Bensalem

Bensalem is the current favourite for the William Hill Trophy 2011 at a price of 10/1. The eight-year-old Irish Bay Gelding is a superb place horse with a solid future left in the sport despite being middle aged in racing terms.

The horse comes from the stables of Alan King and has been trained to run over long distance races of roughly 24 furlongs. Bensalem could turn out to be one of the best value winners at the Cheltenham Festival this year.

Bensalem's Career

Bensalem's career began in November 2008 when the horse won over 16 furlongs in a field of 19 at Sandown Park. The horse showed a superb ability to stay on after being held up by jockey Wayne Hutchinson.

Bensalem followed up this good start with two wins late in 2008 at Chepstow and Leicester. Both wins on those occasions came over 20 furlongs with Wayne Hutchinson and Robert Thornton as the jockeys.

Bensalem's Style

Bensalem is widely respected around current horse racing circuits as being the classic hold-up horse. Robert Thornton has been the horse's jockey ever since he took over from Hutchinson on December 28 2008.

Bensalem's style is sometimes overlooked because of fast paced and aggressive leaders in races but the power the horse has shown at the end of races is phenomenal. Bensalem has secured five career wins and four second place finishes from a total of 12 career races.

Bensalem's Form

Bensalem's form has not been superb as the horse struggled towards the back end of 2010 and the start of 2011. However, the performance on January 29 2011 at Cheltenham was in a Grade 1 race.

The field on this occasion was on the smaller side with 14 runners. Bensalem finished fifth and seemed slightly outclassed on the day but the familiarities of Bensalem's riding style were still apparent in the race.

Robert Thornton rode the horse earlier in 2011 and said Bensalem was unlucky not to place after a couple of bad jumps around the Cheltenham racecourse.

Bensalem Tips

There are many Bensalem tips to consider that have been formulated based on the career of this Alan King star. The horse has done well on all types of ground but seems to favour good to soft.

Bensalem's first four career wins all came on good to soft or soft turf but the horse has shown at Cheltenham and Exeter that fast paced and heavier ground does not affect Bensalem's style.

Negatives of Bensalem

There are a few major negatives of Bensalem that could affect the horse's performance in the Cheltenham Betting. The major negative is a problem for all hold-up horses.

If the pace of the field is far too great then a gap can open up between the aggressive and fast paced leaders and the horses that like to sit in the middle or back of the field. A horse can have the best finish in the world but if this gap is too big then it leaves too much work to be done.