Events / Simon Rowlands / 13 October 2009 / Leave a comment

In his weekly blog Simon Rowlands suggests a way of encouraging top Flat horses to stay in training for longer, tips a "dark one" for Cheltenham and sides with the second favourite in the Dewhurst Stakes.

"We may have already seen this season’s RSA Chase winner...the horse in question is Long Run."

News of the retirement of Sea The Stars was as sad as it was inevitable. What kind of sport is it that identifies a true champion only to see the individual concerned calling it a day with years at the top ahead of them? A sport that has got a problem, I would suggest. Usain Bolt would have something to say about this, I feel sure.

It is not possible to force owners of top horses to keep them in training for any longer than they wish to, but it may be possible to reward those that do.

We already have races - auction events - in which the progeny of cheap sires get allowances. How about granting allowances in maidens for all offspring of sires that won a Group race beyond the age of three, and a double allowance for those that won a Group race beyond the age of four? Some races could also be solely for those sired by horses that raced on into full maturity.

Depending on how serious the authorities wanted to be about this, they could make winning a maiden in Britain and Ireland very difficult for the offspring of sires retired early. That would presumably make some owners think again and would potentially have significant benefits to the enduring appeal of the sport.

* * *

The comforting thud of Timeform's Chasers & Hurdlers - all 1176 pages of it - on my doormat is the sign that winter is upon us and that it is time for me to turn at least some of my attention to the jumping game.

As it happens, we may have already seen this season's RSA Chase winner, although when I write "seen" that strictly applies only to those who went to Paris' major jumps track, Auteuil, on Sunday or who otherwise managed to watch the Prix Orcada (such as through the video facility on Equidia).

The horse in question is Long Run, who was the best French-trained 4-y-o hurdler last term until an absolute monster called Rendons Grace came on the scene and who already looks like being an even better chaser having beaten the smart Rubi Ball comfortably by six lengths in the Orcada.

Long Run races in the colours of Robert Waley-Cohen (brown, orange sleeves, quartered cap: you know the ones) and is due to join Nicky Henderson before the end of the year, with the Feltham Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day his first big target.

If all goes according to plan then he will soon be trading at much shorter odds than the [13.5] currently available ante-post for the RSA Chase on Betfair. Don't say you weren't told!

* * *

Champions' Day at Newmarket on Saturday looks like providing some fascinating racing, not least in the shape of the Dewhurst Stakes, which should test some of the top formlines among the two-year-olds.

In one respect, I would quite like to see the favourite Chabal win and win well, as I have long been on the horse who beat him in the National Stakes last time, Kingsfort, for next year's 2,000 Guineas (that was before the latter got snapped up by Godolphin and drifted).

However, the form of that race is suspect and Chabal has a lot to prove, much more than Bolger's recent winners of this race, Teofilo and New Approach, for instance.

The way I see it, the form of the second favourite, Arcano, is considerably stronger. He broke the six-furlong course record at Deauville when maintaining his unbeaten record in the Prix Morny in August from a filly who won the Cheveley Park Stakes impressively next time, and he promises to be at least as good over an extra furlong. [5.1] on Betfair is much too big in my book and I have got stuck in.

I am already involved in the day's big Flat handicap, the Cesarewitch, having put up Bahrain Storm and Fair Along a few weeks back on here when they were bigger prices than their current [11.0] and [17.5].

I am particularly sweet on the chances of Bahrain Storm, who shaped well at an inadequate trip at Dundalk recently and who is due to be partnered by Irish apprentice sensation Gary Carroll, last seen on these shores when steering the gallant One Way Or Another to an agonisingly close second on this course.

I can see Bahrain Storm going off at a single-figure price and reckon he is still worth a bet at the current odds.

Tags: Arcano, Bahrain Storm, Chabal, Chasers & Hurdlers, Dewhurst, Long Run, Prix Orcada, RSA Chase, Sea The Stars, Timeform, Usain Bolt, Waley-Cohen