My Will

My Will ran an eye-catching race in last Saturday’s Hennessy. He travelled as well as anything into the home straight and going to the fourth last it appeared as if he was going to have a say in the final outcome, before lack of a recent run told and he got done by Snoopy Loopy and stable companion Dear Villez for third and fourth places.

The Nicholls horses often don’t tend to need their seasonal debuts too badly, but Nicholls did say on Saturday morning that this fellow would probably come on for it, which augurs well for the future. This was My Will’s first run since he had finished third behind Hot Weld in the 2007 Betfred Gold Cup, so it is understandable that he would have needed it. Although it seems like he has been around for ages, he is still only eight, and this run proved that he retains most if not all of his ability.

The handicapper had dropped him 7lb from his Sandown run before last Saturday, and he dropped him another 1lb for his Hennessy run, which is quite bizarre, but it leaves him on a mark of 153, which is really attractive when you consider that he was beaten two short heads off top weight in a highly competitive handicap chase at Cheltenham’s December meeting two years ago off a mark of 156.

This is a classy individual at his best. He had Our Vic and State Of Play behind him when he finished second to Exotic Dancer at Aintree in 2007, and only four of his 17 rivals started at a shorter price than him in the 2007 Gold Cup. He is entered in the Welsh National, but the three-and-a-quarter-mile handicap at Cheltenham next weekend, in which he finished third two years ago, could be his next port of call. He is potentially well handicapped and he should be given another chance wherever he goes next, when he might just slip under the radar as an old-timer whose best days are behind him.

© The Irish Field, 6th December, 2008