Eider Handicap
24.02.2010
Newcastle on Saturday afternoon is going to be no place for the faint hearted. Cold weather, desperately heavy ground and a distance of four-miles-one-furlong make the Totesport.com Eider Handicap Chase a severe test of stamina and resolution and, as such, Boris The Blade could be the right horse to have on your side.
If top weight Halcon Generlardais stands his ground then Tina Jackson's eight-year-old grey will be forced to run from 9lbs out of the handicap, but even so, with conditions to suit he has every chance of putting up a good show.
Boris The blade is a plodder. He doesn't do anything very quickly, but he does stay longer than the mother-in-law. He will invariably keep going when other, possibly more sensible horses, decide there are better things to be doing with their time than splodging through four miles of bog-like racecourse on a cold, wet Saturday afternoon. Boris loves the mud. He couldn't be happier than when kicking up clods of the stuff into the faces of his rivals, just as he did at Haydock last time out where he kept on longer than a Duracell bunny.
All four of Boris The Blade's career successes have come when the official going description is heavy. If by any chance the rain stops and the sun comes out in the 48 hours prior to the Eider Chase, you would be well advised to look elsewhere for a bet. But, if conditions are so bad that they think twice about even running the race, then you will know that the portents are good for a bold display from Ms Jackson's gelding. And Boris will certainly be backed by the shrewdest of of horse racing tips if the weather forecasts are correct for the weekend.
Last year's winner Merigo (another mudlark) will provide the biggest danger, and a decent show from Royal Rossa is not out of the question either. However, as the race progresses and one by one contenders fade and give up the ghost, I can envisage the equally ghost-like form of the grey Boris The Blade ploughing to Eider glory at 20/1, or thereabouts.
Meanwhile, two of the most popular Cheltenham horses of recent years - Denman and Kauto Star - are preparing to do battle once again.
They will face each other in the Gold Cup, the showpiece race of the four day event.
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