Events / Jeremy Grayson / 27 November 2008 /

Jeremy Grayson reflects on a dramatic weekend in horseracing with the Scoop6 and Snoopy Loopy making the headlines.

Oh, the irony.

Certain corners of cyberspace resounded with cries of discontent last Friday, as the identity of the six constituent legs of the Tote Scoop6 became known.

Here, it was argued, was the biggest prize in recent - if not all-time - British horseracing gambling history being rendered unattainable by some wilfully obtuse race selections. Four Flat contests from Lingfield (make sure you're as annoyed when the Summer Plate meeting steals at least two legs of the Scoop6 back from the Flat meetings again next July, gentlemen) and a 0-105 Huntingdon marathon handicap hurdle were selected in preference to any of the races likely to be rich in National Hunt Festival pointers.

You know the rest, of course. No leg of the Scoop6 returned a winner bigger than 15-2, whereas the Betfair Chase - the most grievous omission from the competition to many - returned a winner at 33-1, the biggest-priced victor of any race at the six meetings in Britain and Ireland on Saturday and more than twice the odds of the day's next biggest.

Happier in hindsight to have had a run for your money without Snoopy Loopy smashing you out of the contest barely 15 minutes into it? Thought so. It would have been interesting to learn how many of the eight sets of individuals and syndicates who shared the jackpot would have picked Peter Bowen's 10 year-old over Kauto Star or Exotic Dancer had they been required to do so - I'd guess at none or close to none.

With two Listed contests and a 0-100 handicap all gracing Kempton's well above-par Polytrack card, nobody should automatically expect this Saturday's Scoop6 to revert to just high-class jumps fare, even with the prize fund down to a comparatively small total. At least there should be enough of a whiff of familiarity about the Kempton action to appease the milquetoasts, with weekend winners Atlantic Story and Duff both likely to reappear.

Back over the sticks, it looks as if Snoopy Loopy's period of rest may be similarly short with a tilt at the Hennessy a distinct possibility.

You can't blame Bowen for striking whilst the iron is hot with his Old Vic-gelding. A winner of two bumpers in 2004 and a 25-runner Punchestown Festival novices' hurdle in 2005 all whilst in the care of erstwhile trainer Vicky Scott, Snoopy Loopy hurt himself in a Worcester beginners' chase on his Bowen debut in July 2005 and managed just one further start in the following 28 months. In stark contrast, the last 12 months have seen him turn out 14 times without a significant break; yet, as with Nigel Twiston-Davies' similarly extensively-campaigned Pigeon Island last term, he still appears to be improving with every race.

Improving enough to make Snoopy Loopy a live proposition to become the first horse to land the Betfair Million since the new rules were introduced? It's going to be a big ask. The BHA handicapper has reacted to Saturday's score with an 11lb rise to 168, which, whilst meaning he's notionally a good few pounds "well in" for the Hennessy, also puts him 11lb higher than any horse to contest a handicap at last year's Cheltenham Festival and all of 23lb higher than any that finished in the first two, the criterion of this second leg of the Million.

Already it's looking like he is going to have to rely on a top-two finish in either the Gold Cup or Ryanair, to say nothing of then defying the sort of mark in the Grand National that only Suny Bay in 1998 has gone close off since the current ratings structure was introduced 18 years ago. Not a complete logistical impossibility, then, but - as befits a reward of this stature - still just that wee bit trickier than picking six winners on a Saturday afternoon.

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