Champion jockey Tony McCoy has been booked to partner ante-post favourite Fistral Beach in Saturday’s feature event, the Racing Post Chase at Kempton, writes Elliot Slater.
Paul Nicholls has turned to McCoy to ride the progressive seven-year-old who was sent off favourite for the same race last year, but only got as far as the second fence where he blundered badly and unseated Ruby Walsh. With Walsh still on the sidelines although close to returning after four months out of action since sustaining a broken leg in November, many people had anticipated that Nick Scholfield would take the ride having been aboard the Graham Roach-owned chaser when he made a successful return to action at Wincanton in January on his belated seasonal return following a breathing operation.
With McCoy available though, Nicholls has turned to the 15-times champion who will ride the horse in public for the very first time in what is always one of the most competitive three-mile handicap chases of the jumps season and the latest horse racing betting odds suggest it will once again be a very tight contest.
Fistral Beach has been a model of consistency throughout his career and has finished in the first two on 10 of his 13 starts. He won on his debut in a Newton Abbott bumper before switching to hurdles the following season where he raced six times without managing to get his head in front, indeed he developed something of a reputation as ‘nearly’ horse.
The Definite Article gelding initially continued in the same vein as a novice chaser, finishing runner-up on his first two outings over the larger obstacles, before getting off the mark at Kempton 13 months ago, after which he was sent off favourite for last season’s Racing Post Chase.
Hopefully this time around he’ll manage to get further than the second fence, and with McCoy on board, the 11/2 market leader should have plenty of people cheering him on.
