Tough Aussie will reign

13 April 2012

His sole run in this country ended in anticlimax and his trainer has hardly been bubbling with confidence about him in the last few weeks.

But those two facts fail to tell the whole story about Specular, who can give Jonjo O'Neill and JP McManus the perfect springboard to the Cheltenham Festival by winning the Sunderlands Imperial Cup at Sandown tomorrow.

The fact that bookmakers have been reluctant to form an ante-post market for this £50,000 handicap owes plenty to the role of Martin Pipe.

Polar Red and Korelo both hit the layers hard by winning this race in 2002 and 2003 respectively for the champion trainer, and it's a fair bet that the maestro has been eyeing another win for some while now.

Whether Pipe can complete the hattrick is another matter. The lightly raced Desert Air looks one of his more interesting contenders. Gone Far is another worth a positive mention after his return to form in a handicap at Newbury last week, but Specular gets the vote on the basis that he could be a much better horse than the British handicapper has rated him.

Comparing form from different continents is never straightforward, but there can be no doubt that Specular was a high class horse during his days in Australia.

He ran more than 40 times on the Flat, which says a great deal for his toughness, and once his attentions were switched to hurdling he proved that he was in his element.

Ten starts yielded eight wins which persuaded McManus to shell out something in the region of £300,000 to secure a transfer to Jackdaws Castle, and there was some significant support for him in the Champion Hurdle market before he made his debut for new connections at Haydock in January.

Specular looked in great shape in the paddock that day and opened up by pushing the mighty Rooster Booster for favouritism.

Everything seemed to be going to plan for a long way in the race, too, but the gluey ground seemed to find him out in the home straight and he tired noticeably from between the last two flights to pass the post a remote and weary third of six.

Punters, who would rather rely on solid recent form than take a chance on a relatively unknown quantity, have plenty of alternatives tomorrow.

Saintsaire ran a blinder to finish seventh behind his stablemate Geos in the Tote Gold Trophy at Newbury last time and warrants the utmost respect as he bids to continue Nicky Henderson's uncanny run of success in the big Saturday handicaps.

Gin Palace is progressing all the time and still looks fairly treated despite being raised 9lb for his recent Kempton success, while Hot Shots returned to hurdling with a bloodless win at Wincanton on Thursday and is clearly ahead of the handicapper.

However, in what looks a wide open race it might just pay to take an each-way chance with Specular.

The fact that he still figures among the five-day declarations for next Tuesday's Champion Hurdle suggests that O'Neill still has plenty of faith in him.

And now the ground has dried up, this could just be the day when Specular begins to show why the Aussies were so reluctant to let him go.

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Tough Aussie will reign

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