Events / Simon Rowlands / 21 November 2007 /

Simon Rowlands looks ahead to Saturday's big race at Haydock

As a punter and as a tipster you get used to feeling occasionally as if your bets and recommendations are the kiss of death. It has happened to us all. It has happened to the Rowley File. Oh, yes.

A couple of weeks back I sang the praises of Irish trainer Noel Meade - operating at a strike rate of nearly 30 per cent and at a substantial level-stakes profit - and in particular of the claims of one of his stable stars, Iktitaf, for the Champion Hurdle. Snap up the big prices, I urged. I did.

Fast forward to last Friday and Meade had managed just one winner from 21 runners in the intervening weeks, and, much worse, Iktitaf had just sustained a career-ending and life-threatening injury.

But, bad things, as well as good things, come to an end, and Meade himself got back into the groove in the best possible way by winning the Grade 1 Maplewood Developments Hurdle at Punchestown - the race Iktitaf "would" have won on his seasonal reappearance - with Jazz Messenger.

As I see it, Jazz Messenger won a fair race (the time was nowhere near as hopeless as some pundits made it, as the ground was clearly softer on the hurdle course than the chase course) entirely on merit.

So, why is he available at slightly longer odds ([38]) on Betfair for the Champion Hurdle than the four who finished immediately behind him? Farmer Brown ([32]) is at least going the right way. Macs Joy ([30]), Clopf ([25]) and Ebaziyan ([32]) are not. Can anyone out there shed some light on this?

One horse I won't be getting involved with ante-post for Cheltenham is Franchoek, the current favourite at [8.4] for the Triumph Hurdle. A plucky success over a couple of third-raters (both of whom carried more weight than did he) at Cheltenham on Saturday does not make Franchoek the next Katchit.

I have no idea what will win the Triumph - the majority of last year's field had not even run over hurdles by this stage of the campaign - and I suspect you don't either!

There is some exciting racing coming up this weekend, and, for once, I am not referring to the floodlit extravaganza at Dundalk or Wolverhampton, but Betfair Day at Haydock, which features, among others, Kauto Star.

Racing fans are often too quick to lionise the stars of the game, but I think that Kauto Star is actually still being sold short by many. Yes, he makes the odd mistake, and, yes, he took a long time to warm up on his reappearance. But in terms of raw talent and versatility he is the best jumper we've had since Desert Orchid.

Despite those occasional errors, Kauto Star usually gets round, and gets round in front of his rivals. His narrow defeat by Monet's Garden at Aintree, when conceding that horse 14lb, was a superlative effort in its own right. What other horse around could have done that?

Well, there is perhaps one, and that one is due to line up against Kauto Star at Haydock in what will be an absolutely gripping first leg of the Betfair Million. My Way de Solzen is a horse who had enough class and stamina to win a World Hurdle at three miles as a six-year-old and enough class and speed to win an Arkle Chase at two miles as a seven-year-old.

In the latter, My Way de Solzen ran the race faster, both overall and sectionally, than did Voy Por Ustedes in winning the Champion Chase on almost identical going 24 hours later. Despite what some maintain, there is every chance that My Way de Solzen will be well suited by a return to the three miles of Saturday's race.

Is this a case of the unstoppable force meeting the immovable object? Possibly.

However, My Way de Solzen is at a disadvantage in terms of experience (this will be his sixth race over fences, as against Kauto Star's thirteenth) and in terms of race fitness (this will be his first run since March, whereas Kauto Star has that recent Aintree run under his belt). He can be backed at around [4.4].

On this occasion, though not necessarily later in the year, I think there will be only one outcome. Is Kauto Star worth a bet at around [2.0] on Betfair? I think so. And if Clive Smith - the horse's owner, and not short of a few bob after winning the Betfair Million last season - wants to avoid me jinxing the horse in my current form by backing him, then I am open to offers!

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