Northampton racehorse owner Simon Hunt believes The Giant Bolster has ‘a massive chance’ of making a successful return in Saturday’s Grade 1 Betfair Chase at Haydock Park.
The David Bridgwater-trained seven year-old is currently rated around a 7/1 chance for Saturday’s feature event which is also set to feature the 2011 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Long Run as well as the Paul Nicholls-trained Silviniano Conti, the winner of the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby three weeks ago.
Long Run finished one place behind The Giant Bolster in this year’s Gold Cup which was won by the ill-fated Synchronised, but Hunt believes there is better to come from his progressive star, while still keeping his feet on the ground.
Hunt said: “I only have two expectations this season. The first is that David Bridgwater trains the horse to the best of his ability and the second is that he is honest with me.”
Hunt and his wife Liz were guests of Long Run’s owner Robert Waley-Cohen in the Royal Box at Cheltenham on Sunday during the Open Meeting at Prestbury Park and he said: “This horse has taken us to places we never thought possible.”
It was all a far cry from the Paddy Power Gold Cup race 12 months earlier in which The Giant Bolster’s race, in Hunt’s own words, lasted precisely ‘seven seconds’ before he parted company with Tom Scudamore at the first obstacle.
“I had two fabulous days at Cheltenham at the weekend but they were vastly different to one another,” reflected Hunt.
“Saturday was an intensive racing day in the company of The Giant Bolster’s old jockey Rodi Greene where went to the parade ring before every race and went through everything in great detail. It turned out to quite successful.
“Then on Sunday we had lunch in the Royal Box in the company of people such as Robert Waley-Cohen, Lord Vestey and Diana Whateley who has good horses with Philip Hobbs such as Wishfull Thinking which won on the card.”
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