Events / Wayne Bailey / 18 December 2008 /

If he touches [2.70] it won't be hard to see me laying Binocular in the Boylesports International Hurdle, says Wayne Bailey.

As the debate rages about the BBC's racing coverage or lack thereof, they've made one sensible decision at least, to show the rescheduled Boylesports International Hurdle on Saturday. I suppose the whole BBC debacle is an article for another day, but personally, I can't see how they can justify culling coverage of what is essentially a national sport, while spending £45m on Formula One Racing - a sport that was already covered by ITV.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy watching Formula One and I've no problem with Strictly Come Dancing, Top Gear or any other BBC show for that matter, but as your national broadcaster, they have a duty to horseracing - but they don't seem interested in honouring it.

The main problem for the sport is that sponsors won't be interested in paying for races that the masses won't get to see. It's a short sighted decision, but as I live in Ireland and don't have to pay a British TV licence, I digress!

Back to the race itself, and a number of horses have dropped out, but it's still a competitive affair that should have an effect on the Cheltenham Champion Hurdle market. Here's a look at the main contenders for Saturday's big race:

Binocular
There's no doubt whatsoever that current market leader Binocular is a top class four-year-old and has buckets of potential. But are people getting carried away? He went off at a ridiculously low price of [1.13] in the Betfair Hurdle, and although he did everything that was expected of him to the letter, what did that race really tell us? With respect to the owners and trainers, Los Nadis, Chord, Lazy Darren and Crosby Jemma could hardly be described as strong opposition. His previous win at Aintree was also convincing, but again I'm not so sure the opposition was anything to write home about that day either. At the Cheltenham Festival, he was second to Captain Cee Bee, in a reasonable performance at the top level and he also had a decent career in France as a younger horse. I suppose the question I'm asking is whether we are over-reacting to two easy races this season? While I do believe he has a great chance of winning, I don't fancy taking [2.70] or thereabouts, and am keen to get him in the metaphorical satchel at that price. Racing can make us look foolish at times and I run that risk again here, but I'm going to click pink for Henderson's gelding in the belief that a stronger opposition may just catch him out.

Crack Away Jack
Coming off the back of three straight wins which included the Fred Winter Juvenile Novices´ Handicap Hurdle at Cheltenham, he didn't jump to well when coming second to Chomba Womba at Ascot in November and I don't think the longer distance was to his liking. He's back down to two miles on Saturday, and can go close, but I'm keen to take this horse on too as I think his jumping may let him down when it matters most. I'd expect him to go off at around [5.0] and I'd be fairly happy to lay at that price or lower.

Katchit
Like last year, I'm blue in the face telling people on these pages and elsewhere to keep an eye on Alan King's horses at this time of the year. I don't want to sound like a broken record, but he's already showing a 25% strike rate for December and a healthy profit to Betfair SP. Stats aside, I believe that Katchit is overpriced, and anything above [6.0] would be great value. I'll hold my hands up and say that I was one of those who overlooked him at Cheltenham and he caused something of an upset when winning at [11.5]. He also made us stats fans look foolish, and although it wasn't the strongest Champion Hurdle ever, he was a worthy winner. We can forgive his loss to Chomba Womba at Wincanton - indeed he was giving around 14lbs to his rivals in conditions that didn't suit. This contest looks much fairer and if he can show some of that gutsy spirit that he's displayed in his 11 career wins, he can take on Binocular at a nice price. If you're looking to back him at Cheltenham, I'd suggest you do so before Saturday.

Advice:

Lay Binocular at [2.70] or less
Lay Crack Away Jack at [5.0] or less
Back Katchit at [6.0] or higher

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