Sprinter Sacre halo slips in defeat to Dodging Bullets at Ascot

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/jan/17/sprinter-sacre-dodging-bullets-ascot

Version 0 of 1.

Sprinter Sacre is back! Or is he? As many questions were provoked as were answered by the great steeplechaser’s comeback effort, gallantly chasing home Dodging Bullets in the Clarence House Chase at Ascot but bleeding from the nose in so doing. As is usual in jump racing, Cheltenham must provide a final answer.

Finishing second was, by common consent of many pundits here, the one thing that Sprinter Sacre would not do, as he returned to action 13 months after his heart scare. He would either win easily or be pulled up – or so ran the pre-race wisdom of all Berkshire. He was so far superior to his four opponents that anything close to his former ability would be enough.

There was just a moment, when he winged the fourth-last fence, making up lengths in the air, that the crowds in the stands were united in the belief they were about to witness an undiluted return to greatness. But that ebbed away seconds later as Dodging Bullets jumped the last with a clear advantage, leaving the eventual runner-up plugging on doggedly, admirably but without threatening.

It was an occasion neither for cheers nor for groans. One could imagine every face in the grandstand turning to its neighbour and asking, “Well? What does that mean?”

The first and most important point is that Sprinter Sacre is still a racehorse and, in view of the fact that he is the most talented steeplechaser since the 1960s, we can all be thankful for that. Had his jockey, Barry Geraghty, been sufficiently concerned to pull him up during this race, it would very likely have been the last we would ever see of him.

The main issue now is how much of his former ability we can reasonably expect him to show. At his very best, he ought to have been able to carry a stone more than Dodging Bullets and still come out comfortably ahead.

Instead, they carried the same weight and Sprinter Sacre fell short by three lengths.

One could worry, too, about his jumping, reminiscent only in flashes of the fluency that was his habit two years ago. Then again, Geraghty was determined not to permit flamboyance, anchoring Sprinter Sacre at the back of the field and on the outside, hoping to let his mount creep into the argument with the minimum of effort.

And then there is the bleeding, discovered by racecourse vets after the horse was chosen for random post-race testing. It was described as a “low-level bleed” and in the opinion of the vets and of Sprinter Sacre’s trainer, Nicky Henderson, it was unlikely to have affected his performance.

But anyone who backs him for a race in the future will have the possibility of a more significant bleed to be concerned about.

“I see lots of positives,” said Henderson, who felt a recent lack of match practice had made a big difference. “You know what it’s like when you haven’t done it for a long time, your legs get tired. He’s probably quite fit but there’s a difference between fitness and when you just actually get tired. You wouldn’t send your player out and play 90 minutes, first time out; you’d probably take him out after 60.

“We are getting there and that was another big step. It’s a long time to be off and to be taking on [top-class horses] but he’s still proved that it’s still there. It is.”

It was put to Henderson that, in advance of this comeback, he would gladly have taken second place, had it been offered. “Turning in, I thought I was going to take a bit better but you can accept it was still a great performance,” the trainer said. “It’s been hard work because in October, November time we weren’t exactly blooming with everything but things are coming together at the right time.

“The timing of this was great and that was the whole point of being desperate to come here. We can all take a fortnight off and just relax a little bit. He can have a fortnight, or 10 days anyway, and then we can build it up again.”

The big target, of course, is the Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in two months’ time. “I can’t tell you I believe he will win,” Henderson said. “Do we believe we can find a couple of lengths on Dodging Bullets? Um, yes. You’d hope you could find a couple of lengths there, so, if he’s the target, we’ve got a realistic chance. If Sire De Grugy’s 10 lengths in front of Dodging Bullets, then we’ve got a big task. But there’s plenty to come.”

The betting market appears to accept that view, as Sprinter Sacre remains favourite for the Champion Chase, albeit at odds of 3-1 rather than the 2-1 on offer before he came here. Sire De Grugy, who will make his own comeback from injury next month, remains on 9-2 for Cheltenham. Dodging Bullets is 6-1 from 10-1.

Paul Nicholls, who has had such an excellent record in this season’s biggest races, was not here to see his seven-year-old win a second Grade One in the space of two months.

His assistant, Tom Jonason, said Dodging Bullets was “bigger and stronger” than in previous seasons, when he tended to lose his form after the new year. “This run came off the back of a career-best in the Tingle Creek at Sandown, so that race has proved to be solid form. Sprinter may have needed the run but our lad’s performance was absolutely out of the top drawer,” Jonason added.