Peter Marsh Chase: runner-by-runner guide and tip

If there’s anyone who knows how to land a Sky Bet Peter Marsh Chase, then it is Sue Smith.

She’s scooped five of the past 20 editions, with The Last Fling (2000), Artik Jack (2004), Cloudy Too (2016), Wakanda (2019) and Vintage Clouds (2020) all doing the business in the £100,000 Haydock Park showpiece.

Smith seeks to improve her already fine record on Saturday, when she and and Joel Parkinson will be represented by Konfusion, the ante-post favourite.

It looks like being a deep edition with Myretown rerouted to Haydock after last week’s Classic Chase at Warwick was cancelled. Johnnywho is another leading contenders, while course specialist Royale Pagaille is on track to try and win the race for a third time.

Here's a guide to all the seven runners, with their RaceiQ Jump Index scores. 

RaceiQ Jump Index score: 6.8. Odds: 9-1.

The five-time course winner returns to his favourite stamping ground, seeking a third win in this race after previous victories in 2021 and 2022. 

He fluffed his lines in last year’s edition, when sent off favourite, but gave another reminder of his powers here when chasing home Grey Dawning in the Betfair Chase in November. The Gold Cup-bound winner toyed with him, but it was still a creditable effort, and he has nothing of that horse’s calibre to worry about this time. 

The 12-year-old will be running off his lowest handicap mark (159) since bolting up in this five years ago, off 156, but inevitably he has not got any quicker during that passage of time. 

It does not look like he’s going to get the deep ground he revels in and there are several progressive rivals among the opposition. Moreover, his stable remains quiet, with only seven winners this campaign and none in the past month. 

Jump Index score: 6.9. Odds: 9-2.

It is surely only a matter of time before the JP McManus-owned Johnnywho lands a big handicap like this, and he could do with nudging up the ratings if he’s to guarantee making the cut for his stated aim, the Grand National, as his present mark of 146 is likely to be somewhere near the cut-off point (the lowest rated runner in last year’s race ran off 145). 

Johnnywho had last season’s Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Chase snatched from his grasp in the closing stages, and he was possibly not over that when a creditable fifth in the Irish Grand National on his next start. 

This season, he was an eye-catching fifth in the Grand Sefton at Aintree - getting in a sighter for April at the same time – before staying on strongly to be beaten a head and a neck into third to Deep Cave in the Silver Cup over 3m at Ascot last month after a mixed round of jumping. Just about everyone who keeps tracker horses would have jotted down his name into their notes. 

I imagine his connections would have appreciated a 2lb-3lb rise, but the handicapper has left them in limbo by pushing him up only 1lb. 

So, there is a lot riding on this race if Johnnywho is to run in the Grand National, for which the weights will be revealed in about a month. Even if disregarding the Aintree factor, you would have to think he has a lot going for him here. The extra yardage compared to Ascot will suit and he is less reliant on soft ground than several of his likely rivals, plus has a bit more speed in his armoury. 

Jump Index score: 6.7. Odds: 100-30.

Konfusion had a rating of only 92 this time a year ago and you would have got big odds on him ever running in a Peter Marsh, let alone being favourite for an edition. However, he’s been a revelation in the past 11 months, chalking up five wins and rising 53lb in the ratings. 

The front-runner has raised his game this season, especially on his past two starts when romping away with the Rehearsal Chase at Newcastle and then landing the Rowland Meyrick with plenty to spare at Wetherby. 

On the minus side, they were not strong editions of either race, with a 9lb hike for the latter success, gained at the expense of two other finishers, looking punitive. 

Before those victories, he was in the thick of the action here at Haydock only to stumble and unseated his rider. The chestnut just got unlucky that day, but he is 20lb higher for his return visit. 

The ante-post favourite will need another career-best to keep up his winning spree but he represents a yard that has landed this prize five times this century and you leave him out of your calculations at your peril. 

Jump Index score: 6.8. Odds: 33-1.

His 34-length winning romp on bottomless ground in the Welsh National two years ago prompted talk of him possibly being a Gold Cup horse, but he’s been pulled up in five of his six subsequent starts and finished tailed off in the other. 

There have not been any flickers of a revival, although he has now tumbled back to the mark that he won off at Chepstow and he’s had first-time wind surgery since he was last in action at Cheltenham on November 16. He had his procedure just four days later. 

Nassalam was declared for the latest Welsh National over Christmas but was withdrawn because the ground was deemed unsuitable. It will be interesting to see if he stands his ground this time, and whether any money arrives for him after having his breathing tinkered with. 

Jump Index score: 6.9. Odds: 100-30.

The Peter Marsh can take the best part of seven minutes to run but bookmakers could create a race within a race by betting on who will be in the lead after the second or third fence. 

Konfusion likes to force the pace and Myretown also likes to get on with things. One way or another, there’s not going to be any hiding places. 

Myretown made most of the running when an emphatic winner of the Ultima at Cheltenham in March, and he was also bossing things in the Coral Gold Cup on his return when falling at the ninth. 

His departure came as a surprise to some given that he had got into a good rhythm, but not to those who recall his exit on his point-to-point debut; his final flight departure at Ayr a couple of years ago; or his heavy tumble at Windsor this time a year ago. The Dylan Thomas gelding clearly has lapses in concentration, something that has also afflicted his high-class stablemate Ahoy Senor, another son of the same sire. 

Myretown did put it altogether when hammering a solid yardstick in The Changing Man by 11 lengths at Cheltenham. His new rating, which is 15lb higher, may not be beyond him, but he will have to avoid mistakes. 

Jump Index score: 7.3. Odds: 40-1.

He reeled off three handicap wins at Aintree as a novice last season and ran a cracker when runner-up at the Grand National meeting, too, when signing off for the campaign. 

The question now is whether he can squeeze out a bit more improvement, with his two runs this term suggesting the handicapper may be in control. 

He was underwhelming on his return in the Old Roan back at Aintree, when playing up before the start, and seemed to have no excuses when beaten at Cheltenham last time. 

Both of those runs were over about 2m 4f, which has suited him in the past, and he now has a second go over further. He often hangs to his left but will at least be going in the right direction. 

Jump Index score: 7.6. Odds: 20-1.

He chased home Jonbon in the Rossington Main at this meeting four years ago and was a fine third to Mr Vango in this race last year, having also won at the track in between those efforts. 

You can certainly make a solid case for him when studying the weights and measures as he is 23lb better off with Mr Vango compared to 12 months ago and has only three lengths to find with him. 

It’s not that straightforward, though, as Richmond Lake ended last season under a cloud and has begun this term with successive defeats, extending his losing sequence to a dozen races. 

That said, he did shape well on his return on heavy ground at Bangor before fading, and dropping back to 2m 4f probably did him on favours at Aintree last time. If he can build on those efforts, back at a track which clearly suits him, then he cannot be discounted at chunky odds. 

Fifteen initial entries have shrunkl to seven. JOHNNYWHO has plenty going for him and gets the vote.  Richmond Lake looks the most interesting of those at chunkier odds.