Talking Horses: Hoping that fiery tearaway Yorkhill follows Gold trail

Today’s best bets, by Chris Cook

Those of us who want to see Yorkhill in a Gold Cup got some encouragement from an Irish Times piece yesterday, predicting he may make his return to action at Leopardstown over Christmas in the race formerly known as the Lexus (or the Ericsson if you go back a bit further). “Leopardstown at Christmas looks a good possibility,” Willie Mullins was quoted as saying.

Now, there is no excuse for getting carried away with what Mullins has to say about long-term targets. He doesn’t make decisions until he has to and reserves the right to change his mind at the last minute, as we are all aware. I’m certainly not going to place any actual bets on the strength of this latest scrap of news.

But I’ll take it as encouraging news that the trainer is facing in the right direction and is not seriously thinking about returning his hot-headed chestnut to hurdles. This wimpish course of action was being touted as a live possibility after Yorkhill got himself beat at Fairyhouse in April but that right-handed track was all against him. Just keep him turning left and he can still be a world-beater over fences.

Even on a left-handed track, he’s still a bit of a loon, of course. He’s a tearaway whose talent is hard to contain. Can you imagine if him and Might Bite both ended up in the Gold Cup? We’d need an equine psychiatrist on the panel at every Festival preview night.

I’m worrying again, looking at his form and noticing how Mullins hasn’t once tried him at three miles. It’s only a couple of years since I was wishing this same trainer would tilt at the Gold Cup with another of his JLT winners but that didn’t end particularly well.

On the other hand, Yorkhill’s pedigree is rather more suggestive of stamina than was Vautour’s. Yorkhill is by Presenting (sire of Denman, War Of Attrition and On His Own) and out of a half-sister to The Listener. Really, it’s amazing he’s done what he has at distances short of three miles.

To business. The betting market for the last at Lingfield is all about Entertaining Ben and Don’t Blame Me, having seemingly failed to notice that both are front-runners who might detonate each others’ chances with a pace battle. Let’s add Shackled N Drawn into that mix, since he can take a fierce hold and now wears blinkers for the first time.

All is set fair for a proper burn-up, so what we want is something that can cruise along behind and then pick up the pieces when those three have done each other in. I’m looking at you, Red Invader (3.15), not least because you’ve won on your last two trips to Lingfield and have now dropped back to the same mark you had for the most recent of those. The 12-1 looks pretty good.

I also like the 3-1 about Kyllachy Gala (1.35), a Marco Botti production who has yet to win since joining him from Italy last winter. His best effort was his only previous attempt over this course and distance, back in January, when he was beaten a head off a mark 9lb higher than the one he has today.

I saw renewed promise in his Wolverhampton effort last time, when he stayed on into fourth after trouble in running on only his second start after being gelded. This might be where we see the best of him.

The meeting Wolverhampton was cancelled just before 10.30am. The track is raceable, but other areas of the course were too icy to allow racing to go ahead.

Tips for all Monday races

Lingfield
11.30 Mother Of Dragons 12.00 Wild Flower 12.30 Chip Or Pellet 1.00 Pretty Bubbles 1.35 Kyllachy Gala 2.10 Alsvinder 2.45 Little Boy Blue 3.15 Red Invader (nb)

Wolverhampton ABANDONED (parts of course frozen)

Ayr ABANDONED (frozen)