Sir Chauvelin can land Newbury’s new valuable staying JLT Handicap for flying Scotsman Jim Goldie
The Scottish stayer can blow hot and cold but all signs point to a big run on Saturday
NOT one to miss a beat, Newbury caught wind of the improving programme for stayers and offered up a valuable handicap of their own.
The JLT Cup will be run for the first time on Saturday and is worth over £60,000 to the winner.
Jim Goldie's team have burst into life over the last week. The Scottish yard followed up Euchen Glen's win in the John Smith's Cup with a double at Ayr on Monday.
Jockey George Downing has moved up to help Goldie out, with Paul Mulrennan and Barry McHugh missing in action, and has made an immediate impact with two winners.
He's jocked up on Sir Chauvelin on Saturday, who he looks primed for a big run back up in trip.
The John Smith's Cup was a non-event for the six-year-old as he never got into the race, after he was drawn wide and held up in last.
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However, he still managed to make some eyecatching progress in the home straight, despite racing on the wrong side of the track.
This is on top of a previous third coming off a slow pace in the Northumberland Plate and a remarkable second at Royal Ascot.
Both of those efforts have been well publicised, but despite these, the handicapper has only nudged him up a single pound.
He's clearly at home on the quick ground we've had for much of the summer and with a lot of the field still weighing up whether to run at Newbury, he looks the complete wrong price at 16-1.
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Goldie has confirmed he's an intended runner, but the same can't be said for the majority of horses much shorter in the betting.
Mark Johnston will surely have a strong hand, but both Austrian School and Making Miracles need others to drop out to guarantee a run.
Stratum is ridiculously short at 9-2, but being owned by Tony Bloom and trained by Willie Mullins you can see why bookies are taking no chances.
Amazing Red looks to have Frankie Dettori on board, but a mark of 102 will take some defeating in a race like this.
Most bookmakers are paying four places at this stage, with a few surprisingly only offering up the three.
There's a maximum field of 18, and as a new race it's hard to tell what the field size may be, but with a decent pot up for grabs and limited options for stayers; you'd expect it to be close to full.
That said, Sir Chauvelin looks a great bet at this stage. I'd be surprised if he's a double figure price come the weekend.
The form speaks for itself, and watching his recent efforts back, it's hard not to think a big one is coming his way soon. Let's hope it's at Newbury.