 |
 |
| Punter's Diary by Malcolm Heyhoe |
[current diary] 2b1os
 |
| Updated: 1st December 2012 - GG.com |
December Gems
Rain and yet more rain has been the constant backdrop to the opening beats of the current jumps season, and soft ground seems a certainty for Saturday's Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury on December 1st.
 |
Trainer Nicky Henderson has appeared to be flustered by the prevailing heavy conditions, constantly bemoaning the wetness of the ground and blaming a heavy surface for Finian's Rainbow running badly at Ascot the other day while using the bad ground as an excuse for not running Sprinter Sacre and Darlan at Cheltenham's Paddy Power meeting.
Part of me thinks the trainer doth protest too much, and if a handler begins to agonise too much about heavy ground then horses running badly upon it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. At Newbury Henderson has the Hennessy favourite Bobs Worth in what has to be one of the weakest renewals ever staged of this famous race, and if he is race fit and ready to run he should prove hard to beat.
 |
On December 8 Sandown hosts the International Hurdle and this year's renewal should be an open race with Zarkandar, Grandouet and Balder Success all set to slug it out for top hurdling honours up the famous Cheltenham hill. On the same day Oscar Whisky should land the Relkeel Hurdle for the second season running and Coneygree can take the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle on the same card.
 |
The countdown to the Christmas racing calendar truly begins with Ascot's prestigious fixture on December 22. The Nov 2012
