Talking Horses

Hands up everyone who was cheering for Wishfull Thinking in the closing stages of Sunday’s Old Roan Chase. The game old chestnut, rising 13, put up a tremendous performance under top weight, getting to within half a length of a horse five years younger than him.

It is four and a half years since the day I was first really taken with Wishfull, when he made almost all to land a big-field novice handicap chase at the Punchestown festival. He had top weight that day, too, and nothing else shouldered more than 10st 4lb.

Standing next to him in the winner’s enclosure, there was no mistaking the effort it had cost him as the mud-spattered chaser drew in great lungfuls of air. There must have been a few physical issues along the way but he continues to show bravery on the racecourse at an age when many others find a way to quietly drop themselves out of contentionPresumably this is his last season and I rather fear his winning days may be behind him because that was a big chance at Aintree at the weekend and he may even be raised a few pounds for what he did. I’ll miss him when he’s gone. He was never anything like the very best but it seems to me that, for resilience and reliability, he was close to being the ideal steeplechaser. More owners would stay in the game if there were a few more Wishfull Thinkings knocking around.

I don’t suppose we will see any such thing at Ayr today but I have hopes for the chasing career of Un Noble (3.55), available at 4-1 for a novice handicap chase as he makes his fences debut. He took a big step forward on his handicap debut in March when scoring over hurdles at Newcastle, which was also his first try at this distance.

I’m inclined to forgive him his flop at Market Rasen the following month, his second run back after a lengthy absence when stepped up to three miles. I think he still has plenty in hand on his current mark and first time over fences on this return from a summer’s break may be a good time to catch him.

In the previous race, 15-8 is fair about the chance of Monbeg River (3.20) building on the dramatically improved form he showed on his chasing debut at Perth last month. His most obvious rival, Throthethatch, has become a non-runner.