinn
EBONY EXPRESS 6 10-00 ValueRacingClub.co.uk Dr Richard Newland
TOP NOTCH (FR) 4 10-00 Simon Munir & Isaac Souede Nicky Henderson
BARADARI (IRE) 5 9-13 A Brooks Venetia Williams
VIOLET DANCER 5 9-12 D Bessell & Galloping On The South Downs Gary Moore
KASHMIR PEAK (IRE) 6 9-12 Win Only SP Only Partnership John Quinn
GASSIN GOLF 6 9-12 Will Roseff Richard Lee
KAREZAK (IRE) 4 9-12 McNeill Family Alan King
COOL MACAVITY (IRE) 7 9-12 Triermore Stud Nicky Henderson
BALLYBOLLEY (IRE) 6 9-11 Simon Munir & Isaac Souede Nigel Twiston-Davies
WILLEM (FR) 5 9-10 Ecurie Drost David Pipe
FASCINO RUSTICO 7 9-10 John Hales Dan Skelton
SNAKE EYES (IRE) 7 9-08 J P McManus Nicky Henderson
WAR SINGER (USA) 8 9-08 The War Cabinet Johnny Farrelly
HELLO GEORGE (IRE) 6 9-08 M St Quinton/ C Hellyer/ M Strong Philip Hobbs
AS DE FERBET (FR) 5 9-08 Gigginstown House Stud Willie Mullins IRE
FIRST MOHICAN 7 9-07 Henry Ponsonby Alan King
CLONDAW WARRIOR (IRE) 8 9-07 Act D Wagg Syndicate Willie Mullins IRE
LIGHTENTERTAINMENT (IRE) 7 9-06 The Not Over Big Partnership Chris Gordon
BUISENESS SIVOLA (FR) 4 9-01 Simon Munir/Isaac Souede Willie Mullins IRE
A BOY NAMED SUZI 7 nq ABS Partnership Lucy Wadham
65 entries, 11 Irish-trained.
Betfair Sportsbook Odds: 9/1 Calipto; 12/1 Artic Fire, Fascino Rustico, Snake Eyes; 14/1 Activial, Balgarry, Clondaw Warrior, Daneking, Diakali, Emerging Talent, Jolly's Cracked It, Sign Of A Victory; 16/1 Bertimont, Blair Perrone, Chieftains Choice, Garde Le Victoire, Hawk High, Mijhaar, On Tour, Pine Creek, Seedling, Top Notch, Wicklow Brave, Willem; 20/1 Analifet, Ballybolley, Cheltenian, Dawalan, Ebony Express, Fox Notion, Goodwood Mirage, Hello George, Karezak, Kashmir Peak, Lucky Bridle, Rock The World, Rolling Star, Royal Irish Hussar, Vasco Du Ronceray, 25/1 Amore Alato, Arzal, As De Ferbet, Baradari, Buiseness Sivola, Cinders And Ashes, Cool Macavity, First Mohican, Gassin Golf, Get Me Out Of Here, Hammersly Lake, Laser Hawk, Sea Lord, Starluck, 33/1 Aso, Ballyglasheen, Bordoni, Forced Family Fun, Lightentertainment, Minella Present, Red Merlin, Swing Bowler, Violet Dancer, 50/1 Sleepy Haven, War Singer (EW 1/4 odds 4 places)
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