Balthazar King bidding for a hat-trick in the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase
Even in the line-up of sixteen, there are not many in the Class 2 Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase who catch the eye. The five-year-old and above are to undertake the three mile and seven furlong challenge on Friday, 16th November, 2012 at Cheltenham.
Quite a few in the field are trying to improvise on their rankings by taking their chance in the race that has the total prize money of £15,640.
One of the most impressive entries in the line-up is the eight-year-old bay gelding, Balthazar King. He is unbeaten in the 2012 campaign that spun open at Cheltenham.
The Philip Hobbs’ trained, Balthazar King, won the Glenfarclas Handicap Chase (Cross Country Chase) on 13th March, 2012 at Cheltenham over three miles and seven furlongs.
He was paired up with jockey, Richard Johnson, for the race, and the duo defeated, A New Story, by a head’s mark.
In the field of thirty-two fences, he led from the first to the fourth fence, and then saved most of the ground while in pursuit of the leader. The closing furlongs saw him weaving his way out of the challenge, and in the attempt, he made a mistake when
the final three furlongs were still under way.
Right after that it became a really close match between him and the eventual runner-up, A New Story. Giving the final jump all the stamina that he had, King’s Theatre’s bay gelding took an almost negligible lead.
The Irish bay gelding extended his form and took it further to the next outing. He landed the Ryman The Stationer Handicap Chase on 20th October, 2012 at Cheltenham over three miles and half a furlong.
Joining teams with the same jockey, the Brushmakers’ owned settled Galaxy Rock as the runner-up with the lead of a length’s mark.
Battling right to the end and picking up momentum as soon as the race takes off, has made the back-to-back possible for him.
He will need to look out for Sizing Australia, who has gone down low with the rankings, but has a bench mark set since the previous season when it comes to racing at Cheltenham.
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