the betfair chase should be reconsidered.

​Bristol de Mai is a fantastic horse and capable of carrying top weight with distinction in the Grand National and every criticism I have of the Betfair Chase will find no favour with his admirable connections. Nor with Paul Nicholls, no doubt.
After the Cheltenham Gold Cup and the King George, the Betfair is, so it is said, the third most important staying chase of the season, at least outside of the Grand National and this weekend’s Ladbroke Trophy. It is because of its ‘prestige’ it was for many years the opening salvo in the triple header that formed the £1-million challenge. Not that the prospect of winning a million-quid ever inspired owners to insist all the top horses gather together at Haydock in mid-November.
Yet the Betfair falls many furlongs behind the Cheltenham Gold Cup in true prestige and competitiveness and is in effect, if you take Bristol de Mai out of the equation, only a warm-up race for the King George on Boxing Day. Rarely is there a runner from Ireland, for instance – has Willie Mullins ever bothered with the race?; Nicky Henderson shuns the race as if there were a real threat of one of his horses catching trench foot if he were run in it; and most years the ground has more say in the outcome of the race, as it seems to do most seasons even with Haydock’s Sprint Cup, than the fences.
Haydock is a perfectly viable venue for a Grand National trial; the invariably heavy ground sorts out the true stayers from the wannabes. But for Cheltenham horses it is too much like an old-fashioned school cross-country run, wet, muddy and enjoyed only by the winner.
The Betfair Chase would benefit the sport to greater effect if the prize money was cut by 50 to 66% and restricted to last season’s novice chasers. We should seek to copy Ireland’s race programme for their top hurdlers and chasers, with conditions race at various venues, including at what I would term ‘country courses’ like Clonmel and Gowran Park.
The King George at Kempton should be the first major race for the Gold Cup type horses, with a splattering of condition chases from late October, as with the Charlie Hall at Wetherby, to early to mid-December, to allow trainers plenty of opportunities to get their stars cherry-ripe for Boxing Day. 
The Desert Orchid Chase at Wincanton is a prime candidate as a ‘trial’ or ‘warm-up’ race for the King George and the big prizes to come. These races need not be at the major racecourses but given to the ‘country tracks’ as happens in Ireland, to give them a boost in racegoer attendance and to allow them a moment in the spotlight.
Also, and this point should not be sniffed-at, with the Betfair as an alternative, why should Paul Nicholls or any trainer target the Ladbroke Trophy with one of their potential Gold Cup horses? Lostintranslation is a big powerful individual; wouldn’t he be better off carrying 11st 12lbs at Newbury on decent ground rather than 12-stone in Somme-like conditions at Haydock? It is arguable that Clan des Obeaux might have an easier time of things if he were to run in the Ladbroke than having to endure a slog around Haydock in pursuit of a Haydock and heavy-ground specialist.
Great jumpers won the Hennessey in the past, including my two all-time favourites, Denman and Spanish Steps, as well as Arkle and Mill House, oh, and Burrough Hill Lad, and many others. The race deserves great chasers competing in it, even in its Ladbrokes Trophy infancy. The existence in its present guise of the Betfair almost guarantees this is less and less likely to ever happen again. The Ladbroke Trophy is the 2nd most prodigious steeplechase in the calendar, and there remains the likelihood it could go the way of the old Whitbread Gold Cup, once a headliner and now very much a 2nd-rate handicap won by very ordinary horses.
And one other suggestion: it is a nonsense to run the Fighting Fifth Hurdle on the same day as the Ladbroke. Would it not make more sense for Haydock and Newcastle to swap slots in the calendar? Especially, as unlikely an outcome as it might be, if the Betfair was to become restricted to last season’s novices.