Horse Racing Betting – Bleu Can Cap A Meteoric Rise

I must confess that I’m not a brandy drinker but I do have a soft spot for Hennessy cognac. Let me explain. The wife and I are annual visitors to ‘La Belle France’, ostensibly so we can load the car up with as much cheap wine as the back axle will support, and a couple of years ago we found ourselves in the very picturesque Charente region. Unfortunately, we’d taken the English weather with us so, unable to lay by the pool, we looked at the map for places to visit and fell upon Cognac. The guide book described it as an ancient medieval town and that, in the wife’s opinion, meant it was going to be well worth the five-hour round trip. Now it’s probably fair to say Cognac was not what I expected. There is an ancient castle but it was shut, as were all the shops in the town centre and the Remy Martin Distillery, which is a considerable walk from where we were parked near the river. The Martell complex was open but there was a sizeable queue snaking around the entrance when we arrived and you weren’t allowed in the shop unless you took the tour first. Not only that, the heavens had well and truly opened so we sort refuge in the only place that wasn’t actively trying to take money off us, the Hennessy shop. And I’m glad we did, the wife got her souvenir and there was the added bonus that she drank enough free samples to ensure she slept all the way back to the hotel. Result, as they say, which is what we’re hoping for from Cappa Bleu in Saturday’s Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury. Trainer Evan Williams will be double-handed in the big race with stable retainer Paul Maloney staying loyal to former winner State Of Play (20-1 with Ladbrokes) but it’s Cappa Bleu (10-1 with sportingbet) that is of prime interest. It’s unllikely that last season’s Cheltenham Foxhunter winner will ever be this well handicapped again (runs off a mark of 148) and he comes into the Hennessy with the ideal profile, being an unexposed up-and-coming chaser who goes well on soft ground. The six-year-old will have benefited greatly from his run over an inadequate two and a half miles at Aintree and is receiving the best part of two stone from 2007 winner Denman (a general 4-1), who races off a 13lbs higher mark this year and has still to prove he’s as good as he was before last season’s injury. Mudlark Nenuphar Collonges is a 25-1 chance with Ladbrokes, Coral and William Hill and is the type to run into a place if the expected fast pace materialises but Cappa Bleu promises to take all the beating.