Navan – Sunday 21st November

The number of stable tours featured in the racing publications at around this time of year seems to increase exponentially each season, and can often make for fascinating reading.

If you have read Gordon Elliott’s recent tour in the Racing Post, you would be forgiven for thinking that he was going to have the whole field going to post for him in the Ladbrokes Troytown Handicap Chase at 2.50 at Navan on Sunday.

Elliott has exercised significant restraint and settled upon just the 7 representatives from Cullentra out of the final field of 17. But clearly it is a race he loves to win, as he farmed it for four years in a row between 2014 and 2017.

Another feature of this year’s race is that it will be run on ground described as ‘good,’ which has only occurred once in the last 10 years, when Tout Est Permis prevailed in 2018 – Noel Meade’s likeable grey is back for more, but he could have his work cut out from another grey, who is one year his junior.

Farclas won the Triumph Hurdle in the same year that Tout Est Permis won the Troytown Chase, and Farclas can finally bag the big prize over fences that his ability and stamina were made for.

At 11/2 each-way with Betfred for 6 places, he looks sure to go well, and while 11/2 doesn’t sound like a very generous price, he could easily be one that punters latch on to.

The reasons for his popularity are that the ground is very much in his favour, (in stark contrast to many others in the race, including his stablemates Run Wild Fred and Defi Bleu,) and he has a wealth of experience last season in big field handicaps to build upon.

While crucially, he confirmed his wellbeing two months ago in the Kerry National – when he was jumping and travelling well, until having a slight disagreement with his rider that day.

Farclas is generally a very sound jumper, and even the mistake he made at Listowel wasn’t catastrophic. You get the sense that he would’ve gone very close that day, and if so, he would be shorter than 11/2 for Sunday’s Ladbrokes Troytown Handicap Chase.

The main dangers could come from within, from Farclas’ other stablemates Definite Plan, who won well at Cheltenham last time, and Mortal, who looked on the way back at Killarney in August. At 33/1 generally, he could be your bigger priced alternative.

But for the purpose of this column, I’m putting all my faith in the horse with placings in the Paddy Power Chase, at the Dublin Racing Festival and the Cheltenham Festival, and who finished a mighty fifth in last year’s Grand National – Farclas, at 11/2 each-way with Betfred, for 6 places.