Kitty’s Light would be a hugely popular winner of the Bet365 Gold Cup on Jumps Finale day at Sandown on Saturday, and Christian Williams, his trainer, believes the seven-year-old has the right attitude and constitution to follow up his success in the Scottish Grand National last weekend.
“He’s freakish for a horse,” Williams said this week. “The way he comes out of his races, you’ll never have seen anything like it. Basically, you could nearly run him in the next race as he recovers so quickly, so there’s something inside him. I’m not sure if he’s got big lungs or a big heart but there’s something in him that’s different to any other horses that we’ve run.”
Kitty’s Light was the moral winner of this race two years ago, when his powerful surge up the hill was stopped by a drifting opponent and Potterman, who would otherwise have finished third, ended up with the spoils.
He ran well again to be third last year, off a 5lb higher mark than his current 140, and travelled more smoothly than has sometimes been the case when fitted with cheekpieces for the first time last week. A price of around 7-2 is a little cramped, but Kitty’s Light (2.15) has struck such a rich vein of form since Christmas that he should still be worth an interest as he bids to become only the second horse – after Hot Weld in 2007 – to complete the Ayr-Sandown double.
Warwick
1.30 Good Work 2.02 Queens Gamble 2.37 Herbiers 3.12 Dev Of Tara 3.47 Jack The Farmer 4.22 Fairway Freddy 4.57 Elios D’Or 5.32 Forthegreatergood
Kempton Park
1.55 Moonshine Spirit 2.30 Dreaming Blue 3.05 Ajp Kingdom 3.40 Danny Kirwan 4.15 Sami Bear 4.50 Mercian Prince 5.25 King’s Threshold
Windsor
2.09 Stone Circle 2.44 Royal Cape 3.19 Sparks Fly 3.54 Tolstoy 4.29 Fast Steps (nap) 5.04 Albus Anne 5.39 Alumnus
Beverley
2.18 Scoops Ahoy 2.53 Strength ‘N Honour 3.28 River Usk 4.03 Glory And Gold 4.38 Sparktakos 5.13 Intervention 5.48 Blue Yonder
Bath
2.23 Dercol 2.58 Succession 3.33 Fossos 4.08 God Of Thunder 4.43 Hiromichi (nb) 5.18 Aurophobia 5.53 Vitralite
Sandown 1.05 Arqoob has progressed steadily since switching from the Flat to hurdles this season and his jumping went up another notch on his handicap debut at Newbury last month. The winner there followed up next time and Lucy Wadham’s gelding is an interesting 12-1 shot off the same mark.
Sandown 1.40 Course-specialist Greaneteen is going for a hat-trick in this race and will be a tough opponent for Jonbon, but Nicky Henderson’s novice has posted high-class form on his last two starts, at Cheltenham and Aintree, and a repeat of either performance could well be enough.
Sandown 2.50 A significant drop in grade for Hewick after a fall two out in the Cheltenham Gold Cup last time and his best form, including a win under a big weight in the Galway Plate last year, puts him several pounds in front of this field.
Leicester 3.05 A decent run on his return to action at Redcar should put Wobwobwob spot on for this, and heavy ground holds no fears for Adrian Keatley’s gelding.
Sandown 3.25 It was a tough ask for Harper’s Brook to make the running in the Ultima at the Cheltenham Festival time and he was lit up by first-time cheekpieces too before being pulled up two out. The headgear is off this time and his earlier form this season gives Ben Pauling’s novice a big chance.
Haydock Park 3.45 Rainbow Fire is lightly raced for a five-year-old and also for the Marco Botti stable and is a big price at around 6-1 to build on an excellent seasonal debut earlier this month.
