The Vaut of Confidence

Willie Mullins’ 3/1 Vautor can take the fight to Irving in the Supreme Novices’

 A few things to note about this particular two miler is that it’s not usually one for shock results. Barring Ebaziyan’s triumph 2007, we haven’t seen a winner in the Supreme Novices’ any longer than 12/1 in the last eight years. Although as the title suggests, a novice’s race, experience does count for something, as 7 of the last 10 winners here had previously ran in a Graded race and 8 of those last 10 had won their previous race.

Take your pick from an age range of 5-6 years, as recent records will tell you, they seem to have the most success in the Supreme Novices’ with only 7-year-old victor Captain Cee Bee coming from outside of that bracket.

Irving goes off as the 5/2 favourite and despite trainer Paul Nicholls’ high hopes for the horse, suggesting he could be a Champion Chase contender in a year’s time, has no previous experience on this course and the left-handed track will be unfamiliar territory. Add to that a lack of real Grade 1 opposition in albeit impressive recent runs, the value appears to be elsewhere.

Irving’s main two challengers come from the stable of Willie Mullins, Vautor and Wicklow Brave, and with Ruby Walsh piloting, it’s Vautor who gets my ‘Vaut.’ The 5-year-old grabbed an impressive Grade 1 victory last time out at Leopardstown and has the required speed to emulate stable mate Champagne Fever’s performance last year and reign supreme here.

A big hope for the UK challenge comes in the form of The Liquidator, who although flopped last time out with a disappointing 5th placed finish at Kempton, will look to write that off as a one-off and prove he’s got the pace to mount a challenge here. With winning experience on this course, even taking Kempton blip into account this horse still demands respect and at 20/1 represents each way value.

WINNER: Vautor (3/1)