Chester Cup favourite Anak Pekan raring to go
A maximum 18 runners were declared for the £120,000 handicap over an extended two and a quarter miles at yesterday's final 48-hour stage. "He's fine. He's a pretty fit sort of horse, so he's been ticking over he's fit and well," Jarvis said.
Anak Pekan, an impressive winner of the Queen's Prize at Kempton over Easter, is the 7-2 market leader with William Hill. However, the ground has dried out to good to firm and Jarvis said: "I'd like to see some more rain. He's effective on softish ground. He has run good races on fast ground, but he's more effective with cut."
Of the 22 five-day entries, Savannah Bay and Zibeline were taken out today, while the bottom two in the handicap, High Point and Sailor A'hoy, failed to make the cut.
Malton trainer Brian Ellison has decided to save Zibeline for the John Smith's Northumberland Plate at Newcastle next month.
"We'll freshen him up for the Northumberland Plate. He's had a good campaign. We got him ready for Cheltenham, then he went and won at Liverpool," said Ellison.
"He had two hard races and we felt that two and a quarter miles would just stretch him a bit, whereas two miles is ideal and so we'll get him ready for the Plate now." Ponderon will only take his chance on the Roodee if there is significant rain, trainer Fulke Johnson Houghton has warned.
With Savannah Bay an absentee, the weights have been raised 2lb, leaving the Paul Cole-trained Swing Wing to give weight all round on 9st 10lb.
Cole will also saddle Archduke Ferdinand, while three other trainers are double-handed too. They are Philip Hobbs (Unleash and Numitas), Mick Channon (Misternando and Almizan) and Alan Swinbank )Collier Hill and Gracilis).
