Fighting Fifth Hurdle Betting: Binocular to re-establish himself as a potential champ in Fighting Fifth

Events / Graham Cunningham / 27 November 2009 / Leave a Comment

Binocular doing what he does best

"I remain convinced that Binocular is as good as any two miler on either side of the Irish Sea and he’s most unlikely to be short of fitness considering there is a million pound bonus for any horse who can win this before going on to land the Christmas Hurdle and the Champion itself."

The stars of the 2m hurdle division are heading to Newcastle for the first leg of a potential million pound winning triple. Graham Cunningham assesses the contenders

It looks like we might be on the verge of a compelling build-up to the Champion Hurdle this season.

Celestial Halo put down a solid early marker with his runaway win at Wincanton, while Zaynar was equally impressive at Ascot and Solwhit confirmed he is still firmly on the up by mastering the much-vaunted Hurricane Fly at Punchestown.

Solwhit is back in Britain for an absorbing Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle (1.50) this Saturday, but I suspect he might have to play second fiddle if Binocular is on his game.

For most of last season I was convinced that Nicky Henderson's gelding was a Champion Hurdler in the making.

The fact that he came up half a length short behind Punjabi and Celestial Halo at Cheltenham came as a minor anti-climax, but I remain convinced that he is as good as any two miler on either side of the Irish Sea and he's most unlikely to be short of fitness considering there is a million pound bonus for any horse who can win this before going on to land the Christmas Hurdle and the Champion itself.

Former champ Sublimity adds further spice to the mix in this £100,000 showpiece, while Al Eile has been a star hurdler for several years but was beaten fair and square by Solwhit at Aintree in April.

Indeed, the more you look at this race the more it seems that Binocular and Solwhit will start to dominate from two out.

Messrs Mcmanus and McCoy have both stated that they will be very disappointed if Binocular doesn't get his season off to a winning start. On balance, I don't think they will be disappointed.