Talking Horses: Altior looking to bounce back at Frodon’s expense

Two of the major winners at last year’s Cheltenham Festival are on course to meet at Kempton on Saturday following confirmation from the trainer Paul Nicholls that Frodon, who took the Ryanair Chase last March, is an intended runner in the Grade Two Silviniaco Conti Chase this weekend, when his likely opponents will include Altior, the Champion Chase winner in 2018 and 2019.

Both Frodon and Altior will be hoping to register their first wins of the current season. Altior suffered his first defeat in 20 runs over fences when he was beaten by Cyrname, a stable companion of Frodon, at Ascot on 23 November while Frodon and his regular rider, Bryony Frost, were only third of four starters in the Betfair Chase at Haydock the same afternoon.

Paddy Power were the first bookmaker to issue prices on Monday and make Altior a strong favourite on 1-4, with Top Notch, last year’s winner, available at 11-2 and Frodon on 6-1.

Altior is certain to start at odds-on for the 17th time in 21 starts over jumps if he lines up at Kempton this weekend but bookmakers may still harbour some lingering hopes of a result after his defeat at 1-3 behind Cyrname last time. It was an unusually hard race for a seasonal debut and, while Altior should come on for the outing, his run also failed to prove beyond doubt that he can be as ruthlessly effective at Saturday’s trip of around two and a half miles as he has always been at two.

Frodon, meanwhile, promises to be a stern opponent and could well adopt the same front-running tactics which finally located a chink in Altior’s armour when employed aboard Cyrname last time.

“Obviously Altior is the star name in the race,” Nicholls said on Monday, “but Frodon is a Ryanair winner and, though we haven’t had him in the best of form yet this season, I think we’re nearly there now. He’s in good shape and I’m looking forward to it.

“We didn’t ride him right at Haydock. We thought the grey horse [Bristol De Mai] was going to go a million miles an hour so we dropped him in and it didn’t work. But we actually found out that he had grade three [stomach] ulcers when he got back, so we’ve treated him for that and he’s in really good shape now, so we’re looking forward to a good spring with him.

Lingfield
12.45 If Karl’s Berg Did 1.15 Springfield Fox 1.45 Seeanythingyoulike 2.15 Destinee Royale 2.45 Sam Brown 3.15 One More Fleurie 3.45 Bennys Girl 

Taunton
1.00 Masters Legacy 1.30 Buzz 2.00 Escapability 2.30 Coole Well (nap) 3.00 Prudhomme (nb) 3.30 Wishing And Hoping 4.00 Shadow’s Girl 

Southwell
4.15 Cold Harbour 4.45 Moonraker 5.15 Glendevon 5.45 Coolagh Magic 6.15 Falcao 6.45 Sea Of Cool 7.15 George Thomas 

“We’ve had this in mind for him since Haydock. There’s not many races for these horses to aim for, especially middle-distance horses like this one, so it’s a perfect stepping stone. I had it in my mind to go here and then go to the Denman Chase [at Newbury in February] with him, and then we’ll see where we go.”

Cyrname confirmed his status as the highest-rated chaser in training when he defeated Altior at Ascot but he ran below that form when only second to his stable companion Clan Des Obeaux in the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day.

Cyrname defeated Altior at Ascot.



Cyrname defeated Altior at Ascot. Photograph: Andy Watts/racingfotos.com/REX/Shutterstock

Nicholls suspects his hard race in November may have contributed to that run and feels Altior, too, might still be feeling the effects when he returns to action this weekend.

“Basically both horses, Altior and him [Frodon], have got to come from hardish races on the same day,” Nicholls said. “It was an awesome race [at Ascot] and they probably both paid the penalty.

“In a perfect world, if you were going to the King George, then you’d have done what we did with Clan and found an easier race, then given him a little bit more time. It’s probably one of the reasons [for Cyrname’s run next time and] in hindsight, it was close enough to Kempton to have a hard race. But he seems fine now and we’ll hopefully bring him back in February at Ascot.”

Frodon, meanwhile, is one of the few horses in the Nicholls stable with an imminent assignment, as the yard is preparing to enter its traditional January hiatus after ensuring that all its residents have been vaccinated against equine flu.

“We’ve vaccinated nearly all of them,” Nicholls said. “We’ve only got 10 to run in the next fortnight and most have had their vaccinations. They’ll have a bit of an easy time and then we’ll be busy again from Trials day onwards.”

source: theguardian.com