Ante-post: two Irish raiders appeal for Cesarewitch

The Club Godolphin Cesarewitch Handicap is likely to boast a huge field yet again and as always, is devilishly difficult to solve. The best-backed horse over the past week or so has been Reverend Hubert, who won the Trial at Newmarket by eight lengths just over a week ago, but he is as short as 6-1, which makes little appeal, especially since only two horses in the last thirty years have carried a penalty.

Tony Martin has last year’s winner Alphonse Le Grande near the head of the market off a 6lb higher mark, but the one that appeals more at a bigger price is his stablemate Zanndabad, who looks to have been laid out for this all season.

The six-year-old, who has a stamina-laden pedigree, is ground versatile and could have won the Chester Cup with a clearer run off his current mark of 92 last season. He then ran creditably in defeat when sent off favourite for the marathon Ascot Stakes before finishing sixth in the Irish Cesarewitch when I’m not sure the race was run to suit.

He has mixed hurdling and Flat races since; his fourth at York over an inadequate 1m4f particularly eye-catching when he rallied to finish fourth after not getting a clear passage. He was beaten just a length and three quarters by the winner. 

Last seen finishing ninth when he wasn’t put to the sword over another inadequate trip, it looks likely he will turn up here and it is difficult to envisage him not going off a much shorter price than the 16-1 currently on offer. His trainer also won this race with Leg Spinner in 2007.

Another that does look to have a chance off his current mark is the Joseph O’Brien-trained Dawn Rising, who can still be backed at 25-1 after a fifth-placed finish in the Irish version on Sunday. The race at the Curragh is a furlong shorter than the Irish equivalent and he just got done for a bit of speed late on, but stayed on to land each-way money at big odds.

Currently rated 97, he also finished fifth in the Irish Cesarewitch last season off 5lb higher, before coming sixth at Newmarket off 104. He disappointed in a couple of subsequent Flat runs in races that were never going to suit, but shaped okay at Royal Ascot before improving to finish fourth off his reduced mark behind fellow J P McManus-owned Filey Bay at Galway.

Sunday’s performance was another decent effort and he looks to have a chance at big odds should he follow the same path he took last year and line up at Newmarket a week on Saturday. 

It is worth noting six of the first eight and nine of the first twelve home last year were Irish-trained, whilst the 2021 race is the only running out of the past seven in which the race has not gone to Ireland (they had the runner-up that year).