‘One man’s meat is another man’s poison’, so the saying goes, and the desperately bad luck that struck jockey Dougie Costello at Stratford on Monday on the eve of the Cheltenham Festival and resulted in him sustaining a double fracture to his leg, has ruled him out of the ride on Cheltenham Gold Cup hope Midnight Chase and presented Tom Scudamore with a high quality spare ride, writes Elliot Slater.
According to racing tips, Costello has built up a great rapport with Neil Muholland’s rapidly improving chaser having won on the Lady Clarke-owned gelding in six of their last seven races together, including the last four in a row, the final three of which were all at Cheltenham. Many people see the son of Midnight Legend as a potential surprise package (especially if the ground was to ease), having gone from strength-to-strength on every start over the last 12 months. Costello has been given a great deal of the credit for the improvement having forged a genuine understanding with the horse, but after learning that he might be out for the rest of the season Mulholland had to move quickly to ensure he would have the most appropriate replacement.
In choosing Tom Scudamore, both Mulholland and Lady Clarke believe that his style will suit their horse, and whilst both would have preferred Costello to be in the plate, in the circumstances they are happy with having secured Scudamore’s services.
In horse racing tips Midnight Chase is currently a rock solid 14/1 shot to spring a surprise on the more established big names in the blue riband event that is the centrepiece of Friday’s card, and indeed of the whole Cheltenham Festival. Last year’s winner Imperial Commander remains a solid 10/3 favourite to retain his title even though he hasn’t been seen in competitive actions since winning the Grade 1 Betfair Chase at Haydock in November.
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