Second on his racecourse debut in a bumper at Kempton a month ago, Montbazon showed just how much he had benefitted from the experience when defeating a field of 17 rivals to score nicely by three-and-a-half lengths, justifying favouritism and coming home comfortably under Robert
Thornton to beat David Pipe's Close House, with the Emma Lavelle-trained Captain Sunshine a further length-and-a-quarter back in third.
Immediately introduced into the Cheltenham Festival Bumper betting at around 12/1 following his Doncaster win, Montbazon has quickly been ruled out of the reckoning by Barbury Castle-based King who believes that an 11 day gap between
Cheltenham races and Aintree would be asking just a little too much of a horse who has only raced
twice previously in his career. Describing the four-year-old as "an exciting prospect", it appears that owner David Sewell is also content to miss Cheltenham and concentrate on having his new star 100% ready to take his chance at Aintree.
The Warren Greatrex-trained Knight Pass remains the ante-post market leader for the Festival, always one of the most competitive races of the whole four-day fixture. A winner of both his starts to date, Knight Pass is a best priced 9/1, whilst the exciting Nicky Henderson-trained Ericht,
favourite with a couple of firms, can be backed at 10/1, along with Allure of Illusion. Star Neuville and Cinders and Ashes are both offered at up to 14/1, and it's 16/1 bar.
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