Placepot Pointers: Red River can help make a splash at Exeter

The Haldon Gold Cup, the starting point for many a Champion Chase campaign, is the feature at Exeter on Tuesday.

Leg 4 of the bet sees the Grade two prize decided, but before you get there, players must navigate a handful of tricky novice hurdle events.

Our Pointers will have you looking in the right places for the horses to get you to the big race and beyond.

It’s Good ground at Exeter this week, something that might be a good sign for Tom George. The Slad trainer has landed the last three Haldon Gold Cups when there has been Good in the official going description. Will Bun Doran make the cut? Read on for our full pointers.

Kim Bailey has been in great form of late, recording a strike-rate of 35% in the past fortnight. But, perhaps as expected, it is his chasers in particular that are thriving with 54% winning or placing in 2020, with seven of the last 10 hitting the frame.

He sends out RED RIVER in the fifth leg of the Placepot today (2.55). He was given an easy time of it when beaten in third at Chepstow last time out, behind two of today’s opponents. Expect much more of him with that run under his belt, and if recording the sort of performance he recorded over hurdles, can finish in the first two here.

NOBLE BEHEST (Leg 2 - 1.25) didn’t really need to improve on his good second to Templepark to get off the mark over hurdles last time out. That victory at Newton Abbot has been given a nice boost since with the runner-up going on to score on his next outing.

Although he carries a penalty here, those who we have seen already will need to take a considerable step up to ensure Ian Williams’ gelding finishes outside of the first three. Newcomer Flash Collonges is out of a half-sister to Grand National winner Neptune Collonges so is however, an interesting opponent here.

Henry Daly’s Fortescue looks to be an improver over fences and would be a solid pick in the final leg of the day’s Placepot, however, beefing up your potential winning lines with a couple of outsiders could be worthwhile. MAHLERMADE was third behind Copperhead and Fingerontheswitch last season off a mark 3lb higher than Tuesday’s and with those two going on to win much better contests, that form gives him a squeak. He was admittedly poor on return, but has come on for his first run on multiple times in his career, so isn’t ruled out.

EVERLANES was victorious on her only previous try at three miles, when scoring at Kempton two starts back, stringing out a field that have now recorded nine wins between them since. She’s had the benefit of a run and remains unexposed over this trip.

A number of shrewd judges have put up Greaneteen as a dark horse for next year’s Queen Mother Champion Chase, and victory in the Haldon Gold Cup (Leg 4 - 2:25) would certainly put him on the right path. However, for Placepot purposes he looks likely to be over-supported in a fairly open event.

For that reason, a dual-pronged attack of GLOBAL CITIZEN and ESPRIT DU LARGE is the way we’re playing things. The latter improved nicely throughout last season, taking the Henry VII Novices Chase in good style at Sandown before coming down in the Arkle.

Global Citizen had Rouge Vif beaten at Kempton over Christmas and narrowly split that same rival and Al Dancer at Cheltenham. With both of them coming out and winning well this term, the form’s been given a nice boost. Jockey David Bass has been piling in the winners lately, so the man on top is clearly riding at the top of his game.

Leg 1: 2, 5

Leg 2: 1

Leg 3: 2, 7

Leg 4: 3, 4

Leg 5: 4, 7

Leg 6: 4, 16, 18

2 x 1 x 2 x 2 x 2 x 3 = 48 lines