Sprinter Sacre returns at Ascot

Sprinter Sacre (Nicky Henderson/ Barry Geraghty), officially rated the best chaser in training, makes his comeback today in the Grade One chase over 2 miles 1 furlong at 16.00 CET at Ascot. He had won 14 of his 17 races, including this one, when it was run at Cheltenham in 2013, and the Champion Chase, and on those pieces of form is unbeatable here. However there is a snag; he has not run since being pulled up with a heart tremor at Kempton 13 months ago; Connections now seem optimistic that he has fully recovered and is nearing his best form again, in which case he should win easily, but the proof of the pudding is in the eating, and we won´t know for sure until he actually runs. Obviously the jockey will be under instructions not to give him a hard race and to pull him up if any problem surfaces, but we feel that this is factored into the price and regard him as a decent bet at evens or better. Should he for any reason fail to win, the last-time-out Grade One winners Dodging Bullets (PaulNicholls/ Noel Fehily) and Twinlight (Willie Mullins/ Ruby Walsh) are the two most likely to take advantage.

The Grade Two mares hurdle over 3 miles at 14.50 is the main supporting feature, and Carole´s Spirit (Robert Walford/ Daryl Jacob), runner-up last year, could go one better despite top weight. However we feel that Land of Vic (Peter Bowen/ Donal Devereux) could be a huge danger in receipt of 5 lbs.

The big betting race here is the handicap chase at 16.35, where Venetia Williams saddles both the likely favourites Niceonefrankie (Aidan Coleman) and Tenor Nivernais (Peter Scudamore); however the former 2 from 2 at Ascot, is no longer so well handicapped, while the latter does not convince us. We shall go for the longshots Rebel Rebellion (Paul Nicholls/ Jack Sherwood) and Ackertac (Tim Vaughan/ Richard Johnson). We alsolike German-bred Lyvius (Henderson/ Geraghty) in the handicap hurdle at 15.25, although we hope that the going is not too soft for the Paolini gelding, a half-brother to Lucky Speed.