Connections of the 2010 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Imperial
Commander were both relieved and delighted by the way the star chaser came
through a crucial racecourse gallop at Towcester that proved the old horse is
ready to return to the fray in the Grade 1 Betfair Chase at Haydock Park on
November 24, writes Elliot Slater.
When he defeated the great Denman by seven lengths to land
the steeplechasing crown, it looked as though the sky was the limit for the
gelded son of Flemensfirth.
However, after beating Tidal Bay in the Betfair Chase in
November of that year, the Nigel Twiston-Davies-trained stayer suffered a minor
injury before attempting to defend his title back at Cheltenham only to pull up
lame after tailing off before the final fence.
Not seen in competitive action since March 2011 after
sustaining a tendon injury, many people had doubted that the horse who won the
2008 Paddy Power Gold Cup and the 2009 Grade 1 Ryanair Chase would ever make it
back to the racecourse.
Paddy Brennan, who partnered the popular chaser to his
famous Gold Cup success, was a very happy man after putting the 11-year-old
through a searching racecourse gallop at Towcester on Friday.
Brennan was quick to report to Imperial Commander’s owners,
Our Friends in the North, and to his trainer that the veteran retains just
about all his old ability and sees no reason why the winner of eight of his 19
races should not be given the chance to win back his Betfair Chase crown at
Haydock.
As well as his 2010 victory in the race, few jumps fans will
forget the horse’s stunning effort when failing by just a nose to defeat the
mighty Kauto Star in one of the best races of the last decade in the same event
12 months earlier.
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