Altior preps for a return to Cheltenham on Saturday as the favorite for the Win Bigger On Betfair Exchange Chase (G2), (Photo credit: Cheltenham Racecourse).
Altior makes his much-anticipated return to the turf on Saturday as the favorite for the Win Bigger On Betfair Exchange Chase (G2), a race the 10-year-old is using as a prep for his return to Cheltenham.
The brilliant jumper is well backed in ante-post wagering, down as low as 2-5 among an expected field of 10.
The Win Bigger On Betfair Exchange Chase serves as a prep for defending his title in the Queen Mother Champion Chase (G1) at Cheltenham on March 11. Altior is currently placed in the best odds of 4/9 @Unibet to win the chase. Freebets.co.uk has all the free bets available for Cheltenham. Take advantage of this while choosing which horse to bet on at the The Win Bigger On Betfair Exchange Chase.
Altior has won the last two runnings of the Grade1 race. He is between 2-1 and 3-1 in ante-post betting for the Queen Mother Champion Chase.
Both Defi Du Seuil and Chacun Pour Soi along with Altior are battling for favoritism in early wagering for the Queen Mother Champion Chase. A strong effort on Saturday will likely make Altior a solid favorite for his return to Cheltenham looking for a threepeat.
In just 5? weeks time, we will have our 2020 @betway Queen Mother Champion Chase winner ?
Let’s #throwback to what happened in 2019…#IllBeThere pic.twitter.com/q9ctC4Tra9
— CheltenhamRacecourse (@CheltenhamRaces) February 5, 2020
The Nicky Henderson charge has not raced since getting upset by the Paul Nicholls trained Cyrname in the Christy 1965 Chase at Ascot on November 23. The loss snapped a 19-race winning streak.
Altior Missed Two Races
Since the loss the gelding missed several starts. He was being pointed toward both the Desert Orchid Chase on Dec. 27 and the Silviniaco Conti Chase on Jan.11, both at Kempton Park.
Henderson said his jumping dynamo is now fit and ready for his return.
“He has been in good form. You might have seen the film of him schooling and you won’t see anything faster,” Henderson told Racing TV. “You seriously wonder why you would want to go any further than two miles.
“He has got to prove himself again, and I think he can. He has only been beaten once, in a two-mile-five race in a bog when he was only half-ready for it,” he continued. “It doesn’t mean he is old – he got beaten and it was going to happen and that was the day it was going to happen.”
On Saturday in the Win Bigger On Betfair Exchange Chase he faces several formidable foes including Kalashnikov and Dynamite Dollars.
Kalashnikov is looking to bounce back off an eighth-place finish in the Paddy Power Handicap Chase (G3) at Cheltenham.
Dynamite Dollars has won three in a row, winning the Napoleons Casino & Restaurant Owlerton Sheffield Lightning Novices’ Chase (G2) at Doncaster in his most recent outing.
The Win Bigger on the Betfair Exchange Chase at Newbury is the third race on the seven-race card with a post time of 14:25.
