Having been tailed off five times and fallen once (early on) in his six career outings over hurdles there was precious little on form to recommend handicap debutant Planetoid. After a massive on and off-course gamble though the Jim Best-trained gelding won at odds-on at Newton Abbot to land some very tasty bets indeed.
Although he had shown ability on the Flat when trained by David Lanigan to win two of his eight races on the level, Planetoid had appeared an expensive buy at 20,000 guineas on the evidence of some dismal efforts over timber last season.
It appears that a six month break and a quick surface were what the son of Galileo had been waiting for, and after Mattie Bachelor failed to make it to the course in time to take the mount, the news that champion jockey Tony McCoy was stepping in for the ride as a late substitute raised an eyebrow or two.
Having been the subject of some shrewd money at fancy prices in early morning trading, the five-year-old opened up a 7/2 on course but was backed off the boards to the exclusion of all the other runners in the race, eventually being reported in the racing betting news as odds-on 5/6 favourite.
The race itself went as well as any of his supporters could have wished as Planetoid jumped far better than last year and travelled well under McCoy in mid-division before being sent on into the lead three from home. From there he easily came away to score by five lengths, in the process landing one of the biggest gambles seen so far this season.
Unsurprisingly, the stewards inquired into the improvement shown by the winner, and referred the explanations to the BHA for further consideration. Read more about Planetoid’s stellar race in the betting news on the Bet365 website.