Somersby to find old form to beat Cue Card in Haldon Gold Cup

Cue Card certainly has a lot in his favour looking at the Haldon Gold Cup and there will definitely be a high percentage of punters believing he is the best bet of the day to triumph at Exeter.

Arguably the second-best horse in training over a distance between 2m and 2m4f behind Sprinter Sacre, Cue Card is a tempting 11/10 to win the Haldon Gold Cup over 2m1f.

This is a race that he won well last year and he has triumphed on his seasonal reappearance in each of his last three campaigns, suggesting he goes well fresh.

However, there are a few factors that intimate that he is worth taking on at the prices, which include the success of past warm favourites in the contest, the form of the Colin Tizzard yard in recent weeks and the weight that Cue Card is conceding.

Ashley Brook, Racing Demon, Fair Along, Twist Magic, Somersby and Captain Chris have all been sent off 3/1 or shorter for the Haldon Gold Cup in the last decade and failed to win.

Meanwhile, of the last 18 horses that Tizzard has sent to the racecourse, only one has been successful, which indicates that his stable is far from flying at present.

Finally, Cue Card is conceding at least 17lb in weight to the whole field and he could be found out by either one of the improvers or an older timer that rediscovers some of their better form.

The big danger appears to be William’s Wishes (7/2), who is unbeaten in five career chase starts and certainly looks on the upgrade.

However, defying a career-high mark 9lb greater than he has raced off before looks a little too much to ask.

Cue Card is another running off his highest ever official rating and although Somersby is falling in the other direction, a tempting each-way price of 6/1 may be the best bet of the Haldon Gold Cup.

Somersby arguably hasn’t been seen at his best for close to two years, but his current rating of 155 is the lowest he has been since his novice days.

If Mick Channon can get the nine-year-old to find some of his form of old, Somersby will be tough to beat and this fairly short distance, alongside ground that is not overly soft, appear to be positives in his favour.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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