I dare to write my first post in the forum for the National Hunt Chase because I really like the chances of Ronald Pump.
Carefully Selected is surely the horse to beat, once he qualifies, and Champagne Classic is the clear second favourite but in my opinion there won’t be many runners this year and I am not very keen on the other possible runners while I think Ronald Pump might have been overlooked. I’ve taken a few bits available at big odds only to win but I really fancy his chances each way and the current 40/1 available is not too bad.
The horse has got a lovely profile (1-1-4-1-1-1-2-2) in the last 12 months and I think there is still more in the locker once he goes up in distance. The negatives are plenty of course. He represents a very small stable, his first two seasons were really underwhelming, made a big mistake in his last outing over fences and has yet to qualify (trainer mentioned the Naas race at the end of the month as his next target) but at the prices I do think he’s worth a chance.
Since his first win at Cork in December 2018 off 102 he has not looked back over hurdles and I was impressed by his performance at Leopardstown after Christmas when he was a fast finishing second off 145 in a tough handicap (he would have probably won with another couple of strides and his style of racing doesn’t really suit a track like Leopardstown in my opinion). He is now rated 150 over hurdles in Ireland which makes him already one of the highest rated staying hurdlers in the country and he has just turned 7. Personally I would even fancy his chances in a staying hurdle graded race with Benie Des Dieux and Presenting Percy the only two I would rate clearly superior in that discipline right now (Supasundae, Apple’s Jade, Bacardys, Penhill and co. are obviously still rated higher than him but I wouldn’t fancy any of them at the moment, in a 3m+ hurdle race).
Over fences he was electric in his chasing debut in November and even if any form at the start of the season has to be taken with a pinch of salt you couldn’t failed but be impressed by the style of his performance and the horses he beat that day (at level weight) are not bad (Captain Cj, Speak Easy, Castlebawn West, Bapaume, Smoking Gun and Spyglass Hill have all franked the form multiple times since).
As said the big negative is that he is yet to qualify for this race and his last time out performance was marred by a bad mistake 4 out but in the main he had been jumping pretty well that day too and stayed on in pleasing fashion for a distant second. He would have probably never been a threat to Fakir D’Oudairies and Samcro even without that mistake 4 out but that race was a Grade 1 over 2m4f against some of the best novices around. The two Willie Mullins-trained horses that trailed him home that day (Burrows Saint and Chef Des Obeaux) were making their seasonal debuts and were surely not at their best but anyway they went on to frank the form with two very good performances next time out.
I have become a big fan of the horse and will follow him wherever he goes next (he could well become a National horse next year if not already this) but as far as concerned our beloved Cheltenham Festival I would have thought this was his only possible target if all goes well at Naas and he shouldn’t struggle to find a good Irish Amateur jockey to give him a good patient ride and let him loose on that final hill that should bring into play his great stamina.
