I thought this race deserves its own thread as it has been a significant Triumph Hurdle trial over the years. First run in 1988, the Adonis has thrown up 6 winners of the Triumph Hurdle, including 2 of the last 3 in Zarkandar and Soldatino, and has also been won by Champion Hurdlers Binocular and Punjabi, and top 2-mile chase Well Chief. Suffice to say, it is a race targetted by the top yards for introducing really nice types. The race is run over 2 miles with 8 hurdles to be jumped, and is open to 4 year-olds only. Mr Henderson has 2 entered at the moment, and they couldn't be more different in terms of experience. Courtesy Call won a flat handicap off 81 for Mark Johnston but has yet to jump a hurdle in public, whereas Vasco Du Ronceray already has 3 runs over hurdles under his belt and a BHA rating of 137. He has, however, been beaten by Far West and Kashmir Peak and is widely available at 33/1 for the Triumph - it would be something of a shock if he were to take this. The stable has Rolling Star towards the head of the market for the Triumph and he looks their main hope, although a clear victory for Courtesy Call here would put the cat among the pigeons. He is also a general 33/1 for the Triumph. Paul Nicholls has Lac Fontana and Irish Saint entered up, and both feature in the "2nd tier" of prices at around the 16/1 mark for the Triumph. Irish Saint was farily readily outpointed by Rolling Star having won his first 2 starts, and Lac Fontana finished 2nd to another Henderson horse, Chatterbox, at Newbury 2 weeks ago. Difficult to split the 2 on paper and it will be interesting to see which one runs or, if both run, which one Ruby chooses. Alan King has 3 entered, but with King Of Dudes and Uriah Heep having run at Doncaster on Wednesday, it looks like his runner will be L'Unique and Choc Thornton is already booked. He has done absolutely nothing wrong in winning 2 juvenile hurdles in very taking fashion and at around 20/1 he could be a bit of value for the big day. If he takes this impressively then those odds will surely tumble? Gary Moore's Chris Pea Green has looked an exciting recruit but carries a penalty in this and he would need to be very good to concede weight all round to this field. Those look to be the main protagonists at the moment and the one I like at this stage is Alan King's L'Unique. Thoughts?
Spot on George - final declarations now in: Chris Pea Green 11-5 Irish Saint 11-5 Foster's Road 11-2 Vasco Du Ronceray 11-2 Courtesy Call 10-12 L'Unique 10-12 Shadarpour 10-12 £27,500 guaranteed For 4yo. Weights 10st 12lb. Penalties: a winner of a Class 4 hurdle 4lb; of a Class 1 to 3 hurdle 7lb. Allowances fillies: 7lb Entries 14 pay £ 137 Penalty value 1st £15,661.25 2nd £5,876.75 3rd £2,942.50 4th £1,465.75 5th £737.00 6th £368.50 Could some kind person post the latest betting? Ta
Irish Saint for me in this! but wouldnt suprise me if the Moore horse won with the kind of form he is on at the mo!!
Yeah Irish Saint for me too, if the Sporting Life tissue price of 2/1 is about early doors, I'm all over it
I have always thought that Vasco Du Ronceray will be better on better ground and as it looks like the ground will be good at kempton tomorrow i think i will be on this one
Yes - unless either Henderson's newcomer or the King horse romp home we won't be seeing the Triumph winner tomorrow
I think the value call in the Adonis is the Moore horse at 11/2. He's done nothing wrong, his only defeat was on the AW bumpers. His 3 races on turf have been more like work for this horse and he battered a horse LTO than Venetia Williams pitched into Grade One company on debut. I'm not sure the Henderson horse is good enough, King's horse is yet to beat anything and the Nicholls horse...well he could be tough to beat but who knows. You take a chance on the one with the less fashionable trainer because that's where the value is.
Paul Nicholl's said before his debut for the yard here in December that he didn't think Irish Saint was a Cheltenham horse, so it was no surprise to see him turned over there on Trials Day. He's a confident selection back at the scene of his imperious victory over Christmas.
