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The 2017 Betfair Chase is the first Grade One chase of the season in the three-mile division in the UK and Ireland and takes place at Haydock. Last season’s Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Sizing John is set to make his return to action at the Lancashire track and is likely to take all the beating on his seasonal reappearance.
Sizing John not only impressed at Cheltenham in the Blue Riband event of the festival, but he proved that win was no fluke just weeks later with victory in the Punchestown Gold Cup in Ireland, where he beat Djakadam by a short head in what was the end of a long campaign for the seven-year-old.
Jessica Harrington’s runner hadn’t run over 3m before until he scored in the Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown last February. In the three starts at that distance, he is unbeaten and has shown huge improvement. Sizing John can be backed at +200, which looks to be a fair price in what could be a small field at Haydock.
The winner of the Betfair Chase at Haydock will be on course to pick up the Chase Triple Crown during the 2017/18 campaign, which carries a £1 million bonus for winning connections. The second leg of the series is the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day, while the last race that needs to be won is the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March. Sizing John looks committed to running in all three of those chases this season.
This is the stage of the year where many of last season’s national hunt stars such as the Oddschecker-tipped Diego Du Charmil, Ballyandy and Might Bite appear again – the latter of which was successful in the RSA Chase back in March and has an entry in the 2017 Betfair Chase.
Might Bite is expected to step out of novice chase company for the first time at Haydock. He has won on four of his seven starts over fences so far in his career and is likely to pose a big test for Sizing John. There are still question marks over his jumping, though, as we saw at Kempton last season in the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase where he fell at the last fence.
Nicky Henderson’s runner almost threw away his lead at Cheltenham in the RSA Chase going up the hill as he veered across to the right of the track, allowing Whisper to make a late challenge. Fortunately for connections, jockey Nico De Boinville managed to straighten up in time and find a little extra to get back up at the line.
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This year’s Haydock feature is also set to include the three-time winner of this race and defending champion Cue Card. Colin Tizzard’s runner is likely to be given one more campaign before he is retired. The 11-year-old has an excellent record early in the season and is sure to have his supporters at +600 in the betting.
The Betfair Chase takes place on November 25 on a card which also features the Grade Three Fixed Brush Handicap Hurdle.
