Long Run tops ratings list British Horseracing Authority head handicapper Phil Smith has encouraged Robert Waley-Cohen to test Long Run in the Hennessy Gold Cup in order to further his position as the sport's top National Hunt Horse. Long Run, owned by Waley-Cohen and trained by Nicky Henderson, was given the highest rating of 182 at the release of the Anglo-Irish Jump Classifications in London on Tuesday. This is short of Kauto Star's mark of 190 last year and 186 the season before, but ties him with Denman from the 2007-08 campaign and comfortably ahead of Best Mate. Long Run, who took the King George VI Chase and Gold Cup at the tender age of six, was placed 5lb ahead of Denman (177) in the three-mile division, and only the top two-and-a-half-miler Master Minded got closer on 178. Queen Mother Champion Chase winner Sizing Europe (177) was placed 1lb above his old rival Big Zeb, who reversed the placings when the pair met at Punchestown. On the hurdle classifications, which the gathering of British and Irish handicappers warn cannot be directly compared to the chasers, Big Buck's is once again on top as he achieved a rating of 174 for the third year in a row. Second-best overall and clear top two-miler is the Champion Hurdle winner Hurricane Fly. His 173 comes out only behind the mighty Istabraq in the 12 years of the classifications. "Long Run's rating comes from the Gold Cup," said Smith. "We rated the race through Midnight Chase, who had won four Cheltenham handicaps and looked like he had run the same race in fifth. "We had Denman below his Hennessy run in the Gold Cup, but he got 177 from the Hennessy, as he finished third off a mark of 182. "Unfortunately we didn't see the two horses which finished ahead of him, Diamond Harry and Burton Port, again during the season. "With Long Run as a young champion, it will be fascinating to see if those two can make the leap. "It will be fascinating to see what Long Run's programme will be. The owner is very sporting and I have strongly hinted to him that his first run should be in the Hennessy. "I am trying to seduce him, because his jockey (son Sam) can claim in a handicap. I've implanted the idea and he'll make his own mind up. I suspect the Betfair Chase at Haydock will be the target. "To have a chaser as young as him winning the King George and Gold Cup is something. But he had a busy campaign in France, so has he reached his maximum? "The owner doesn't think so, he thinks his potential is unlimited."
