Yep
I worked out at least 10 will come out and maybe more, but wasn't sure where he ranked in the 135's
If they are right then he's up against it
I took some of the big prices for this before his win yesterday so I’d really like him to get in. It was a great example of a NRNB bet with very little downside. If he didn’t win he had no way of getting a run and a win meant he stood a better chance than the 50/1 that was available yesterday morning.
The big problem now is getting into the race and I think he looks up against it. I was hoping he wouldn’t be bottom of the horses on 135. I’m assuming the rule is a horse with a penalty is last and judged on its official mark still in the list?
If the Racing Post is right he’s number 44 and needs 20 of the 43 above him to come out. I think 27 of them have double entries. The owner has two other runners, Willie Mullins has a horse running at Naas today who you would think is unlikely to run and Up The Straight had a very hard race yesterday at Sandown so very unlikely he’ll be declared. That still leaves 16 from 39 to drop out.
The position will become a bit clearer on Monday as a lot of the double entries are in the Coral Cup.
I think he’ll just miss out but if he does get in then he’s very interesting. Admittedly it was a weak running of the Imperial Cup and the race fell apart, but he won as he liked.
His handicap mark is now the same as when he finished 6th in the Boodles last year when he was running on at the finish. He also has a nice run behind Botox Has at the course. Wind op recently and first run back was laying him out for yesterday.
Skelton has confirmed he will run if he gets in and although there is a question mark about the gap between the two races, he’s going to be well handicapped compared to his mark in the future. The bonus obviously adds a further incentive to run.
There will be others in the race that are well handicapped as well but I think 10/1 NRNB still has some mileage in it. If he gets in at the bottom there is no way he goes off at that price imo.
It will be a bit ironic if he doesn’t get in as he got dropped one lb for his run at Market Rasen. That one lb could make all the difference.