The annual running of the Betfair Imperial Cup Handicap Hurdle at Sandown means that the start of the Cheltenham Festival is only three days away. As usual though, tomorrow’s race (2.25 p.m.) is a noteworthy event in its own right: a competitive affair with 17 runners due to line up for a contest worth more than £51,000 to winning connections.
Traditionally, too, this is a race that some trainers – notably Martin Pipe in years gone by – had been plotting to win for some time before sending their horse on to the County Hurdle at Cheltenham six days later. These trainers were, as some still are, in search of two lots of winning prize money and a tasty bonus – now restored to £100,000 – for victory in both the Imperial Cup and a Festival contest.
The ground has been drying out all week and it could well be properly ‘good’ going by the off, which will suit trainer Chris Gordon’s KING WILLIAM RUFUS.
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