2022 National Hunt Novices Chase

[Kevloaf]

Not yet qualified as needs to be 2m7.5f. Will be interesting to see if he lines up in one of the 3m Irish races left - I believe there are 2 remaining and we could still see Willie try and get Capodanno and/or Stattler qualified.

Negative for the two you mention though, if he's flapping gums about En Beton?

[Thistlecrack]

Negative for the two you mention though, if he's flapping gums about En Beton?

What id say thought is he will likely want a ride in the race for Patrick and Derek O connor could be earmarked for capodanno so may be looking for one not in green and gold for the race?

[Winging The Last]

Would a run over 2m7f qualify him?

I don't think he's priced up yet anyway

Interesting comments!

Not a race I'd expect Willie to scatter gun...

Priced up a few places 365 PP Sky but best price 14/1 which is skimpy. Not on Oddschecker yet.

Is he likely to have another horse like Stattler against GDC in the FNC now? And he looks like he has 4/5 already for the Marsh. Hopefully he try’s to qualify Capodano and Stattler for this.

[Kevloaf]

What id say thought is he will likely want a ride in the race for Patrick and Derek O connor could be earmarked for capodanno so may be looking for one not in green and gold for the race?

Absolutely, that's why mentioning En Beton isn't great for anyone on Stattler, Ontheropes....

14/1 that Winging The Last mentions is not luring me in though either

[Mighty]

Kevloaf that price is way too skinny. Maybe one to wait for a qualifying entry and do a win today and bet? I’ll pop him in the tracker and flag if he gets entered over the right distance.

[charlie]

Willie indicates En Beton is a candidate for this

“I was very happy with En Beton on Friday. For a horse having his first run over fences he looked like a handicapper going around Punchestown. The style of win suggests he could be a candidate for the National Hunt Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.”

Ffs another one

[DenmanSacre]

Negative for the two you mention though, if he's flapping gums about En Beton?

All 3 are pretty inexperienced for a normal winner, especially when Fred seems solid in the race. I think Patrick probably knows which one he wants and they just stick with OTR, albeit he did disappoint last time out.

[Irish Rugby]

Does anyone have a list of those horses in the betting that have qualified so far for this race please?

[Quevega]

Does anyone have a list of those horses in the betting that have qualified so far for this race please?

None of Mullins has, except On the ropes.
Bosses Oscar hasn't either.
Neither has Beacon Edge or farouk dalene.
Or Gentlemansgame.

easier to say who hasn't I reckon.
And with only 2 graded races (outside of handicaps) over 3 miles left in Ireland, it's going to be competitive and informative.

[ToniC]

Convenient thing for TBO is he’s still a maiden over fences so should be easy to qualify but would you even bother at this point? Going to be hard for him to do anything at Cheltenham IMO, better horse over hurdles but probably going to be rated too highly in Britain

[Atlantic Viking]

Mark Howard has put Capodanno up for this in his column today:

https://www.sportinglife.com/racing/news/cheltenham-festival-tips-mark-howard-portfolio-part-one/197440

[nortonscoin200]

Mark Howard has put Capodanno up for this in his column today:
https://www.sportinglife.com/racing/...art-one/197440

I know there's still time but Capodanno has yet to qualify for this race.

[Mighty]

Graeme North from Sporting Life Racing has highlighted En Beton’s run last week:

If one performance above all others seemed to dip under the radar more than I might have imagined it was that put up by En Beton in a beginners chase at Punchestown on New Year’s Eve.

A French import who was last seen winning a maiden hurdle at Tramore in April, En Beton was sent off at 10/1 in the face of strong support for his stable-companion Egality Mans (who also making his chasing debut) but took to fences like an old hand, having everything other than his less fluent stable-companion well beaten off a long way out and left to cruise home twenty lengths and more clear after Egality Mans came down two out.

En Beton might have had ‘things his own way out in front’ but a comparison with the following handicap over the same trip won by the Timeform 133-rated Lord Lariat shows that he did come close to doing things the hard way, running the distance to the third last seven seconds faster than Lord Lariat before the gap closed by a couple of seconds late after En Beton had been left clear.

En Beton has been credited with a 142 timefigure for that performance, which allied to a 4lb upgrade puts him on 146; although a strict time comparison with Lord Lariatwould put him well into the mid-150s. That sort of level would be good enough to win the National Hunt Chase in most years, though its recent reduction in distance is likely to result in a better calibre of horse targeting it these days. His trainer Willie Mullins (who sent out an extraordinary 23 winners between Boxing Day and the 2nd January) has suggested a couple of times since that might be the race for him, and the generally available 14s looks to me fair value right now.

[Spectre]

He could be very nice, but En Beton is a very inexperience horse to be tackling 3m6f at a Festival. He also isn't qualified, so 14/1 or not I'm not sure Id have him on my mind until I saw an entry over 3 miles.

If he gets the right entry it's an indication that they are still thinking this way and I'd probably be backing him at that point, but certainly not now or without nrnb.

[Quevega]

Yeah, these tipsters highlighting horses for this race would do well to be crystal clear on if the horse they are promoting is qualified or not.
Howard hints at it, but it's far from clear.
Not very punter friendly as many will not realise and follow blindly.