A BUSY Saturday with runners at three meetings and hopefully plenty of chances among them. Obviously the focus of Cheltenham begins to rear its head once we move into the new year and I’m seriously considering running Pentland Hills in The New One Unibet Champion Hurdle Trial at Haydock next week as he’s come out of the Unibet International Hurdle in great form and this seems the next logical step. He worked this morning under Nico, who was very pleased, so that’s probably where we’ll go. In fact, his work partner was Mister Fisher who is also likely to be going up there as he likes it around Haydock so I’ve pencilled him in for the 2m4f novice chase.
I was hoping to take Chantry House to Newbury on Wednesday but he got a bit of a nick on one of his legs which blew up a couple of days ago so I can’t go there which is a shame as he’s in very good shape but hopefully he’ll be out later on in the week. Santini schooled very very well yesterday and the plan remains the Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham on Festival Trials Day (25th January).
We were hoping to take Verdana Blue over to Saudi Arabia for their big race but I’m not sure that she’ll actually get in as she isn’t yet rated high enough so we may have to scrap that plan and look at something else.
KEMPTON
12:20 Read Nicky Henderson’s Unibet Blog Juvenile Hurdle
Fraser Island (Nico de Boinville)
He won a pretty terrible race at Newbury on debut but did it in very good style and I do think he’s come on for it, actually. His work has been very good and he’s moving particularly well so I’m pretty hopeful as I do think he’s improved a fair bit for his first run.
2:05 G2 Unibet Silviniaco Conti Chase
Top Notch (Daryl Jacob)
He’s got his ideal conditions and won the Peterborough Chase nicely last time. Obviously I’d like Altior to be here but Top Notch is a very able deputy so let’s hope he can gain back to back wins in the race. He’s in great form and goes there with a favourite's chance.
Top Notch – what a horse!
Form over fences:
311112311411P1 @sevenbarrows @Dazjacob10 @Huntingdon_Race pic.twitter.com/2hRUTD8BFH
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) December 8, 2019
2:40 Unibet Lanzarote Hurdle
Burrows Edge (Nico de Boinville)
He’s got a very good record at the track, albeit without winning, but he’s posted some very good efforts and I don’t think he’s finished out of the money in all starts here. He had a fall over fences at Ludlow and while I’m not saying he’d have won, he wasn’t going too badly and we may even go back chasing but this is a very good opportunity and the better the ground the better the chance he has. He’s in very good shape and I certainly wouldn’t be discounting him.
Theinval (Connor Brace)
It’s all about getting his confidence back as he’s had a bit of a spell in the doldrums so I think he’ll appreciate the return to hurdles where he’s actually rated a few pounds lower and Connor’s 3lbs claim all helps. He’s much better in the spring and he’ll probably have his annual trip up to Ayr in April but I thought I might as well give him a spin around here and try and sweeten him up a bit and I think he’ll enjoy it.
3:15 Try Unibet New Uniboosts Handicap Chase
On The Blind Side (Nico de Boinville)
He ran a very good race at Ascot behind Riders On the Storm and loves small fields and this is about as small as I could get! His record around Kempton is very good so I thought this was worth a chance and it would be nice to see him get his head back in front.
3:45 Handicap Hurdle
Never Adapt (Barry Geraghty)
She ran well enough the first time at Cheltenham when she might well have needed it so I’m hoping that would have brought her on plenty. Getting her to relax is the main thing but she still finished her race very well and I’d be pretty optimistic she’d be up to winning. The tighter track could actually play to her strengths too
WARWICK
2:25 G2 Novice Hurdle
Keen On (James Bowen)
He would have had to give about ten pounds to them all in the Novice at Kempton (which he was also entered in) but they’re all off the same weight here and if you look at the runners there’s only one horse who’s rated way above the others (Décor Irlandais) and to be honest if you look into his form you could say he’s a tad overrated for what he’s actually achieved. After him the rest are all in a heap because we’re all rated very close together so our horse is very entitled to take his chance and he’ll love the trip and ground. We actually won this with Mr Whipped, who beat none other than Paisley Park, a couple of years ago and it would be nice if this chap can enhance our record.
3:35 Handicap Hurdle
Igor (Sam Waley-Cohen)
He stays three miles and goes in the soft which is what he has here. He got quite badly hampered going over the last at Cheltenham last time but still stayed on nicely up the hill and his mark of 132 looks workable on his first start in a Handicap.
4:00 Bumper
Diamond River (James Bowen)
He is a very nice horse who goes very well and has been ready to go for quite a while but I am worried about the ground as I should imagine come 4pm conditions will have deteriorated quite badly, so I am a bit nervous about that but otherwise we’re all set to go. In fact, he was with us last year but picked up a hind leg injury but he’s back now and I’m looking forward to getting him out. If it was on good ground I would be quite confident.
WETHERBY
1:05 Mares' Novice Chase
With Discretion (Jerry McGrath)
She’s a very likeable mare who will relish the soft ground and I’ve been very happy with everything she’s done at home. I was happy with her chase debut for us at Uttoxeter and she’ll be much sharper for the outing, too.
