Pipe set for Imperial rule - again
Martin Pipe trained no less than six winners of the valuable contest when he was at the helm, and the passing of the baton to his son David has not stopped the run with Gaspara and Ashkazar having taken the last two renewals.
This year Pipe runs general market leader Mr Thriller, unbeaten in two starts in Britain, as well as Seven Is My Number, who makes his seasonal reappearance in the race under a feather-weight.
“Mr Thriller has done everything right and while he is high enough in the weights, he does get the four-year-old allowance. Any rain would be appreciated,” said Pipe.
“He was very impressive at Fontwell last time and the second and third from that race have gone on to frank the form since, so our horse looks progressive.
“He won’t have any worries with the hustle and bustle of a big field like this and must have a leading chance.
“Seven Is My Number has had problems all his life and has been very difficult to train, hence why he hasn’t been out yet this season.
“He’s very talented, doesn’t have much weight and I think he is third-favourite, so he must have a chance as well.
“He is potentially well handicapped but we will find that out on Saturday. It is just nice to get him back on the track as it has been difficult to get him right.”
The race sponsors are offering a huge £75,000 bonus for any horse who can take this prize and follow up in any race at next week’s Cheltenham Festival.
Pipe’s 2007 winner Gaspara picked up the huge pot when winning the following week’s Fred Winter Juvenile Hurdle, while Ashkazar was narrowly defeated in the same race 12 months ago, but the trainer has yet to make any firm Festival plans for either of this year’s candidates.
“We’ll see what happens on Saturday with both horses before making plans for Cheltenham,” Pipe continued.
“Seven Is My Number probably won’t get in anywhere anyway and we’ll make a decision on Mr Thriller after Sandown.”
The man getting the leg up on Mr Thriller will be stable jockey Tom Scudamore, and he admits he would not swap the mount for any other.
“He has been very impressive. He was good around Bangor and I was pleased with him at Fontwell over two miles two furlongs,” said Scudamore.
“He had good form in France and with two wins from two starts here, has done absolutely nothing wrong. He has pleased me very much so far and hopefully will continue to do so.
“I hope that he’s got a favourite’s chance, but it’s going to be very tough. The race is one of the most competitive handicap hurdles of the season and possibly more so this year with no totesport Trophy.
“But it’s always a great race and Pond House has a great record and hopefully that will continue.”
Gary Moore believes both Numide and I Have Dreamed are capable of giving good accounts of themselves but their needs are quite different went it comes to ground preference.
“The ground as it is should be fine for Numide but he will enjoy it even more if it rains overnight or if it rains during racing that would be perfect,” said Moore.
“He comes into the race in very good form and I think both horses go there with a big chance.
“I Have Dreamed would like the ground to dry out a little bit and if it ends up quite dead we may even take him out and save him for Cheltenham.
“We will have to see what happens on the day but both horses would probably go to Cheltenham after Saturday what ever happens.”
Nicky Henderson fires three bullets at the race with Dave’s Dream, Stellino and Procas De Thaix all set to take their chance.
Dave’s Dream lost his unbeaten record when finishing down the field in a hot event at Ascot last month but Henderson is hopeful he can bounce back from that below-par display.
“It was desperate ground at Ascot that day and he made a terrible hash of the hurdle in front of the stands,” said the Seven Barrows handler.
“That took him from a nice position to last place and in ground like that he was never going to get back into the race.
“He has done everything right but the handicapper has got him and he has to come to races like this now. He’s a bit short on experience but this is when he is going to start learning. Stellino hasn’t run for a while – he hasn’t had any problems but has just taken a while to come to hand.”
