I have added Dickie Diver @ 33/1.
I want to get him onside before Henderson's RP stable tour next week.
JP likes having NHC runners and his current options listed in the market appear limited.
I think there is a talented horse in DD. He might not necessarily dine at the top table (which is the box NHC horses tick), but he is very good. His Albert Bartlett form looks rock solid and his run at Newbury last December when returning from a 655 day break was ridiculously good I thought. We're talking nearly 2 years off, and that performance was considered good enough to throw him in the proverbial deep end on just his second chase start. It didn't work out, but I don't think he lost too much in defeat.
Nicky - 'He is a seriously talented horse if we can keep him in one piece. He loves soft ground and stays really well, and we just have to hope we have a clear run with him'.
Nicky does worry me and I can't necessarily trust his decision making, but I remember reading in a book a few years ago (I think it may have been Mark Howard), that DD left the PTP scene in Ireland being compared to the likes of Best Mate, he was considered that good. Things haven't gone his way, but theres a proper lurker in there. Pedigree is mustard, owned by a man who loves NHC winners, cost 200k plus, Cheltenham Festival experience a big plus, he jumps well, wants to stay and stay, will be a second season chaser which ticks a lot of stats trends and I just think collectively, the price needs to be taken given his profile.
It's a risk though. I am extremely aware that Nicky doesn't tend to send too many down the NHC route, but when he does they go off bloody short! Beware The Bear 9/2 and OK Corral in more recent years. OK Corral went off 4/1 for a NHC having finished 2nd a previous year in an AB and I'm confident based on raw ability that DD would shit OK Corral out for breakfast.
I think DD will be Henderson's NHC horse and if he says as much on Tuesday 33 becomes 16, a win over 3m becomes single figures and the rest as they say, is history.
The rules state 'Horses must have run in at least two chases and must have finished in the first four in a chase staged over an extended two miles and seven and a half furlongs or further', so DD's RSA 4th means he must run in one chase this season over 2m7f or more to qualify for the race. I think thats right, but if I'm not please let me know.