Captain Guinness gives early Ten to Follow pacesetter a taste of success

The earlybirds have already had their breakfast in the Tote Ten to Follow competition with the team at the top of the leaderboard nabbing five winners and 103.77 points during a weekend of high-class action on both sides of the Irish Sea.

Starsinthestable’s team includes Cheltenham winners Stage Star and Jonbon, as well as Navan scorers Bob Olinger, Facile Vega and, most crucially, Captain Guinness, who contributed 24 points for his victory in the Fortria Chase.

That puts the leading team just 0.22 points ahead of Dodgers3 who is on 103.55 thanks to a superb six-winner haul that includes another Navan scorer in Croke Park and two handicap hurdle winners in Springwell Bay at Cheltenham and Richmond Lake at Wetherby.

Starsinthestable was among only 1.4 per cent of teams to include Captain Guinness, while the weekend’s two top scorers, Troytown Chase winner Coko Beach and Greatwood Hurdle victor Iberico Lord, unsurprisingly found even less support, with just 0.2 per cent of players benefiting from the 44.70 points collected by Coko Beach thanks to win and place Tote returns amounting to €29.70, and 0.3 per cent latching on to Iberico Lord whose victory yielded 26 points.

This time last year Bob Olinger would have been a popular selection but for this competition he carried only 0.9 per cent of teams with him for his Lismullen Hurdle success which bagged 23.70 points.

More significant was the victory of Jonbon – the fourth most popular horse in the competition – in the Shloer Chase, with a third of all teams cheering him home as he collected 21.45 points, while the 8.4 per cent who elected for a flying start with Paddy Power Chase favourite Stage Star, picked up 22.20 points for his win. 

LATEST STANDINGS

LEADING HORSES
1 Coko Beach 0.2% of stables 44.70 points
2. Iberico Lord 0.3% 26.00
3 Captain Guinness 1.4% 24.00
4 Bob Olinger 0.9% 23.70
5 Stage Star 8.4% 22.20
6 Jonbon 66.6% 21.45
7 Croke Park 0.2% 17.50
8 Broadway Boy 0.2% 16.95
9 Ginny's Destiny 0% 16.44
10 Springwell Bay 0.2% 14.63

LEADING TEAMS
1 StarsintheStable 103.77 points
2 Dodgers3 103.55
3 Corbiere11 95.80
4 Rogers Raiders 92.05
5 Cannonballs51 87.75
6 Ardrossan Randoms 86.47
7 Cannonballs44 84.85
8 Ardrossan1 83.07
8 Ardrossan2 83.07
8 Ardrossan3 83.07

LEADER'S STABLE
Captain Guinness 24.00 points
Bob Olinger 23.00
Stage Star 22.20
Jonbon 21.45
Facile Vega 12.42
Constitution Hill 0
Galopin Des Champs 0
Midnight River 0
Pic D'Orhy 0
State Man 0

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