Lucky 15: Fingal Bay the highlight of our Hennessy day multiple
Published:
The Hennessy Gold Cup can be a major stepping stone to some of the biggest prizes in jumps racing with four winners going on to subsequently take the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
But Newbury’s card on Saturday isn’t all about one race, with a whole host of competitive fixtures to get stuck into.
And with five of them shown live on Channel 4 there is ample opportunity to make the most of Ladbrokes’ Money Back offer if your horse finishes second.* (Full T&Cs can be found here)
There are plenty of big fields in store in Berkshire, so we have picked out this very enticing each-way Lucky 15 to aim for the skies with.
Nigel Twiston-Davies’ charge ran well for a long way at Cheltenham last time out, jumping boldly and taking the field along from the front.
Unfortunately as soon as push came to shove, he folded tamely, with the famous Prestbury Park hill perhaps finding him out.
Down three furlongs in trip, and on a flatter track, there is every reason to believe he can make the frame here.
He’s been dropped two pounds in the handicap for that run, and with Jamie Bargary taking off 5lbs, could be on a solid mark.
He was five lengths ahead of Cloud Creeper on his penultimate start and with that one going on to finish third in the Badger Ales Trophy is clearly capable of a decent performance.
Ryanair Chase runner-up Ma Filleule may be the class angle in this race, but you’d have to think she wants further than this 2m2f trip.
Instead, it may be worth siding with her stablemate, who while he raced at further in his last two outings, has won over this sort of trip on two occasions.
He steps out of novice company for the first time since finishing second to Penglai Pavilion in a decent race at Cheltenham, and has the assistance of Freddie Mitchell’s 5lb claim to bring down his weight.
Many of these have some sort of question to answer, and with Henderson’s horse on the up it could be that there is more to come from the son of Gold Away.
A well-backed 6/1 shot for the race last year, Philip Hobbs’ gelding travelled nicely for much of the Grade 3 contest, but stopped quickly with what later emerged to be a case of burst blood vessels.
He only raced once more last season when behind subsequent Bet365 Gold Cup winner Just A Par at Exeter.
His reappearance at Kempton last month will have brought him on plenty for this, and although he has eight lengths to find with his conqueror that day, Smad Place, a 7lb swing in the weights could be enough.
He comes with risks but in an open contest, but with this year’s renewal extremely open, the nine-year-old could definitely sneak into the places at the very least.
Another that ran a decent race at Prestbury Park before finding the latter stages too much of a test, John Spearing’s gelding can put on another bold show.
He plugged on for third that day, and has only been raised 2lbs in the handicap in what looks a lenient enough move.
He’s got winning form on soft ground, so the likelihood of plenty of cut in the ground at Newbury should not be a problem for the front-runner.
It would be unfortunate should backers not get a decent run for their money as well, with the nine-year-old placing in his last seven races.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
Fancy a flutter? Sign up today to claim up to £50 in free bets.
