Rivals battle for World Hurdle favouritism
Baracouda, Rhinestone Cowboy and No Refuge are all vying for Ladbrokes World Hurdle favouritism after Inglis Drever became the latest big name to be sidelined through injury.
He joins other leading Cheltenham Festival candidates Harchibald and Kicking King in suffering a setback in the new year.
Howard Johnson’s charge lowered Baracouda’s colours at Cheltenham last March, but the Francois Doumen-trained runner is now 4-1 co-favourite with Coral alongside Inglis Drever’s stablemate No Refuge and Rhinestone Cowboy. VC Bet make Baracouda and Rhinestone Cowboy their 4-1 joint-favourites.
Doumen said: “I feel sad for my competition for the injury suffered to their horse. It’s very bad news.”
The 11-year-old landed the Cheltenham stayers’ contest in 2002 and 2003, and the Chantilly-based handler continued: “Already I am looking forward to going directly to Cheltenham. He’s getting older, he needs to be fresher and fresher and that’s more or less my plan.
“He’ll very probably go straight to Cheltenham.”
Baracouda is owned by JP McManus, whose racing manager Frank Berry said: “It’s terrible luck on them.
“It just goes to show that you need a lot of luck to keep them sound and right. It’s a shame.”
On Baracouda, Berry added: “He’s coming on. He’ll be back in work shortly. He was a bit stiff behind, but he will be back in work in 10 days’ time.
“Touch wood if everything goes according to plan it would be great to see him at Cheltenham again.”
Jonjo O’Neill’s Rhinestone Cowboy, winner of the Ballymore Properties Champion Stayers Hurdle at Punchestown in 2004 but unraced since, is William Hill’s new 4-1 favourite, with Baracouda next best at 9-2. Ladbrokes are even more cautious about O’Neill’s charge and make him their 3-1 market leader.
Inglis Drever had been on course to defend his crown at the Festival but is now unlikely to be seen out before Christmas.
“He is out as he has injured a tendon,” owner Graham Wylie told PA Sport.
The seven-year-old scored at Wetherby on his seasonal bow and then landed the Ballymore Properties Long Distance Hurdle at Newbury in November.
It is thought he picked up the injury around the time of his second run and that may account for his fall when already looking beaten in the totesport Long Walk Hurdle at Chepstow.
“He has had a lot of hard races and we think the problem might have surfaced after the Newbury race,” Wylie continued.
“That would explain why he wasn’t travelling very well in the Chepstow race and that run could have aggravated it even more.
“He seemed fine at the weekend apart from a little bit of swelling on his leg, which we thought was nothing more than bruising and it would go down.
“We had him scanned this morning and there is a hole in his tendon, so we will have to get him sorted out.
“If we had ignored it and carried on it might have made it worse, so we have done what is best for the horse and hopefully he will be back for next season.”
Wylie’s No Refuge had already been prominent in the betting for the Cheltenham stayers’ contest and the Royal & SunAlliance Hurdle winner is now poised to take over the mantle from his stablemate.
“No Refuge would have to come into the picture now,” added Wylie. “We have always wanted to try him at three miles and he was always there in case something happened to ‘Drever’, so we’ll see how he goes.”
