Betfair Chase: A Plus Tard "stronger than ever" for defence

Henry de Bromhead is happy to stick to what he knows in the case of A Plus Tard with the Cheltenham, Gold Cup hero once again set to start his campaign in the Betfair Chase at Haydock Park on Saturday.

The Grade One contest traditionally does not attract a big field despite the huge pot on offer and the four-time top-level winner will face a maximum of four rivals.

He beat only six other contenders on Merseyside 12 months ago, after which he went on to be narrowly denied in the Savills Chase at Leopardstown before winning at Cheltenham in stunning style by 15 lengths from stablemate Minella Indo – meaning it was the same two horses who filled the first two positions for two years in a row.

“He seems in great form, he’s working really well. Rachael (Blackmore) schooled him this morning and he jumped really well so all seems good at the moment,” said De Bromhead on Monday.

“Rachael gets a great tune out of him, they were brilliant last year in the Gold Cup so we’re looking forward to Saturday and hopefully we’ll have a bit of luck and everything will take care of itself after that.

“He seems to be pretty adaptable regarding the ground and he’s lovely to have around, very laid back and very straightforward.”

Despite the small field - and lack of other Irish interest - De Bromhead is taking nothing for granted.

“I always think they are all to fear. Bristol De Mai has won it however many times (three) and I can’t quite believe the price Frodon is when you think what he has achieved. It’s a Grade One so I’m afraid of them all. Obviously Protektorat ran well in the Gold Cup also,” said De Bromhead.

“I haven’t given much thought to tactics yet, and that is more Rachael’s department. From my point of view the less horses to beat the better! We just want to get him there in good shape.

“When you are only running these horses three or four times a year you want these runs to count so we hope he’s as well as he was last year.

“Hopefully the plan after this will be Leopardstown at Christmas and then Cheltenham in March. I think that makes sense as obviously he has the preference for going left so they are the obvious races for him.”

It seems hard to comprehend given A Plus Tard won a novice handicap chase at the Festival in 2019 that the Cheveley Park Stud-owned gelding is still only eight – with many believing he is just hitting his prime.

De Bromhead feels he could even be better again this season, saying: “I think he’s just strengthened and matured. Other than that it’s hard to give any other reason, maybe Rachael is riding him differently but not a whole lot. He just seemed to really find himself last year and he’s kept on improving.

“Physically he looks an even stronger horse again, but Saturday will tell us an awful lot.”

It was not until his victory in the Savills in 2020 that A Plus Tard was viewed as a staying chaser, and the County Waterford handler holds his hands up.

“I got it completely wrong when we first got him,” he said.

“I kept running him over two miles, but I suppose he confused us when he beat the good horse of Willie’s (Mullins, Chacun Pour Soi) over two miles.

“He’s just so classy he seems to handle any trip. When we first got him I just wanted to win races with him, but did I see him as a three-miler? Probably not. He was still entered in the two-mile and the three-miler at Christmas and we only decided a few days before to run him over three.

“Since then we haven’t looked back. I remember in the Ryanair (2020), I think he was favourite, and he just looked like he lacked a gear between the second-last and the last and I suppose after that I hoped he was more a three-miler.

“It’s incredible to have the attributes to stay three-mile-two and to have the speed he showed after the last. I think he blew us all away last March and he seems to just have a lot of class.”

Nigel Twiston-Davies is praying for Bristol De Mai ahead of the grey's bid for a record-equalling fourth win in the race.

Although Father Time may be catching up with the 11-year-old, his handler believes he has him in top form ahead of the trip to his beloved Haydock.

Twiston-Davies said: “I’m doing a bit of a rain dance – let’s hope it keeps raining. We are due some rain on Tuesday and Wednesday, so he should be all right.

“He loves Haydock. It would be nice to see him go and do it again. He is in really good form, and we are obviously looking forward to running him.

“It is a tough old race, but there are just five in there. I hope they will name the race after him at some point.”

Frodon_, with Paul Nicholls confirming his Badger Beer winner is on course for Haydock.

“He seems well, and I’ve confirmed him this morning,” he told Betfair.

“You never know – there’s five confirmed at the moment and I think that’s all there will be. There might only be three or four runners come Saturday and the intention is to run him at the moment.

“Clifford (Baker) says he has come out of the race (Badger Beer) well and there’s a month to the King George. So as long as it doesn’t come up desperately heavy, we’ll probably go.”

Venetia Williams’ Royale Pagaille is the only defector from the initial six entries having suffered a small setback that could see him rerouted to the Coral Gold Cup on November 26.

Kirkland Tellwright, Clerk of the Course at Haydock Park, provided the following update on the ground ahead of Saturday’s fixture: “The going today is Good To Soft, Soft in places on the chase course and Good To Soft on the hurdle course.

“We’ve got wet days forecast on Tuesday and Thursday and if the forecast is accurate, we’ll certainly not be any quicker than we are now and we might be a bit easier.”