Horse Talk: This gelding has a real Nac of winning

Nacarat will target a hat-trick of victories in Saturday’s £100,000 Racing Plus Chase at Kempton, where he looks great each way value at 9-1 with William Hill.

The Tom George-trained gelding won the Racing Plus Chase in 2009 and 2012 and has never finished out of the first three in this race, taking second and third places in the intervening years.

Last year Nacarat beat Hector’s Choice, who re-opposes, by 11 lengths after racing close to the pace, hitting the front two fences from home and pushing on to win easily.

The 12-year-old, who has won almost £500,000, faces a strong field that includes Wyck Hill and Rolling Aces, but is fancied to finish in the first three at lucrative odds.

“There is an array of jump racing talent among the entries this year,” said Racing Plus editor Chris Smith. “The prospect of two-time winner Nacarat taking on the likes of 2011 winner Quinz and 2012 runner-up Hector’s Choice, as he attempts to complete a trio of victories, will be an occasion to savour.”

Meanwhile, trainer Nicky Henderson has again revealed a strong team for Cheltenham, where he recorded seven wins last year to boost his Festival tally to a record 46 victories.

“We have had 35 to 40 runners over the four days of the Festival for the last few years and I imagine it will be the same this time,” Henderson said at his open day at Lambourn on Monday.

Simon Jackson is a freelance racing journalist based in north west London. He can be reached at jacksonsports1@yahoo.co.uk for press and PR enquiries, or racing/betting related news stories and features.