Lots in favour of Noble Prince to win Aintree’s Old Roan Chase
Published:Noble Prince has won on his seasonal reappearance over obstacles for each of the last three seasons and he can continue this streak with a triumph in the Old Roan Chase.
Paul Nolan’s runner has not been seen since pulling up at the Cheltenham Festival in March in the Ryanair Chase, when he was discovered to have suffered an injury.
However, Nolan is more than happy with the progress since and believes the horse is in optimum shape for this time of the season.
Noble Prince is 11/2 to win the Old Roan Chase and the big thing in his favour is that he tends to perform well when making his first start of a new season.
He has an October jumps victory to his name in the last three seasons and as the sole Irish representative in the field, Nolan would clearly not have brought him over if not confident of a strong run.
If Nolan simply wanted to get a run into the legs of Noble Prince, he could have found a small race in Ireland for this task.
Meanwhile, the race is over Noble Prince’s optimum trip of 2m4f and a strong run will be needed to convince Nolan that he is capable of stepping up in trip for the King George at Kempton on Boxing Day, for which he is currently around the 25/1 mark.
Of the other runners, Wishfull Thinking will be classified as a strong challenger, but this is a big ask off top weight, giving Noble Prince 6lb.
For Non Stop would have a decent chance if finding his best form with this a fairly weak renewal, but horses aged under eight do not have the best record in this race, something which also counts against Paul Nicholls’ Pacha Du Polder.
Gauvain, like Noble Prince, is another who tends to start a season quickly, but he has a bit to prove after finishing last season poorly.
Therefore, the each-way value may lie with Stagecoach Pearl at 16/1. The horse has previously found this level of contest too hot, but is one from one at Aintree and has finished in the first two in the last four seasons on his seasonal reappearance.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
