Fighting Fifth Hurdle: Is Binocular beatable

Fighting Fifth Hurdle Preview Binocular heads a field of five for the stanjames.com Fighting Fifth Hurdle, which gets underway at Newcastle on Saturday. The 2010 Champion Hurdle winner is top price 5/6 with Paddy Power and after losing out to the Donald MaCain runner Peddlers Cross in the rearranged Fighting Fifth at Newbury last season, the Nicky Henderson horse will be looking to repay his supporters. Is Binocular beatable?

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Looking at the Fighting Fifth Hurdle betting the odds suggest that the Henderson horse is a very warm favourite but with this race being his first outing of the season; it will be interesting to see how fit the seven-year-old is. Yes, Binocular won on his debut in both 2008 and 2009 but if you look back at the last two runnings of this race, Binocular has been caught short on race fitness.

With the absence of Brampour for Saturday’s big race, Champion Trainer Paul Nicholls will be hoping that the 2008 Triumph Hurdle winner Celestial Halo can land him the spoils. The Nicholls horse is top price 7/2 with Boylesports and after a promising first run of the season where he won the Grade 2 Elite Hurdle at Wincanton earlier this month, the seven-year-old could be the horse to back should the favourite flop. One thing you can guarantee, Celestial Halo will go hard from the front and give Binocular a lot to do.

After winning this race in 2010, trainer Donald MaCain will be looking towards Overturn to land him back-to-back Fighting Fifth titles. The seven-year-old is top price 7/2 with William Hill and after claiming the Coral Hurdle at Ascot last Saturday by 27 lengths, another bold run is expected. It's unknown how much the Ascot race would have taken out of the smart dual-purpose performer but if MaCain’s words are to be believed, Overturn is in fine spirit.

The two outsiders Stormy Weather and Kosta Brava complete the line-up but with both horses priced at 100/1, it would be a massive shock to see either horse finish in the money.

Fighting Fifth Race Trends

For anybody looking at placing a bet on the Fighting Fifth, the trends below may help you with your selection.

In the last 10 years 8 out of the last 10 winners were 2nd or 3rd season hurdlers
In the last 10 years 7 out of the last 10 winners were officially rated 150+ over hurdles
In the last 10 years 6 of the winners were sent off favourite
Five-year-olds have won 6 out of the last 9 races
Nine out of the last 10 winners have won a Grade 1 or 2 hurdle race before the Fighting Fifth.

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