Grade Two Coral Racing Club Novices' Chase Guide 2022

Sebastopol is definitely has the most fencing experience in this field. If you have a cursory glance over his lifetime form figures, you’ll probably come to the conclusion that he just doesn’t like winning!

In all fairness, he almost always runs a solid race, though he does have a tendency to lie down and give in towards the business end of the race.

If he can make use of his experience, he may have a chance – but last time out you’d have thought it was his chase debut (jumped awfully), so he’ll need to bounce back.

Camprond is one of the classier horses in this. He was fourth in last season’s Coral Cup at the Festival, and bettered that effort by winning a competitive Grade B handicap hurdle at Punchestown in April, readily pulling clear of some talented horses.

He made his chase debut at Exeter a few weeks ago, but he got as far as the first fence “Jumped badly right and unseated rider 1st”.

So we learnt little to nothing there. He’s a very good horse, though I wouldn’t back him on this after he failed to jump more than one fence last time out.

Beauport was a very useful hurdler, who ran to a higher level than most of these, though that’s in part due to racing in open-company.

He won on chase debut last time out in the Colin Parker Memorial Intermediate Chase at Carlisle beating Millers Bank by half a length.

He had some very useful horses in behind there too – so all in all – that was a very respectable effort first time up.

If he can build on that, the form book says he’s got a huge chance, but can he cope with the class of Stage Star?

Wonderwall showed promise in bumpers in his first season, he built on that by reaching a very decent novice hurdle level.

Though he only won the once, he was second in a useful novice at Newbury, and fell when travelling ominously well at Huntingdon at the last – so you can mark him up.

He has a good jumping family, and physically, he looks every inch a chaser. However, this is a very good race and it will be a tough start to life at a novice chaser.

Stage Star is without doubt the horse to beat. He was a G1 winner over hurdles and what he did on chase debut was certainly eye catching.

He ran at Warwick in a field of four, but his rivals there definitely don’t lack class. He made; West Cork, Interne De Sivola and Skytastic look decidedly average – they’re not.

Stage Star clearly has a huge engine, and he impressed with his fencing fluency. He was bought to be a chaser, and having sauntered home on his first try, he’s very, very hard to oppose here.