Repeat winners have been a feature of Haydock’s Grade 1 Betfair Chase down the years, with Kauto Star (4), Bristol De Mai (3), Cue Card (3) and Silviniaco Conti (2) all winning the 3m1f contest on multiple occasions since its inaugural running in 2005.
The 2024 edition sees Venetia Williams’ 10-year-old Royal Pagaille bid to join that illustrious company. We outline three key reasons he can get the job done below.
3.05 Haydock – Betfair Chase 2024 tips
Best bet: Royal Pagaille to win @ 7/2
Bet on the latest horse racing odds at Betzone
Superb Haydock record makes the veteran tough to oppose
Any assessment of the 2024 Betfair Chase must begin with defending champion ROYAL PAGAILLE, whose love affair with the Merseyside course has yielded four wins and a second in five visits.
The Susannah-and-Rich-Ricci-owned gelding had excuses for his sole defeat too, with the vet reporting he suffered a mid-race leg wound when 17-lengths second to A Plus Tard in the 2022 running of this race.
He atoned for that blot in last year’s edition, notching a six-and-a-half length win from the reopposing Bravemansgame in a four-runner renewal.
A similarly small field could be in the offing this time around with only Royal Pagaille, Grey Dawning, Hewick and Ahoy Senor jocked up as of Wednesday evening.
Weather forecast suggests there’s every chance he could get his going
The current going at Haydock is good, but the course is notoriously susceptible to the rain that’s currently forecast for Thursday evening into Friday morning and all of Saturday, including up 10mm between 06:00 and 12:00 (as per every punters’ favourite Norwegian weather site yr.no).
Soft going could easily be the status quo come 15:05 on Saturday which should mean just about perfect conditions for Royal Pagaille, whose Haydock victories have all come on soft or heavy.
Ground with cut in it would also seriously blunt the chances of one of his most likely rivals in Hewick, who has only ever been chanced twice on soft ground in his 39-race career under rules, with form figures of PU, F.
Haydock feature certain to be Royal Pagaille’s ‘Gold Cup’
There can be no argument that 2024 Turners Novices’ Chase winner Grey Dawning is worthy of his favouritism. Harry Skelton has been down to ride him here since the five-day declarations and trainer Dan Skelton has already professed Cheltenham Gold Cup aspirations for the horse.
However, unlike that rival, this race is almost certain to be Royal Pagaille’s target for the season and the likelihood that he will be primed to leave it all on the field is a compelling reason to back him against a rival being trained to peak in the Cotswolds in March.
