Flow connections play down return
The 2003 Hennessy Gold Cup winner will be having a spin over hurdles at the Midlands track, but trainer Paul Nicholls has February’s Aon Chase at Newbury and then the totesport Gold Cup as his priorities.
Strong Flow cracked a bone in his knee during the Grade One Feltham Novices’ Chase at Kempton over a year ago but he still managed to win that race, and lines up for the Pertemps Handicap Hurdle (Series Qualifier).
He will race off a mark of 122, which is nearly 40lb below his last chase rating, but although he has been pleasing at home, Nicholls has already stated that this outing is set to bring him along for more important targets.
The handler’s assistant, Daniel Skelton, said: “We are happy with him, but as Paul has said earlier in the week, he will not be at his sharpest, because the Gold Cup is his aim.
“We are not expecting anything from him really. He is fit and well, but hurdling is not his thing. However, we have got to start him off somewhere and this is where he is going.”
Punters have been nibbling at Strong Flow’s price in the betting for the Gold Cup for at least the last two weeks as news of his recovery spread, and he is now around a 9-1 chance for the race
However, the Over The River gelding will not face an easy task on his comeback as he is set to face 13 rivals, including the Martin Pipe-trained Celtic Son, who is trying to notch up a quick hat-trick in the three-mile-one-furlong contest. The six-year-old appears to have made a New Year’s resolution to win more often, as he has already managed three victories from four runs this month, having drawn a blank from six previous runs for Pipe.
He will be having his third race this week after winning at Taunton on Monday and Newbury on Wednesday.
Nigel Twiston-Davies’s admirably tough mare Petite Margot will be well-fancied, too, after winning a decent event at Wincanton last time, while Val Du Don, who boasts useful hurdling form, reverts to timber after disappointing over fences and Carlys Quest represents the in-form Ferdy Murphy yard.
