IT WAS a rather frustrating afternoon at Haydock last Saturday where Pentland Hills finished second in The New One Unibet Hurdle. He came to the last, jumped it beautifully, went on to win the race and I thought ‘job done’ so I don’t mind admitting it was particularly frustrating to see him get beaten right on the line. A few people have mentioned headgear but I don’t know about that yet, we’re still just mulling it over and I can’t really work it all out. I don’t think we can blame the ground as he jumped and travelled beautifully before going to win the race but his run just petered out. He’s come out of it absolutely fine and I don’t particularly want to run him again before Cheltenham so we’ll let the dust settle and discuss it with the owners.
Champ schooled this morning and we are still thinking about the Reynoldstown Chase at Ascot for him. Pym, who is also entered in the RSA, could head there as well if the owners want to but we also have the option of a Handicap if necessary.
Absolutely nothing came to light following the disappointing run from Fusil Raffles in the Christmas Hurdle so we have decided we might as well crack on with him and he’ll be entered in the Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton on 15th February.
Many people have asked about Charli Parcs but after enduring quite a few problems he is no longer with us at Seven Barrows and will be trained by someone else in the future.
CHELTENHAM
12:40 G2 Juvenile Hurdle
Monte Cristo (Daryl Jacob)
He’s a new arrival to us from France where he won a handicap, which is quite unusual for a Juvenile, over 2m2f at Auteuil and the form looks quite solid. His work has been ok without setting the world alight, although Fusil Raffles was the very same before we ran him in the Adonis so maybe this horse will wake up in the afternoon. Apart from Gary Moore’s horse (Goshen) and Dan Skelton’s Allmankind, I don’t think the rest of the UK Juveniles are a great bunch and this horse very much looks like one for next year, that said we’ll definitely learn a lot more after this.
2:25 G2 Cotswold Chase
Santini (Nico de Boinville)
We tinkered with his wind after Sandown which meant he had to have ten days or so on the easy list but he’s absolutely A1 now and this has long been the plan. Obviously he’s very inexperienced but there’s no denying he put up a brilliant performance in the RSA as pretty much everything that could go wrong did go wrong in the lead up to it so to do what he did was quite remarkable, therefore we put him away and gave him a nice long summer off. He’s straight enough and if we want to go down the Gold Cup route he’ll have to go extremely close to winning.
3:00 G2 Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle
Time Flies By (Barry Geraghty)
He won his bumper at Cheltenham in November and then got bogged down on the very heavy ground after that so we went straight over hurdles at Ascot where he a ran well but certainly needed to sharpen up his jumping. He is very much a horse for next year and if he is a novice going into next season no one will be crying but if he is going to lose his novice status it might as well be in a proper race like this so you can see why we were going to Ascot and Cheltenham. I could easily drop him down and pick up a small prize somewhere but that wouldn’t do any of us, or him, any good which is why we’re running here. The step up in trip will really suit.
3:35 G2 Cleeve Hurdle
L’Ami Serge (Daryl Jacob)
He ran a fantastic race in the Long Walk at Ascot on his first run in yonks but probably found himself in front a little bit earlier than he ideally wanted so Daryl will certainly be playing the waiting game for as long as he possibly can. It’s disappointing to see horses get beaten like that but it did at least show us that he still retains all of his ability and hopefully he can put up a decent performance. Obviously Paisley Park will be very hard to beat.
William Henry (Nico de Boinville)
I’m not 100% convinced he stays three miles but where else do you go as there aren’t too many options for horses like him. He ran a great race (over 2m4f) in the Relkeel Hurdle and I think he will have come on quite a lot for it, actually. Whether he stays and/or is good enough is debatable but he’s there to give it his best shot.
4:10 Handicap Hurdle
Lust For Glory (Sam Waley-Cohen)
We’re going back over hurdles with her as she was let down by her jumping on debut over fences at Doncaster last month so we’re switching back and if the ground is good, which is the key thing here, she would have every chance.
DONCASTER
12:55 G2 Lightning Novices’ Chase
Mister Fisher (James Bowen)
I’m basically trying to keep him out of soft ground which is proving very difficult and the reason he didn’t run at Ascot last week. If the going description proves correct, he should be fine on it and the drop back to two miles won’t be a problem as he’s a very sharp horse. He’s got Al Dancer to beat but I’ve been very happy with his schooling and he goes there with an obvious chance.
2:40 G2 Mares’ Hurdle
Floressa (James Bowen)
She’s coming out of novice company for the first time but she is a very high class mare who is in great form at home. I wanted to get one more run into her before Cheltenham and Lady Buttons is a classy mare but we like ours and her beating of Silver Forever at Newbury has been franked, so the form has a strong look to it.
3:15 Listed Handicap Chase
Ok Corral (Mr Derek O’Connor)
We’ve shipped Derek O’Connor back over as they got on very well together at Warwick where I actually thought that was Ok Corral’s best performance so hopefully the trip over will be worth it!
He made a bad mistake coming up the hill at Cheltenham last time and 2m4f would be plenty sharp enough for him so the step back up to three will suit and I think he has a cracking squeak each way.
Burbank (Jerry McGrath)
He went up 11lbs for his win at Newbury in December so he’s racing off a career high mark (145) therefore, has to improve even more, which is unlikely, but he shapes as though 3m will suit and he’s been in very good form at home. This is a big task under almost top weight and I couldn’t be massively confident.
3:50 Bumper
Hamilton’s Fantasy (Jerry McGrath)
She’s a home bred of The Queen who is a lovely big mare with lots of ability. She does everything nicely at home and is very uncomplicated so I’d be quite hopeful she can run well.
SUNDAY – FONTWELL
4:20 Maiden Hurdle
Kaymar (Nico de Boinville)
He’s run with promise on both outings to date and this sharper track will suit. There are plenty of runners but he has very solid each way claims.
TWEETS TO @SEVENBARROWS
Thank you to everyone for posting your questions to my Twitter; there were over 100 at the last count but as I have to saddle up a runner in the first at Huntingdon I’ve answered as many as I can!
@KevMcCalley
When will we see Chantry House next please and is Shiskin going for the Dovecote?
Shiskin will probably run in the Sidney Banks Memorial Hurdle at Huntingdon on February 6th and after a small hold up, Chantry House is back in action now and will be working next week. He’s got to go somewhere before Cheltenham so might finish up in the Dovecote Hurdle at Kempton on 22nd February.
@Smithyjoe16
Evening Nicky, how is Apple’s Shakira? Is she due to make any of the festivals?
She is back over in Ireland for the foreseeable future and I would think it’s more than likely she’ll be covered in due course.
@Ruby_Tuesday59
Any news on My Whirlwind?
There are no immediate plans with her at the moment but I am still hoping to get a run into her before the end of the season.
Is Rather Be still in training?
He’s got a small problem that we are still trying to diagnose at the moment so he won’t be seen for a short while.
Do you have any horses the public might not have heard of yet that could be Cheltenham bound?
Probably not, there’s certainly not a Pentland Hills lurking in the pack! If you’ve not seen them now, you’re very unlikely to before Cheltenham.
What’s happened to Arturus?
He’s coming along nicely and will run in a bumper in a few weeks time. I’ve not pressed all the buttons with him at home yet but he’s a very big horse with a bright future.
