The culmination of the race series which will forever be associated with Sir Barney's wonderful "more plots than an Agatha Christie novel" analogy, the Pertemps Final is run over 3 miles with 12 hurdles to be jumped. The event was established in 1974, when it was introduced as a replacement for a previous race at the Festival, the George Duller Handicap Hurdle. It was originally sponsored by Coral, and for much of its early history it was titled the Coral Golden Hurdle Final. It has had various sponsors since 1993, and the latest of these, Pertemps, began supporting the race in 2002. In order to qualify for the final, a horse has to finish in the first 6 of any of the qualifying races held during the season. This scenario has caused members of the County Set, amongst others, to coin phrases such as "I say, that Pipe horse was very tenderly ridden to finish 6th, nudge-nudge, wink-wink". But of course, every runner in the final will be trying its damndest say I (unless they are using the race as a Grand National prep). Leading trainer here is Jonjo O'Neill with 4 winners, whilst the wonderfully named Willy Wumpkins (who, like Whiffy Chatsby, is named after a school chum of Sir Barney Chuckles) won the races in 3 consecutive years (1979-81). There are currently 55 still left in, with top weight allotted to Gordon Elliot's Tagliatelle (who I backed e/w last year when he finished 4th in the Coral Cup BUT I didn't have a bean on him when he subsequently strolled to victory at Aintree) off a mark of 154. This means that, if he runs, anything below a mark of 128 will be running from out of the handicap. But he might go for the Coral Cup again instead. Next in the weights is Unowhatimeanharry (152) who should be running. There are 3 horses at around 8/1 vying for favouritism at this point - Leave At Dawn (Charles Byrne, 132), Missed Approach (Wazza Greatrex, 143) and Mr Henderson's Cup Final (a mark of 139 and sure to be popular in the Chuckles camp). Latest betting from Oddschecker Entries and weights
Wasn't won by a dastardly plot last term as Mr Henderson obliged with Call The Cops. And as everyone on the forum knows Mr Henderson's got the straightest bat in racing. That J.P chap currently owns 3 of the top 4 in the betting so who Barry G picks could be a tip worth taking.
