Ladbrokes Champion Chase: guide to the fab four and a 6-1 tip

Ladbrokes Champion Chase: guide to the fab four and a 6-1 tip

By Andy Stephens
Last Updated: Tue 5 Dec 2023
Only four runners will go to post for the Ladbrokes Champion Chase at Down Royal on Saturday but what a star-studded quartet they are.
On The Wire: Paul Townend was a special guest on this week's show, and the leading rider discussed his key mounts on Saturday plus shared the inside track on some of Willie Mullins' leading lights! The team also shared their best bets for the weekend
Between them, Conflated, Envoi Allen, Gerri Colombe and Minella Indo have won 16 Grade One races with Gerri Colombe’s only defeat in nine races coming when beaten a short head in last season’s Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase.
He is going to go off a hot favourite even though the accumulative exploits of his three rivals include victories in this race, the Cheltenham Gold Cup, Irish Gold Cup, Savills Chase, Ryanair Chase, Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle, Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle and Champion Bumper.
There are no weak links here – the fab foursome have official ratings between 162 and 167 - and an enthralling renewal is on the cards. Here’s how they measure up.

1 CONFLATED

Timeform rating: 178. Grade One wins: 2. Best Odds: 6-1.
He came of age when winning the 2022 Irish Gold Cup at Leopardstown and got to within a length of Clan Des Obeaux at Aintree later in the season. Last term, he was third to Envoi Allen in this race before landing the Savills Chase and then finishing a fine third to Galopin Des Champs in the Gold Cup. The one niggle is whether a tough examination at Cheltenham has left a scar because he ran poorly the following month at Aintree and was subdued when finishing last of five, behind Minella Indo, in a Grade Three contest on his return at Punchestown last month. He’s going to need quite a transformation to turn the tables a month on, let alone anything else.

2 ENVOI ALLEN

Timeform rating: 175. Grade One wins: 8. Odds: 6-1.
He’s not the invincible force he one was – he won each of his first 12 races – and some inconsistency has crept in, but the nine-year-old remains a high-class chaser when bringing his A Game to the track. And he usually does at Down Royal, having won at this meeting for the past four years. His highlights last season include a smooth victory in this race and a polished triumph in the Ryanair Chase. That was his third victory at the Cheltenham Festival. He was below his best on his return in the mud at Gowran last month, in a race where Easy Game and Gentlemansgame fought out the finish, but he looked in need of the run and it should have put him spot-on for this assignment. In any case, he was trying to concede 9lb to Gentlemansgame and that horse more than did his bit for the form when subsequently conquering Bravemansgame in the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby last weekend.

3 GERRI COLOMBE

Timeform rating: 177p. Grade One wins: 3. Odds: 5-6.
He was one of Jump racing’s rising stars last season and his record of eight wins from nine starts speaks for itself. That one blemish came when he was beaten inches by The Real Whacker in the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham when narrowly failing to claw back a rival who got first run. Gerri Colombe has looked economical and efficient in every department, resisting any urge to pummel the opposition, and always saving something for another day. Any fears that Cheltenham might leave a mark were dispelled when he won with plenty in hand at Aintree the following month. At seven years of age, he's got younger legs than his rivals and we don’t know where his ceiling might be. However, he is in deeper waters here and that’s reflected by the fact that he’s the joint-lowest rated runner in the line-up.

4 MINELLA INDO

Timeform rating: 173+. Grade One wins: 3. Odds: 9-2.
What’s the first race you think of when you hear his name mentioned? His 50-1 win in the Albert Bartlett when he almost pulled Rachael Blackmore’s arms out of their sockets? His dramatic defeat at the hands of Champ in the RSA? Or the 2021 Gold Cup when he outmuscled A Plus Tard? He’s had his trials and tribulations since those glorious early days, including when only third to Frodon in this race two years ago, when a hot favourite. He’s been pulled up in three races since then, including in the latest edition of the Gold Cup, but there have still been highs along the journey with his comeback win at Punchestown indicating there is still plenty of fire in his belly. His form in Grade One races since his finest hour, in the Gold Cup, reads 3P22PP, which highlights he’s become something on all-or-nothing performer.
VERDICT
None of the four are habitual front-runners but Conflated and Envoi Allen have sometimes made the pace in the past. Their respective jockeys may sense the prospect of getting a softish lead and my hunch is that Sam Ewing will dictate the early fractions on Conflated, with the other trio playing follow my leader. However, he needs to bounce back after a tame finish to last season and a subdued start to this one. Gerri Colombe has age on his side and if this season’s Gold Cup winner is in the field, then it’s probably him. But he’s the only one of the quartet not to have had a run this term and apparently isn’t one to overdo things at home. And with this campaign all about the Gold Cup, he’s not going to be fully revved up here anyway, whereas the others just might be. In the circumstances, I’m happy to take on the short-priced favourite. Minella Indo looked in rude health at Punchestown but his stablemate ENVOI ALLEN’s record at this track stands close inspection and he looks a big price to enhance it, especially with his return run not looking half as bad as it did at the time. Rachael Blackmore knows the stablemates better than most and and she sticks with him.
1 ENVOI ALLEN. 2 GERRI COLOMBE. 3 MINELA INDO. 4 CONFLATED.
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