Close Brothers Handicap Chase Betting Tips, Winners & History

Next Race: TBD

The next renewal of this race has not been scheduled yet. We will update this once the schedule has been released for next season. The race info, trends and tips shown below will be updated for the next renewal once the final declarations have been made.

Close Brothers Handicap Chase Betting Tips

Note: The following tips are from 2021. Tips for the next renewal will be added once the final declarations have been made.

Philip Hobbs is the most successful of the modern-day trainers in this race with four wins to his name, but a little surprisingly doesn’t hold an entry this year. Of the trainers who are on show, Messrs Tom George, Neil Mulholland, Paul Nicholls and Colin Tizzard boast the best records with two wins apiece.

The returning Mister Malarky took this as a seven year old 12 months ago, and overall it is the younger horses who have been favoured of late, with nine of the past 10 editions falling to a runner aged nine or younger.

Six of the past 10 winners of this have returned a single-figure SP. The race has nevertheless been a complete blank for favourite backers over this period, with last year’s second-place finish by Black Corton being as close as the market leader has come to success.

Cap Du Nord – 9/2

The Christian Williams runner Cap Du Nord is the one the market seems to have latched onto ahead of this year’s renewal, with the eight year old son of Voix Du Nord favourite across the board in what on paper looks a wide-open heat.

There’s certainly a lot to like about this one on this season’s form, with the horse seeming to have emerged as a much-improved performer following a 280-day break from the track. Beginning the current campaign on a mark of 124, his efforts in his four starts so far this term now see him head into this off 142, and connections will be hoping he hasn’t stopped improving just yet. Just the one of those four previous outings have resulted in a success – when slamming subsequent winner Canelo at Newbury – but a second-place finish to Royal Pagaille reads just as well, whilst he would likely have finished closer last time out at Doncaster but for a mistake at the second last.

Boasting form figures of 242 at the track, and with all six of his career wins coming on ground containing the word “good” in the going description, he would look to have plenty in his favour.

Double Shuffle – 9/1

As mentioned, it is the younger runners who have held sway here of late. However, a few of those now into double figures do boast the form to go close – none more so than Tom George’s admirable 11 year old warrior, Double Shuffle.

Boasting overall Kempton form figures of 12252731, this Milan gelding clearly likes it around here, and there are a couple of extremely high-class efforts amongst those numbers – most notably when a gallant second to a peak form Might Bite in the 2017 King George. It seems unlikely he will run to anything like that Grade 1 level here, but he has twice filled the runners up spot in this handicap event in the past; beaten by half a length off 149 in 2017 and going down by a length off 154 in 2019.

Getting in off 145 this year, he would look to be firmly in the mix from a ratings perspective. Current form is of course always a question with these older performers, but this one gets a big tick on that score having landed a handicap over this course and distance last time out – coming home one and a quarter lengths to the good despite losing a shoe in the race. The one slight doubt would be whether he needs the ground as quick as this, but he still seems likely to run a solid race at a decent each way price.

Delire D’Estruval – 20/1

There are plenty in with a squeak at bigger prices, with even rank outsider Young Wolf not completely out of this on the best of his good ground form. However, the most interesting of the double-figure options to our eyes is the Ben Pauling-trained Delire D’Estruval, who goes in the colours of Simon Munir and Isaac Souede.

Formerly with Guillaume Macaire over in France, this son of Youmzain has proven to be a most consistent sort since joining the Pauling operation in 2017 – finishing in the first three in nine of his 11 chase outings for the trainer. That stat augurs well for the possibility of an each way return, and whilst the horse will be having his first crack at 3m here, there was certainly encouragement to be gained from his most recent outing over 2m4f at this track.

Seemingly out with the washing as they approached the final two flights that day, the penny suddenly seemed to drop for Delire D’Estruval in the closing stages as he powered home to mow them all down for a half-length success. That success did come back in March, so his current fitness does have to be taken on trust to a degree but, with the possibility that this step up in trip may bring about further improvement, he could be worth chancing with Daryl Jacob in the saddle.