Festival Focus - RSA

Boston B Party - Boston Bob looks an ideal sort for the RSA

The RSA is possibly my favourite race at the Cheltenham Festival. I don’t know what it is about it, as it tends to be more of a war of attrition than a display of mercurial talent, but perhaps thanks to Denman’s fantastic win in the race back in 2007 this race is always one I look forward to more than certain others during Cheltenham week.

This year’s race however is looking increasingly sparse on top talent, perhaps due to a rather poor crop of novice chasers. Last year’s novices have proved to have been a vintage bunch through their exploits this season, but with the exception of Dynaste we really haven’t seen anything else worth getting too excited about to date.

So with that said it comes as no surprise that the David Pipe-trained grey is a very short-priced ante-post favourite for the race often called the novice Gold Cup.

Dynaste is a worthy favourite but at 5/2 he looks anything but a good price given how far away from the race we still are and just how many short-priced favourites have been turned over in this race in recent years. There’s still a part of me too that suspects he may not even run, as the RSA has a habit of really ripping horses’ guts out.

Last year’s winner and runner-up Bobs Worth and First Lieutenant have proved that you can come out of the race and kick on as a second season chaser but the list of horses who’ve never quite been the same after the RSA makes for worrying reading.