I have been made aware, by none other than Mrs Pugh, that there was a tweet somewhere on Twitter regarding Altior, that he is having a scan this afternoon which could determine a season-ending injury; this is absolute nonsense and a complete fairytale. I last saw him an hour ago and there was nothing at all wrong with him and he was wrapped up warm eating his hay so where this story has come from is a complete mystery to us all. Nico rode him this morning and he did his last piece of work with Mister Fisher which was very good. The last few days have gone well and he is definitely on course for the Champion Chase on Wednesday.
On the subject of our runners next week, all of the schooling and work for our Tuesday and Wednesday runners has all been done and after schooling and working exceptionally we are perhaps leaning towards running Mister Fisher in the Arkle; the fact I let him work with Altior this morning certainly tells us something. The news that Envoi Allen may be re-routed to the Supreme is a major worry for us but we’ll still be represented by Shiskin, Chantry House and Allart. Son Of Camas will be our only runner in the Ballymore.
Handicap-wise, Birchdale, Dame De Compagnie and Downtown Getaway will all take their chance in the Coral Cup and Rathhill and Adjali will run in the County Hurdle. Brave Eagle is being aimed at the Ultima Chase and Precious Cargo will relish the step up in trip in the Northern Trust and I fancy him to run a huge race. Whatswrongwithyou and Champagne Platinum (if he gets in) are likely to go in the Brown Advisory. Champ is absolutely flying ahead of the RSA; speaking of which, we will probably skip Cheltenham with Pym and save him for Aintree. Palladium and Fraser Island will fly the flag for Seven Barrows in the Boodles Juvenile Hurdle. Santini is in great form and as I reported on Wednesday he will run in the Gold Cup in cheek pieces.
This is a very exciting time for us all and I’m sure everyone reading this is as excited as we are. The whole of the jumps season revolves around these four days in March and if we can be lucky enough to enjoy a few winners, that will be brilliant. I’ll be back on Monday with a full look ahead to our Tuesday runners so be sure to check back here for all the latest news ahead of the greatest show on turf!
