Christy 1965 Chase Guide 2021

One of the most exciting horses going into the new season, Dashel Drasher was a revolution over fences last season for Jeremy Scott winning three of his four starts, including the Grade 1 Betfair Ascot Chase win in February, winning very well indeed by 2 lengths.

He was brilliant to watch that day, just sitting in behind tracking the leaders before taking the lead at the 13th fence to then run home the winner, after slightly idling up the run in, he does however look a difficult ride for young Rex Dingle who takes the reins on Saturday.

He opposes with two rivals from that race today (Master Tommytucker and Bennys King, who he has to give 6lb away to) but they are both coming off poor runs last time out (Master Tommytucker finished 5th in the Bet365 Hurdle and Bennys King pulled up at Ascot over 3m).

The only slight concerns with Dashel Drasher are he doesn’t tend to win on the first run of the season, with form figures of 323 for the first runs, and tackling a Grade 2 race against race fit horses might catch him out, and he looks a difficult horse to ride, can jump out and can be keen.

But there’s no doubting his talent and his love affair for Ascot (3 runs and 3 wins at track last season) If he is fit and ready to go, he could be hard to beat in this.

Ground could be against him (Won on soft or heavy last season) but he loves Ascot and is a Grade 1 winning chaser, one to beat if ready to go.

In 2019 this horse had the whole world at his feet, looking like a top class champion chase horse in the making for the Hobbs team, winning three in a row including the Tingle Creek and Clarence House Chase, having a great battle with the fantastic Un De Sceaux in both of the Grade 1 centrepieces.

Plus not to mention the 7 Grade 1’s already to his name and we forget he is only an 8yo so could easily bounce back to form and win more top races going forward.

That is what he needs to do in this though, bounce back to form after a disappointing season last time, only racing twice and completing once with a remote 5th in the Clearance House at Ascot in January.

The signs are a positive at home however with the master trainer Philip Hobbs hoping he can get back to his best this season, and if he does then he could be hard to stop at a trip that does suit (Although he looked a 2m chaser at his best) As well as the conditions that shouldn’t be much of an issue.

A nice ride for Tom O’Brien with Richard Johnson now retired and the Philip Hobbs form at the moment is a massive boost.
Had his troubles last season but has a lot of talent and should he bounce back then he will be hard to beat, is 6lb better off than the favourite, chances will be taken however he is showing good signs at home according to his trainer.

Again, another horse in this who has slightly lost his way in recent times, Lostintranslation was talked about to be a King George winner for Colin Tizzard in 2019 where he unfortunately pulled up and hasn’t looked the same since that race, he has his bleeding issues which the team looked to have sorted over the summer.

He is a Grade 1 winner when beating Bristol De Mai in the Betfair Chase in 2019 which was arguably his best career performance to date, plus a Grade 1 winner at Aintree as a Novice the season before beating Topofthegame, also placed behind Al Boum Photo in a Gold Cup at Cheltenham in 2020.

However, things just haven’t looked the same since then for this horse as he either tales off or struggles to finish his races. Again, should his issues have been sorted by the yard and he is primed ready to go in this, he could bounce back to the horse we all know, but would need to, to win this.

Lost his way in the last season or so, Multiple Grade 1 winner over fences though and has talent, is 6lb better off than the favourite, but if issues have not been resolved he might struggle in this, Plus the trip could be on the sharp side for him. Chances would be taken with him.

A real head scratcher of a horse for the multiple champion trainer Paul Nicholls, Master Tommytucker has always promised a lot but hasn’t really delivered at the top level.

He won the Grade 2 Silviniaco Conti Chase at Kempton in January by 12 lengths and looked like a real Grade 1 prospect, but he hasn’t won since then and has run in two Grade 1’s plus the Bet365 Hurdle last time out where he finished 5th out of 8 runners.

He is a hard horse to gauge going into this and looked as if the run was required last time out which might be the thinking behind running him over hurdles, so he might come on wonders for that.

The hurdles run last time out might have been the team looking at options for him going forward as I believe the stayers hurdle might have been a long-time target, but the team must be pleased with him and are opting to carry on chasing with him.

He opposes Dashel Drasher again off level weights, who has beat him already when they battled it out last season in the Ascot Chase and might be difficult for him to reverse the form here.

But Paul Nicholls is one of the best in the game at placing his horses so Master Tommytucker will be ready for this.

The Skelton’s are having a great start to the season as they looked to win the bigger races this year to land the trainers championship, and Bennys King is an interesting runner in this who seems to put his best foot forward when running at Ascot (Form figures at track are 2123PU) He won a big field Handicap at the track last season by 6 lengths, looking like a Graded horse in a Handicap, but hasn’t exactly proven that although running in two Graded races since then. He finished 3rd behind Dashel Drasher in the Ascot Chase last season, beaten by just over 7 lengths and didn’t really look like contesting the winner, but he has a 6lb advantage on Dashel Drasher this time around, as well as the fitness edge due to running at the end of last month (Where he pulled up over a trip that was probably didn’t suit)
Is 6lb better off today like most of these, and has some decent form at Ascot, but question marks on whether he is good enough to win this, might be best watched.