Prince De Beauchene

Prince De Beauchene may be worth following after his seasonal debut run at Carlisle, in what looked like a decent three-mile-one-furlong graduation chase. He took an age to settle, in fact, he may not have ever really settled until they jumped the third last as Brian Hughes was constantly at pains to restrain him. He did jump well and he was actually still bang there with a chance at the third last, the fence before the straight, but inevitably he started to get tired when they turned in. It was a tired jump that he put in at the last when he unseated Hughes, but he should come on for this run, provided he remains unscathed after the unseat.

This looked like a fairly decent graduation chase early in the season and Prince De Beauchene probably would have finished third had he not got rid of his rider at the last. The front two are fairly useful, and are both now considered live chances for the Hennessy. Hey Big Spender was a progressive sort last season and he looks to have continued to improve over the summer, while Big Fella Thanks was running for the first time since he finishing a creditable fourth in the Grand National, when sent off a well-backed joint-favourite.

Howard Johnson’s gelding had a progressive profile last season. On his last start of the season, he ran out an impressive winner of a valuable handicap chase at Haydock on heavy ground, accounting for David Pipe’s Salut Flo with the pair of them well clear of the rest. He won there off a mark of 132, and he received an 8lb hike for it, but this was actually only his fourth ever start over fences in Britain, so it is probable that he has a lot more to give. He was bought from France with chasing in mind and he looks the type who could take a decent handicap chase on soft ground in the coming months. He should settle down much better next time and he will be interesting if he takes up his engagement in the Rehearsal Chase at Newcastle next Saturday, or wherever he appears.

8th November 2010