Santini
26th December 2018 – Kempton – He has been made to look quite one paced here and not for the first time. He was left behind by the front two from the beginning of the turn into the home straight but was closing the runner up down rapidly from the final flight. He has maintained his position at the head of the RSA Chase market at around 7/2 on the strength of this defeat. This is understandable to some extent given that he is very likely to be more suited to Cheltenham than Kempton. Moreover the winning mare is far from certain to head for the RSA which also plays a part in his strength in the early markets. I do have my doubts about him, however, given his very short odds. He was badly outpaced in the 2018 Albert Bartlett Hurdle which was run on very soft ground and also looked like a thorough stayer at Aintree in April and at Kempton in this grade one contest. His RSA chances will improve significantly should the second day of the festival provide very soft ground for the second year in a row. I would not want to take a chance on that happening at this time of the year at his current price. Moreover there has to be a reasonable chance that he will not be that much shorter on the day of the race if at all.
