INSIDE TRACK

At Navan on Sunday conditional rider Evan Daly found himself in a spot of bother, writes Julie Williams.

With one ride on the card the young jockey was off running the track, no doubt looking to sweat of an extra pound or two, when the four - actually it was seven - horsemen of the apocalypse came baring down on him.

Jogging and bopping his way to fitness with headphones wrapped around his ears he strayed on to the track just feet away from deadly pounding hooves.

Apparently he didn’t hear them but he did make out the screams of the jockeys whose mount was about to lay him flat in the mud.

As there were no injuries perhaps we can ponder whether he was listing to ‘ Crazy Horses’ by The Osmonds.

Or better still that yet to be recorded single, ‘ Get Out of The Way You Fool’, by the Navan Jockey Seven!

With a dry spell forecast for Cheltenham’s three day November meeting which kicks off this Friday the going is expected to be ‘ good’. Some may worry.

Not so Mick Channon who will saddle MISTER WHITAKER ( 7/ 1).

Second in the betting for Saturday’s BetVictor Gold Cup, his trainer was understandably bullish about the prospects of his stable star: “He’ll have to improve but he improved to win a Listed race last time… he’s got a touch of class.”

Up against Nicky Henderson’s RATHER BE ( 6/ 1) who hasn’t been back on the track since he was beaten a head by MISTER WHITAKER in a thrilling Close Brothers Novices Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, it looks a proper race in the making.

RATHER BE is 9lb better off at the weights than he was back then so it should be no surprise if he is sent off closer to 9/ 2 on the day.

Seven year olds have a 50% strike rate in the last decade while six year olds been victorious only once ( this does not augur well for young MR WHITAKER).

Six of the last 10 winners won carrying less than 11 stone, while favourites have only landed the odds once in the last decade.

Of the last 10 renewals of the BetVictor Gold Cup, Nigel Twiston Davies has sent out three winners; his seven- year- old BALLYANDY ( 16/ 1) has yet to transfer his smart bumper and hurdle form to the larger obstacles, with a couple of poor efforts over fences at Cheltenham in January and Wetherby last month.

As a result he has dropped 10lbs below his opening handicap mark off 147.

BALLYANDY comes to Saturday’s race with plenty questions to answer but carrying just 10st 2lbs as it stands, it is possible that he could find his form on the better ground advertised, as progeny of his sire KAYF TARA have a 30% strike rate on a sound surface.

These are big ifs but they look factored into the price for the trainer of last year’s 25/ 1 winner SPLASH OF GINGE.

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