Abacadabras followers off to a flying start in pursuit of £190,000 Tote pot

A big cheer of relief will have gone up in the households of around one in six players in the Tote Ten To Follow competition when Abacadabras got the better of a tight finish to Sunday’s Morgiana Hurdle at Punchestown.

The success put 28.42 points on the board for fans of Gigginstown’s Champion Hurdle hope, who was selected by 16.3 per cent of the Ten To Follow teams. It represented the second-best haul since the entry window closed at 11am on Saturday and point-scoring began that afternoon.

Unfortunately, more than twice that number will have been hugely disappointed as the Morgiana odds-on favourite Saint Roi, selected by 34.2 per cent of entries, could not quite catch the winner in a sprint to the line.

Saint Roi is the eighth most popular selection in Ten To Follow teams, a list headed by the smart chasing recruit Envoi Allen, with 65.1 per cent of entries including him in their stable, and the Champion Hurdle winner Epatante, with 63.6 per cent.

There will have been similar yelps of joy and groans of despair for Ten To Follow entries watching the Shloer Chase at Cheltenham as Put The Kettle On put 22.2 points into the lockers of 11.8 per cent of entries, while the hugely disappointing favourite Defi Du Seuil fluffed the first fence and was pulled up before the last. With 31.6 per cent of teams including him in their lists, he is the ninth most popular choice overall.

Eldorado Allen: victorious at Cheltenham on SaturdayCredit: Edward Whitaker

Top point-scorer of the weekend was Eldorado Allen, who was handed victory at Cheltenham on Saturday by the fall of Gumball, thus also handing 29.9 points to his followers.

They will be pleased to learn they represent only 0.9 per cent of all entries, whereas followers of his Colin Tizzard-trained stablemate The Big Breakaway, who earned 12.4 points for his Sunday success at the same track, are rather more numerous, representing 5.7 per cent of entrants.

All those point-scorers will want to know how much they are playing for and, with a total prize-money pot of £190,000, the winner of the overall first prize will stand to collect £104,832 and the runner-up £14,976. There are prizes for the first 100 in the table at season’s end.

LEADING HORSES

1 Eldorado Allen 29.9pts 0.9% of teams
2 Abacadabras 28.42 16.3%
3 Duffle Coat 24.1 0.3%
4 Ramses De Teillee 23.6 0.3%
5 Felix Desjy 23.6 0.9%
6 Put The Kettle On 22.2 11.8%
7 Fury Road 22.12 5.8%
8 On The Blind Side 19.4 0.1%
9 Buildmeupbuttercup 16.8 0.1%
10 Letsbeclearaboutit 13.3 0.1%
11 The Big Breakaway 12.4 5.7%
12 Asterion Forlonge 12.32 3.0%

MOST POPULAR HORSES

1 Envoi Allen 65.1% of stables
2 Epatante 63.6%
3 Shishkin 54.8%
4 Honeysuckle 49.7%
5 Lostintranslation 46.2%
6 Cyrname 39.4%
7 Minella Indo 38.8%
8 Saint Roi 34.2%
9 Defi Du Seuil 31.6%
10 Altior 30.5%
11 Clan Des Obeaux 28.3%
12 Chacun Pour Soir 26.6%
13 Santini 26.0%
14 Champ 23.7%
15 Delta Work 17.6%
16 Paisley Park 16.6%
17 Monkfish 16.4%
18 Abacadabras 16.3%
19 Allaho 15.6%
20 Thyme Hill 12.4%

To find out more details on the Tote Ten To Follow click here