11:32am Monday 8th February 2010
THERE wasn’t one big Cheltenham pointer at Doncaster on Saturday, there were two massive pointers, both trained in the north.
Kalahari King is as short as 5-1 for the Queen Mother Champion Chase after winning on his seasonal reappearance in the Blue Square Handicap Chase.
Runner-up in the Arkle Trophy at last year’s Festival the nine year-old should be spot on now for the blue ribbon event, and afterward the winning trainer was delighted saying: “He’s a done a lot of work down on Redcar beach and has been there 14 times in a three-week period, but that is only slow work.
“The first time we did a bit of fast work with him after the snow he wouldn’t have won a donkey derby, but he’s continued to improve and he schooled brilliantly earlier in the week.
“Coming here, I would honestly have been happy with sixth or seventh, but he’s a class horse and I’d like to think he’d improve again.
“This wouldn’t be his ground and hopefully that race will be enough to leave him right for Cheltenham.
“I hope he hasn’t left his race here but he seems to have won with a bit in hand and you have to say it was an impressive performance.”
Earlier in the afternoon and equally impressive was the Keith Reveley trained Tazbar, who romped home in the novices’ chase, under the trainer’s son James.
The eight-year-old was winning his third race of the season and some bookmakers have him 16-1 to score at the Cheltenham Festival.
Afterwards the winning trainer said: “The RSA Chase is the plan but the ground is the key to this horse as he really wants genuine good ground.”
At Sedgefield tomorrow local owner John Wade has a good chance of a winner with Benny Be Good, who has already won a bumper at the track and he’s trained by a certain Keith Reveley and ridden by his son James.
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