Follow Dover Over A Cliff In The Cesarewitch

I think it is fair to say we were rather unlucky with Salouen in the Arc on Sunday. A slightly slow break meant he couldn’t get his favoured early prominent position, but even so, he was very unlucky not to finish in the first four given the interference he suffered close to home. At least we gained some compensation with Enable who held off a late surge from Sea Of Class, who Ithink was given a peach by James Doyle. They are two tremendously talented fillies and hopefully we get to see a rematch next season.
 

Cliffs Of Dover looks a fascinating contender in the Cesarewitch.

When you consider the success that national hunt trainers have had in the Cesarewitch it is hard to believe that Paul Nicholls has yet to send out a winner in this 2m 2f contest. Martin Pipe, Nicky Henderson, Philip Hobbs and Alan King have all won it, and I think Nicholls has a fighting chance of joining that illustrious list with Cliffs Of Dover on Saturday.

This 5yo son of Canford Cliffs has been prolific over timber, winning 6 of his 8 starts in that discipline. Make no mistake though, he is a useful tool on the level too as he demonstrated at Haydock back in August when hosing up by 12L off a mark of 77 (16f gd/fm). That was only his fourth start at 2 miles or further on the flat and he has won three of them.

His last two flat runs were more than respectable over distances short of his minimum and I though he was a big eyecatcher last time at Doncaster (14.5f gd/sft) off 88. He was held up well in rear, switched wide in the straight and he stayed on powerfully in the closing stages. He may have only finished 6th behind Just In Time beaten 3L but if the race had been run over further he would have got a lot closer to the principals.

Just In Time is priced up at just 16/1 for Saturday’s race but over a trip of 18.5f and with a 5lb swing in the weights, I think Cliffs Of Dover is value to turn that form around off 87. This fella can be a bit keen in his races sometimes but in a big field like this the pace should be strong and that should help him to settle. Megan Nicholls takes off a very handy 5lb and she is 3/6 on board this fella so there are no worries on that front.

Cliffs Of Dover is undeniably at his best on good ground or better and with little to no rain forecast in Newmarket this week, it looks like he will get his optimum ground conditions. Hopefully the draw gods smile on him and he is handed a decent starting position. If he is I can see him going off a lot shorter than the 33/1 currently available and at that price he is worth chancing each way.


STEVOS’ SELECTION: CESAREWITCH: CLIFFS OF DOVER E/W @ 33/1 5 PLACES