Racing Demon - jumped to the right (Getty Images).
DEMON'S JUMPING A CONCERN
By Carl Llewellyn
Beef Or Salmon's win in the Irish Hennessy at Leopardstown did not really tell us anything more than we knew already. He did exactly what we expected him to and jumped pretty well. He was the best horse in the race so it was just a good workout and showed everyone he is fit and healthy ahead of the Gold Cup. This is surely going to be his best chance of winning the race. It is a below-par Gold Cup and he was always given chances in decent renewals. But it remains very worrying though that he has done it all before on soft ground in Ireland and then when he has come over to England he has never run that well. So he is not the ideal horse to follow at Cheltenham. Hedgehunter finished second and the Gold Cup is probably worth a shot with him. As I said, this is not the best year and he seems in good form so deserves to take his chance. Mister Hight put up a good display in the conditions to win the juvenile hurle at Leopardstown and was cut in the betting for the Triumph Hurdle. But the likelihood is that he will encounter completely different conditions at Cheltenham. The meeting traditionally tends to start off on pretty good going but dries up all week and when a horse performs as well as Mister Hight did on soft ground, it is doubtful he will be as good on decent going or faster. Racing Demon kept his unbeaten record at Exeter and while you had to be impressed with him, I did not like the way he jumped right-handed. He actually collided into one of the uprights of the fences up the straight. Some horses can do that and then they adapt going the other direction but if he does that on a turning course like Cheltenham it would be a big worry for me. When the bookmakers shortened his price for the Arkle Chase when there was some money for him, I was very surprised. We knew he was the best horse in the Exeter race and we knew he should win but I thought he would have drifted in the betting rather than shortened. That said, if he does keep straight at Cheltenham, he is going to take lots of beating. He has plenty of pace and better ground will not be a problem - but the fact he jumped right-handed is a cause for concern. Afsoun won his prep race for Triumph Hurdle at Huntingdon and Nicky Henderson's juveniles always jump superbly having been very well schooled by Mick Fitzgerald. The ground at Huntingdon was fast - which is in his favour for Cheltenham. He is obviously high class, has a good attitude and Mick likes him a lot so he has ideal credentials for the Festival. I rode in Detroit City's race at Sandown and was very impressed with him. He is a nice big horse and jumped well so it would be very hard to pick between him and Afsoun in the Triumph. Detroit City is perhaps more of a chaser in the making and is strong type but I reckon there is very little between them at this stage.
|
