IT is very possible that “The Race of The 2017/2018 Jumps Season” has yet to take place, but if it were to be called now my vote would go for the Betfair Ascot Chase last Saturday. It had a never-say-die veteran, a hugely talented young pretender, and much more besides.
It also had an end-to-end gallop and resulted in an excellent overall time as the young pretender Waiting Patiently and the never-say-die veteran Cue Card drew 15 lengths and more clear of their rivals.
I have the winning timefigure at 173, which is second this season only to the enigmatic (or should that be “frustrating”?!) Bristol De Mai on 176.
Cue Card either set that gallop or raced close to it, and he kept finding more. But Waiting Patiently did what his name indicated until swooping between the last two. The latter went on, but ended up being ridden out to win by two and three-quarter lengths against his determined rival. Epic stuff.
That Waiting Patiently was both very good and very fast should have been in little doubt after a Kempton win in January when he recorded some scorching late sectionals. But he showed he stays a testing two miles five furlongs and 55 yards (including distance added due to rail movements) on soft going in this, with his slow run-in arguably as much down to his idling as beginning to run low on stamina.
Waiting Patiently is the one they all have to beat in what promises to be a cracker of a Ryanair Chase, though is not certain to run. Cue Card deserves to be regarded as next best - ahead even of Un De Sceaux, Fox Norton and Balko Des Flos (all with timefigures of between 163 and 165 to their name) - but seems far more likely to go for the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Cue Card has fallen in the last two runnings of that race but has shown otherwise that the course is not a problem, including with a win in the Ryanair Chase in 2013.
It may seem a bit of a stretch to think that he could finally win jump racing’s blue riband at the age of 12, but Ascot suggests he is every bit as good as ever, and odds of 33/1 are just too big.