Would you be a backer or layer of Allaho at 4-1 for the Ryanair Chase?

Allaho made a successful return to action following a mammoth layoff in the Clonmel Oil Chase on Thursday, but what do our experts make of the odds available about him winning a third Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham next March?

'The true litmus test will come in Grade 1 company'

I have to lay Allaho for now. You simply cannot back him at such short odds given we learned nothing new at Clonmel apart from he's alive and well. In the end, it was no more than a glorified racecourse gallop.

He will strip fitter for that, but the true litmus test of whether all of his brilliant ability remains will be when he returns to Grade 1 company.

He's entered in the John Durkan Chase later this month, but it's highly unlikely Willie Mullins would pitch him against Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Galopin Des Champs. He didn't strike me as a horse that would thrive in the speedier test Kempton's King George provides either.

We know he stays three miles over fences, so the Savills Chase at Leopardstown over Christmas would be my next port of call. If he comes through that with flying colours, then you can get stuck in for the Ryanair.
Matt Rennie, reporter

'Ante-post market is littered with horses potentially going elsewhere'

A look at the ante-post market for the Ryanair points to Allaho being a fair price.

Jonbon, the only other single-figure-priced horse, has raced solely over 2m and is set to return in the Shloer Chase – indicating he may well go down the Champion Chase route along with fellow Ryanair market principal El Fabiolo.

Stage Star and Banbridge have to prove their ability in open company, while Shishkin could be a Gold Cup horse if faring well in the Betfair Chase and King George.

Given his Ryanair record, the likelihood of him being aimed at this race and the fact he scored pretty convincingly on his return, he is certainly the right favourite even at this very early stage.
Jack Haynes, reporter

'The 4-1 could be long gone for the Ryanair if he continues to dominate'

It was great to see Allaho back strutting his stuff on a racecourse but other than seeing that he retains all four legs and an aptitude for racing there was not much learned in the Clonmel Oil Chase.

While a King George tilt would whet the appetite of many racing fans, nothing is stopping Willie Mullins from taking a more cautious route to Cheltenham, and if the Cheveley Park Stud-owned nine-year-old lines up in the Ryanair with a string of 1s next to his name from similar small-field events, the 4-1 currently available will be long gone.
Joe Eccles, reporter

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