Winter Bonanza

With the temperatures dropping and winter well and truly here the meetings at Newbury and Fairyhouse provided us all with an early Christmas treat. 

No place better to start than the 1:50 at Newbury on the Friday, this handicap chase saw Kalashnikov go off a really warm favourite (13/8) and it looked like he was gonna justify that, he travelled and jumped brilliantly throughout the race, going 2 1/2 lengths clear after the last fence, only for him to be denied in the final stride by Oldgrangewood, who flew home from the last to claim the race that he once won in 2017. Kalashnikov was giving him 20lbs which is possibly what cost him, he no doubt has a big race in him as he jumps and travels well throughout his races it’s just where Amy Murphy will place him now before heading to Cheltenham in March all being well. 

Next on the card was the 2m3f novice chase, this one went to the well fancied favourite, the Henderson trained Champ, it was an eventful race for him, with him jumping out to his left at times and stumbling badly at the 3rd after being interfered with. The main bit of drama came after he’d jumped the last and was heading clear when nearly heading back round got another circuit only for Barry Geraghty quickly switching him to avoid the elbow. In the end he won well from a decent horse in Black Op, both have more to give this season for me with 3 mile races ultimately being the target for Champ further in the season. 

The 3:00 The Ladbrokes Long Distance Hurdle, saw the season debut of champion stayer Paisley Park, he continued where he left it last season winning by 1L to former Stayers hurdle winner Thistlecrack, with The Worlds End and Unowhatimeanharry 7 and 19 lengths behind themselves. It was a good performance from Paisley Park who raced in his usual style, having to be shaken up to get the job done. It’s really hard to see what could possibly beat him in the staying division this season, but if I was the owners of Thistlecrack I wouldn’t be sending him to a King George, I’d be keeping him over hurdles as I feel he could offer something for Paisley Park to think about come Cheltenham. A special mention has to go to Beer Goggles who won this race in 2017 who unfortunately lost his life during the race.

The Saturday saw a couple of good performances from Floressa in the mares novice hurdle, who reversed the from with Silver Forever who beat her early in the season. Also Danny Whizzbang who won the novices Chase who was the outsider of the three on his chase debut beating the highly regarded Reserve Tank by 4 in impressive style. The handicap hurdle saw Nicky Henderson finish with the 1-2-3 in the race with Epatante who went off a short priced Fav last year in the mares novice hurdle win easily by 6L, many suggesting that she could head to the Champion Hurdle come March and she’d possibly be in with a shout given how weak the division now looks. The Cashel Man was another impressive winner for Henderson on the day, he jumped well and made all and never looked like being caught as he went on to win by 10L, you could definitely see him winning a big race later it in the spring. The last race on the card the 2m handicap champion chase which saw Harry Cobden and Paul Nicholls make it a double on the day with Magic Saint, was a brilliant ride by Harry, tracking the leaders before making his challenge on the run in and just beating Bun Doran by a head, he’s been threatening to win one of theses handicaps for a long time now so good to see him finally do it. 

The main race once the day at Newbury was the Ladbrokes Chase, this saw the Cheltenham winner from a couple of weeks back West Approach go off fav, but he exited the race after the 7th fence where he unseated Robbie Power. The race eventually went to the Emma Lavelle trained De Rasher Counter, he tracked the leaders throughout the race and before going on from 4 out and staying on really well. Connections now have a tricky decision, do they try him on graded races or stick to handicaps, not a bad scenario to be in. A couple of eye catchers were Yorkhill who was travelling really well and making a move into the race when falling 4 out, probably wouldn’t of troubled the winner but could of seen him in the places. The other one would be Elegant Escape was held up toward the rear but stayed on really well like we know he does to get 3rd, at this stage I’d have him as the one to beat in the West National (10/1) and possibly one for the Grand National come April. 

Over at Newcastle on the Saturday we had the grade 1 Fighting Fifth Hurdle which for the last two years had been won by Buveur D’Air, he was fully expected to go on and complete the hat trick going off at 2/13, but this wasn’t the case as he was beaten by Cornerstone Lad a 16/1 outsider. He was gifted and easy lead from the start and was 8L clear coming to 3 hurdles from home, he eventually went on to beat Buveur D’Air by a short head. Unfortunately after the race Buveur D’Air returned lame, it soon came to light that upon crashing through the 2nd last hurdle he happened to get a bit of wood from the hurdle speared into his leg just about his hoof. He has since undergone surgery to remove the remaining wood but will in turn probably miss the remainder of this season, we just hope it doesn’t end his career and we get to see him on the track again. With him being out this opens up the Champion Hurdle market again, so you wouldn’t be surprised to see a couple Novice chasers make the switch back to hurdles and try to go for the Tuesday showpiece at the festival. 

On Sunday we had a cracking card at Fairyhouse with three grade 1 races being ran, the first of these was The Royal Bond Novice Hurdle, this was won by the highly exciting Envoi Allen, he raced prominent throughout the race before leading just before 2 out where he was pressed by stable mate Abacadabras. he eventually won by 1 1/2L its clear to see that he’s gonna take a lot of beating this year in any novice race that he goes for. I personally would love to see him take a chance and go for the Champion Hurdle, for me next year he will be going chasing regardless so why not take a chance this year at winning the big one come March?! The 2nd in the race Abacadabras is also a hugely exciting horse, travelled well and was just out classed in the end, he 100% has a big race in him and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him either finish in front of Envoi Allen or eventually win a Champion Hurdle as he has a lot of speed. 
The second grade 1 was the Drinmore Novice Chase and this saw Fakir D’oudairies and Samcro dominate the market, with Fakir D’oudairies just going off favourite, he raced prominently throughout the race leading for a majority of it and jumping every fence really well. He was then pressed for the lead 2 out by Samcro who wasn’t jumping as well compared to Fakir D’oudairies but was easily making up the ground on the flat, until he fell leaving Fakir D’oudairies clear to win. I like many others feel Samcro would of won if he stayed on his feet, its hard to be sure given how electric Fakir D’oudairies is over his fences but he came there going well before exiting the race. Main this is that he got up and looked okay, so he will have plenty more races in him. 
The final grade 1 of the day was the Hatton‘s Grace Hurdle, the last 3 renewals were won by Apple’s Jade who was bidding for the 4th here, but she never looked like winning and in the end finished a remote 13L behind the winner, who was the highly talent Honeysuckle. In doing so she maintained her unbeaten record and showed that she has the class about her that many expected. She is another one who come March could head for the Champion Hurdle although connections seem adamant that the only race she will be going to is the Mares hurdle where she’s now a short priced fav. 

That’s all for this week, thanks again for reading, next week should be another cracking week with the feature being the Tingle Creek meeting at Sandown and the John Durkan Chase from Punchestown on the Sunday.