IT WAS a race to bring a tremble to the hand and the voice, asgood as anything Sandown has seen for years, and whatever theattendance figure was at the course on Saturday, 10 times thatnumber will claim in years to come that they were there whenFlagship Uberalles beat Direct Route in the Tingle Creek Chase.
And who could blame them for a little white lie? It was somethingthat anyone would want to have been a part of, as two of the finestchasers in training went at it mercilessly up the hill. By the timethey reached the post, both had mined seams of courage that had notbeen touched before. Punters who thought about a trip to Esher butdecided to do some shopping or DIY instead may never forgivethemselves.
Unlike many of life's big mistakes, though, there might yet be away to claw something back from this one, since the first two homecan be expected to do it all over again in the Queen Mother ChampionChase in March. With Call Equiname, the defending champion, alsoexpected to take his chance, tickets for the middle day of theFestival, which generally attracts a slightly smaller crowd thanthose either side, may suddenly become the hottest in town.
Only these three horses are now quoted at best-price odds of lessthan 10-1 for the Champion Chase, with Flagship Uberalles outrightfavourite with two of the leading firms.
What most punters will want to know before taking a view, though,is whether Paul Nicholls prefers the champion or the youngpretender, both of whom are stabled in his yard. Yesterday he couldsay only that both horses are well, and may have only one more runeach before Cheltenham.
'Flagship Uberalles has come out of the race in cracking order,he's as tough as old boots,' Nicholls said. 'He won't run overChristmas as I don't want to overface him with Cheltenham very muchin mind. The Emblem Chase at Kempton or the Game Spirit at Newburyin the new year are his most likely targets, and the latter isprobably favourite as it's a month before the Festival and would fitin nicely.'
Call Equiname, meanwhile, will probably head to the VictorChandler Chase at Ascot in January, a race he won last year, and isapparently in good health despite his poor run in the Murphy's GoldCup last month. 'His work since Cheltenham has been good so I'mignoring that race as if he didn't run in it and training him asnormal even thought the whole affair remains a mystery,' Nichollssaid.
Direct Route, too, seems none the worse for Saturday's race,according to Sue Johnson, wife of his trainer, Howard. It is worthremembering, though, that you can only be sure a hard race has notleft its mark when the horse concerned runs close to his best in hisnext race. And even the best horses will be beaten eventually, asRisk Of Thunder discovered at Punchestown yesterday. The winner ofall 10 of his previous races over the track's cross-country course,Risk Of Thunder, who runs in the colours of Sean Connery, couldmanage only second there yesterday, behind Little Len, a 50-1chance.
Brother Of Iris, another of Saturday's winners, was the onlymover in the Gold Cup market yesterday, down to 20-1 with WilliamHill, although Coral still offer 33-1. His owners have vouchers at100-1, but it is still hard to see them being anything more than anovelty come the race itself.
A better bet is that Tony McCoy will overtake both John Francomeand Stan Mellor in the all-time winners list well before theFestival. McCoy has four rides at Ayr today, and needs three morewinners to reach 1,000 in his career. Another 39 after that willleave him adrift of only Richard Dunwoody (1,699) and PeterScudamore (1,678), and no bookie would offer anything less than longodds-on about him overhauling both before he hangs up his boots.
RICHARD EDMONDSON
Nap: Naughty Future
(Ayr 2.00)
NB: Quick March
(Ayr 3.00)
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