There have been 12 horses left in at the latest entry stage for the Racing Post Arkle Trophy at Cheltenham but for most punters already view this as a two horse race.
The two horses dominating the market are Nicky Henderson’s Simonsig and Donald McCain’s Overturn.
Simonsig has only been seen twice this season but was very impressive on his debut at Ascot back in early December.
Trainer Nicky Henderson provided this update to ATR on his horse:
If Simonsig is to be beaten Overturn looks like the horse most likely to do it. Trainer Donald McCain’s gave this update on his charge last week:
Other possible contenders include the Willie Mullins trio of Arvika Ligeonniere, Aupcharlie and Marito.
Tony Martin may run Benefficient – he won the Irish Arkle in January when Arvika Ligeonniere fell
Another likely runner is Mouse Morris’ prolific good ground winner Baily Green.
The entries are completed by Majala, His Excellency, Tap Night and Viva Colonia.
The preview panel at Peadar Kearney’s pub shared their race thoughts in this video:
and here is an ATR race preview:
The final declarations will be available on Monday11th March but we would expect the final field to look something like this:
| FORM | HORSE | LTO | AGE | WGT | TRAINER | JOCKEY | OR |
| 111-11 | Simonsig | 75 | 7 | 11-7 | Nicky Henderson | Barry Geraghty | 160 |
| 32-111 | Overturn | 37 | 9 | 11-7 | Donald McCain | Jason Maguire | — |
| 1/111F | Arvika Ligeonniere | 45 | 8 | 11-7 | W P Mullins | Ruby Walsh | — |
| 32-111 | Majala | 31 | 7 | 11-7 | Tom George | Paddy Brennan | 147 |
| 111123 | Baily Green | 76 | 7 | 11-7 | M F Morris | David Casey | — |
| 21241 | Benefficient | 45 | 7 | 11-7 | A J Martin | Bryan Cooper | — |
| 22-111 | Captain Conan | 38 | 6 | 11-7 | Nicky Henderson | NR or AP McCoy | 152 |
Trial Race Winners :
| Date | Course | Race | Winner |
| 18-Nov-12 | Cheltenham | Independent Newspaper November | Captain Conan |
| 08-Dec-12 | Sandown Park | Markel Insurance Henry VIII | Captain Conan |
| 27-Dec-12 | Kempton Park | williamhill.com Wayward Lad | Simonsig |
| 09-Feb-13 | Warwick | Kingmaker | Majala |
