National Hunt hopes for the season

By Rory King

Over the next few weeks I will be highlighting my ten National Hunt horses to follow for the season. This week I start off with two chasers.

Sizing Europe

Make no mistake, Sizing Europe is a seriously good horse to be able to do what he did over two miles both over hurdles and in his novice chase year considering I believe he is going to prove to be a three-miler. His physique suggests so, his two half brothers both had form at two and a half miles, he won his chase debut in heavy ground over two and a half miles beating seventeen rivals, but the most telling factor is the way he ran on his comeback at Punchestown last week. There has been much written since that race regarding Sizing Europe’s apparent inability to stay the two miles seven, but these people were clearly not watching the same race as me. Sizing Europe quite evidently got outpaced by China Rock, who was given a very good ride by Ruby Walsh, approaching the third last before making up some ground coming to two from home before he most likely blew up through lack of fitness rather than not getting home through lack of stamina. His trainer Henry de Bromhead has since said that he believes Sizing Europe will come on a good deal for this run as he was not totally wound up for this first run.

The way he travelled so well in many of his races over two miles, not least the Arkle last year, is just testament to his class. It may well be that now he has grown up he needs longer as that Arkle run did seem to be that of a top class two miler. However, he travelled so enthusiastically at Cheltenham, jumping from fence to fence and took it up a long way out that it took a horse with deep reserves of stamina to hold on up the hill from the fast finishing Somersby who had been held up out the back in a race run at a frenetic pace.

Make no mistake; Sizing Europe will be at the top of my shortlist for any three mile chase he contests this season, primarily the King George for which he seems a ludicrous ante post price. As of yet, I am not sure whether or not he will stay the Gold Cup distance of three and a quarter miles, but there must be a good chance of him doing so.

Ernst Blofeld

Ernst Blofeld is a horse that I very much have my eye on this winter to win a big staying handicap chase. He is still very lightly raced and has been descried by his trainer Donald McCain in a recent stable tour as being ‘very babyish and immature last season’ but also as a ‘smashing horse’. He is clearly good – he has not been out of the frame on any of his nine completed starts and, judged on his final start last season, stays very well as he powered up the Carlisle hill after three miles on sticky ground. A mark in the mid-130s is very workable for this son of Flemensfirth with the Hennessy being an obvious early season target. If he does not go to Newbury, then there will be many staying handicaps for him in the North.

Hopefully as he has grown up he has learnt to concentrate a little better on his jumping as he did have the ability to miss a fence or two last season – he crashed out at Cheltenham one day. No doubt his fencing will improve with time and some big-field experience, but I am sure his very able trainer will have worked on that department before his first engagement. He has almost solely been kept to soft or heavy surfaces thus far in his career, but I do not think it is essential that he has it soft underfoot; he did afterall win his final start last season on officially good to soft.

I think Ernst Blofeld could progress very well this season and it is feasible that he ends the season on a mark somewhere in the late-140s or early-150s making his current mark look very appealing indeed, especially considering he was rated higher over hurdles in a short career over the smaller obstacles and has the potential to go much further over fences.

By Rory King