Saturday, Haydock
Molly Ollys Wishes runs in the Rendlesham Hurdle (14:05). We were delighted with her win at Ascot and that was always plan A.
She has come out of that race well and seems to be an improving mare. I think she’ll handle conditions, which will be very important. She gets a seven-pound allowance here and if she’s still in top form then I think she’s a massive player.
Blaklion runs in the three-and-a-half-mile Grand National Trial (14:40). He’s been a revelation this year, winning his last two races around Haydock. He obviously loves it there and loves the soft ground too. He’s up in the weights a bit now, but conditions wise, it’s all the same again.
This looks a strong race with the likes of Bristol De Mai in here, but hopefully Blaklion can give another good account of himself. He’s a pleasure to have in the yard.
In the three-mile handicap hurdle (15:15) we run Ch’tibello. He seems to be fine since his last run in the Lanzarote, where he came down at the second hurdle, and has been schooling well since. He’s got to shoulder top weight here, which I think is going to be a big ask in the ground and over this trip.
Saturday, Wincanton
Down at Wincanton we run several on Saturday and start off with two in the novice hurdle (13:38). Callisto’s King ran okay at Doncaster on his debut over hurdles, where he seemed to jump nicely. If he steps forward again, I’m sure he can be competitive here. He’s a big horse who should benefit from a summer break.
Farmer’s Gamble has run reasonably in two novice hurdles. He was beaten a fair way last time, but he’s come on since that run. Hopefully he can show us some more ability, but he would have to improve a lot to be winning.
Go Steady takes his chance in the two-and-a-half-mile handicap chase (14:13). He goes over fences now and still looks to be on a competitive mark. He’s got the soft ground that he wants and has been in good form. There won’t be many excuses for him and we’re hopeful of another good run.
Faivoir goes in the Kingwell Hurdle (15:20). He’s got it all to do to beat Goshen and Adagio, but there’s good prize money been put on here, so we were keen to support the race and take our chance.
Faivoir’s been a winning machine for us and while we would all be a bit surprised if he won this, we’d definitely take it!
Saturday, Ascot
Jeffrey’s Cross runs in the two-and-a-half-mile novice hurdle (13:15) at Ascot. He’s actually a full brother to a horse we used to have, so we know the family well. He’s had one run in a point-to-point, and we like what we’ve seen from him at home.
We were keen to come to a big galloping track like Ascot because he seems a bit of a stayer. We’re hopeful of a competitive run, but I’d say it would be difficult to see him winning in what looks a competitive race for his rules debut.
Lucky One takes his chance in a very competitive two-and-a-half-mile hurdle (15:00). It was a bit better from him last time at Kempton. He steps back up in trip here and we hope that brings about some improvement.
He seems to have come on in his work at home, but he needs to have improved massively if he is to be winning here and we’d be delighted if he can pick up some prize money. I see him as a horse that should continue to improve when the sun starts shining in the spring.
It’s good to see a Grade One with plenty of runners and the Ascot Chase (15:38) looks an ultra-competitive race, where you can make a case for every one of the eight runners. If I had to pick one, Saint Calvados just stands out to me, as I think this is his perfect trip. He ran a very good race in the King George and looks to have been trained for this race.
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