Bonus boost makes Imperial Cup an appetising course before festival feast

For those who dine out on quality jump racing fare there has been a famine lately.

There is always a natural pause between the last of the recognised Cheltenham Festival trials and the all-consuming festival meeting itself, but after the Beast from the East consigned the jumps menu to the deep freeze, depriving fans of any action last Saturday, Sandown's Imperial Cup meeting is more welcome than ever, a full fortnight on from the Adonis, Dovecote and Pendil at Kempton.

Tuesday to Friday next week is where most attention is focused but there is a delicious appetiser before that in a Matchbook Imperial Cup that could yet impact on events at Cheltenham.

In the early part of the last century the Imperial Cup was the most important hurdle race of the season until it was overtaken by the Champion Hurdle in 1927.

With the two races three days apart, the Imperial Cup has had to accept much lower billing, but the introduction of a bonus, first initiated in 1992 by former sponsor Sunderlands and now revived by Matchbook, has piqued interest.

Not all are motivated by the money. The last Imperial Cup winner to run at the festival, Flying Angel, was beaten a neck in the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Hurdle two years ago when no bonus was in place.

Nevertheless, after the ill-fated London Prize sidestepped Cheltenham last year the windfall has been doubled to £100,000, restoring the bonus back to the level it had reached when William Hill's partnership with the race was brought to an end after it would not agree to authorised betting partner status.

The bonus, awarded if the winner of the Imperial Cup goes on to win any race at Cheltenham, has been paid out only three times, on each occasion to Martin or David Pipe, via Olympian, who won the Coral Cup, Blowing Wind (County Hurdle) and Gaspara (Fred Winter).

Between them the Pipes have won the race nine times but even if the Pond House team can land a tenth win with Friday Night Light, the chances of him making the cut for the County Hurdle or Martin Pipe next week look slim even with a winner's penalty.

Likelier bonus hunters lie further up the handicap, which has been won in all last ten runnings by a horse with a festival entry.

Eight of the 17-runner field are entered at Cheltenham next week, including the top three in the betting Whatswrongwithyou, Le Patriote and Call Me Lord, while notable among the non-entries is Gassin Golf, contesting the race a fourth time having previously been second and third.

The future beyond Cheltenham is catered for by the EBF Matchbook VIP 'National Hunt' Novices' Handicap Hurdle Final, the climax to a nationwide talent search designed to seek out high-class jumpers in the making who could progress into candidates for the festivals of 2019 and beyond.

Dynaste, Many Clouds and Whisper are among the star graduates of this long established series who contested the final in the last few years, and last year's winner Minella Awards went on to strike at the Punchestown festival.

Minella Awards: last year's EBF Final winner went on to win at PunchestownCredit: Mark Cranham

The race has brought little cheer to punters seeking to top up their betting balance for next week with only one favourite winning in the last ten years, which will be of small comfort for fans of the likely market leader Al Shahir.

Wonder of Wolverhampton

Wolverhampton also provides the last leg in the Scoop6 which, with a win pot of £585,443 is certainly a route to a festival betting bank. And then some. It looks, mind, horrifically tricky.

National fillip for Gowran

The highlight at Gowran Park – and most valuable race anywhere in Britain or Ireland – is the €100,000 Toals.com Bookmakers Leinster National, transferred from Naas on Sunday, the track's chase course being unfit.

Its loss is Gowran's gain and the feature race will be especially valuable to Messrs Mullins and Elliott as they continue their tussle for the trainers' title. Elliott fires four darts at the board but Mullins just the one.

Sometimes, though, one arrer is all a champion needs.

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