Ultimate Festival stamina test beckons for Quito De La Roque
Published:Bags of stamina are the chief asset of Quito De La Roque and this could be valuable at Cheltenham where he seems set to be entered in the National Hunt Chase.
Quito De La Roque is 10/1 in the Cheltenham betting to win the four-mile contest and heads to the Festival on the back of four wins in five races.
As if four miles was enough of an endurance test, trainer Colm Murphy has indicated that the horse will only run at Cheltenham if the ground is soft, where his stamina can come into play even more.
Punters keen to back Quito De La Roque in the National Hunt Chase may therefore be best served to take advantage of the Ladbrokes offer of providing any stake money back for non runners, so no money is lost if firm Cheltenham ground forces Murphy to pull his seven-year-old out.
Murphy added: “I’ve been absolutely delighted with him this season. He’s always looked a chaser.
“You can never be confident of any horse staying four miles, but I wouldn’t have thought the trip would bother him.”
Quito De La Roque is still also entered for the RSA Chase, but this would put added pressure on his already suspect jumping and there is the feeling that the pace would be slightly too quick for him.
All of Quito De La Roque’s five runs have been on heavy ground and his only defeat came when just failing to reel in Bostons Angel in the closing stages of a three-mile Grade One at Leopardstown in December.
Some statistics also put Quito De La Roque in with a strong chance as just one horse aged less than seven from 62 runners have won the National Hunt Chase since 1989, while seven of the last nine winners had either won or finished second in their final run before heading to Cheltenham.
A £25 stake on Quito De La Roque winning the National Hunt Chase would return £250. New customers can sign up here for a free £25 bet.
