HARDY DU SEUIL can grab victory in the Betfair Imperial Cup Handicap Hurdle (Premier Handicap) (GBB Race) (2.25pm) at Sandown on Saturday afternoon – providing the meeting passes an 8am inspection in the morning.
Although the Jamie Snowden-trained six-year-old course and distance winner can’t bid for the £50,000 bonus if he does triumph as he is not entered in any races at next week’s Cheltenham Festival. The last horse to win the Imperial Cup and go on to land the bonus with victory at Prestbury Park was David Pipe’s Gaspara in 2007.
But the Imperial Cup is prestigious prize in its own right and it looks as competitive a running as ever. But Hardy Du Seuil brings plenty of hope that he can triumph ahead of chiefly, the Dan Skelton-trained Playful Saint, Gary Moore’s Givega and Zoffany Bay, from last year’s winning trainer Peter Fahey.
