Snap Tie

Philip Hobbs says that he is not losing faith in Snap Tie as a Champion Hurdle prospect after his apparent lack lustre performance in the Champion Hurdle Trial at Haydock on Saturday, and I am with the trainer. There were a number of things against the horse on Saturday – the ground was too soft, the track was not stiff enough and, crucially, Hobbs’s horses are going through a little bit of a lull at present. Snap Tie is a real galloper who doesn’t have a great turn of foot, and who is therefore ideally suited by Cheltenham’s undulations and uphill finish. In six runs at the Gloucestershire track, he has only been out of the first three once. Bookmakers’ knee-jerk response to this performance was to push Snap Tie’s odds for the Champion Hurdle out to 40/1. That may be an over-reaction and, if you fancied him for the title before last Saturday, now might be the time to back him.

17^th January, 2009