Kings Palace 20/1 RSA with PP

Was my biggest bet of last years festival, as was dripping on from early December onwards, and when Briar Hill tipped up I was counting my winnings It has to be a concern how he folded so tamely that day, was any excuse forthcoming?

Where av u seen quite a lot of money for this? The 100 quid on here?

Oddschecker. PP 20/1 Betfair 13.4 (Blue) I like he horse so put two and two together and had a little e/w bet.

They should have had a prep run before the Albert Bartlett

he wont run in the race,be favourite for the 2 1/2 mile race as wont stay the rsa distance

Your probably right but £2.50 e/w won't break the bank.

KP very impressive on chase debut and jumped Brilliantly. Could not resist the 12/1 on offer for the RSA as will be short priced favourite if targeted at the race in March and cannot see him now going for the 2 1/2 mile race.

A lot of serious novice chasers around this season,will have to be bl00dy good to be short priced fav!!

His jumping was impressive no doubt, and it was a decent debut, but the staying division looks like being very competitive, and potentially top class this season; 12/1 at this stage is poor value imo. I do think he'll end up in the RSA however, as trainer has consistently stated he's a 3m chaser in the making.

Had a huge accum running onto him at the festival

Just not sure about him for next years featival, yes he jumped really well but he seems to need a small field and pipe seems to burn out most of his horses

Jesus. People taking 12/1 on one in November for the Novice Stayers Chase?! Half of the top 10 in the market will be injured come March!

Does he find much in a battle?

Think 12/1 is a fair price myself. Impressive debut over the course... Jumped tremendously... Stayed well, and think the form will end up looking pretty good in time.

His jumping impressed me, could easily turn out the best this side of the sea but as is the case in all the graded races there will probably be something from Ireland to beat him

Worth remembering how poor Willies' record with chasers is mind you...

I think Pipe had him spot on for that debut, we have seen a few from his stable much vaulted after winning this race only for them to not quite live up to expectations for the rest of the season.   I still feel the second, sausolito sunrise may be a force in this division, also ran a very promising race and was giving the winner 5lb.

CCM Willies chase record at the festival may not be as poor as we are led to believe especially if you compare it to other trainers except of course Jim Cullotty! As I pointed out elsewhere PFN has not had a chase winner since Kauto Star 2009!!!!

Yes I agree swardean... I backed the second and he stuck to the task very well. But never really looked like troubling the leader and KP beat him fair and square, even taking into consideration the 5lb. Think it looks really solid form.

Nearly mentioned that Arkle... amazing really!

Done a complete u-turn on this beast, think he'll win the RSA. Where does he run next?

Am with you sint, entered on saturday

Just a safe competent round will do for me today.

Shame there is a non-runner, 2 runners now!

Drop Out Joe nearly wins the Grimthorpe...massive form boost for Kings Palace.

My gut feeling is KP wont be able to have his own way in front and may well suffer for the presence of Coneygree.

I would want Coney in the Gold Cup if I were a backer of KP. As im a backer of Coney,i just hope they don't ruin each others chances!!

Fascinating though if they both run,should be exciting.

I think the presence of both would serve Don Poli very well for the reasons budd outlines - that is, picking up the pieces off a fast pace. We know how well he responds to pressure at the business end. However, if Coneygree goes here and jumps like he did the last day, I think we might have one of the classic Cheltenham duels. Hopefully one which we may see in the next few Gold Cups. Now, wouldn't that be something?

According to both trainer & jockey, Budde, he is more settled this season and does not need to be in front. D.Pipe is particularly adamant on that point.

Think he's a cracking eachway punt tbh because barring a fall he is not going to be out of the money.

he's a class act, but it's hard to know where he'll finish

Ok Sint,if thats what they say then fair enough,it makes a diffence to my way of thinking for sure.
Having said that I aint sure how reliable that outfit are at times!!

Fair comment. Though they did have a treble last year.

I don't get King's Palace at all, can't understand why he's as short as he is

You can't understand his price, Mary?

3/3 over fences and 2/2 at the track, and the form of his races has worked out too. Seems pretty obvious!

KP is impressive to the eye but i cannot get his run at the festival last season out of my head. Also his chase form he has beaten Sausalito Sunrise twice and won a 2 runner race where Coneygree posted a 20 second faster time in the earlier 3mile contest. (i know this is clutching at straws)

I just dont see the depth in his chase form, visually looks better than he is for me.

Don't think the races he's won bear much resemblance to an RSA though

5 runner, 4 runner, and 2 runner fields certainly bare no resemblance to an RSA but he's always had the scope and build to be a better chaser. Albert Bartlett run disappointing but only a small blemish. Remains stacked of potential imo.

however kings p runs ones thing for sure he jumps superbly.sonko I respect your opinion but no truer saying I racing than"time only matters when youre doing it"with different horses happy yo m ake the running at different speeds  winning times will vary so much, somedays sellers are run faster than maiden s  and maidens faster than handicaps and handicps etcetc.you can go to a point to oin and see a  restricted race won in faster time than an open race or in slowr time than a poor maiden race,butthe truth is we know what the best performance invariably has been.times just get you at it.

Ibra did say it was clutching at straws but just to reiterate the point.... comparing times of KP and Coneygree on the same card at Newbury is seriously the wrong thing to do. One race had 2 runners and the other had all aged horses in so naturally it would have produced better figures.

Was running well Sint,until that blunder.
Not sure what would have happened had he not done that,but it definitely put paid to his chances mate.