With Christmas only around the corner, we’re really excited to be sending a small but select team to both Cheltenham and Doncaster this weekend. Friday sees Might I return to Prestbury Park (15:35) and he’s come out of his Bangor reappearance win in really good order. He steps back up to three miles here and that ought to really suit him. The trip he won over at Bangor was definitely on the sharp side and we’re hoping he can put in a solid effort over this longer distance. He’s obviously been raised four pounds for the victory in November, but we still think he should be competitive. There looks to be one or two with progressive profiles in against him, notably Doyen Quest, but we’ve been there and done it with this guy and although we’ve hit the crossbar a few times with Might I, he might just be ready to land back-to-back wins.
Saturday sees us send two runners to the track with In Excelsis Deo at Cheltenham (13:50) and Altobelli up at Doncaster (15:15). In Excelsis Deo is one we’ve discussed plenty in the blog this season and arrives to the December Gold Cup off the back of his tumble at the November Meeting. To that extent, we are on somewhat of a recovery mission, but we’re very much looking forward to running. He’s schooled really well since and this time we’ll be hoping for a clear round of jumping. He looks to be facing plenty of familiar faces again and we think he’s got a fantastic chance looking at the final field. Who knows, him not completing at the track on his last outing might mean he didn’t have such a hard race as the others reopposing here, and that might just be a little blessing in disguise.
Altobelli was one of three horses we had intended to run at Sandown last weekend, but the weather just wasn’t safe enough for us to travel and so we’ve rerouted him up to Doncaster on Saturday. To be honest, we’re really keen to get him started as he has been so unlucky with the weather so far this term. Looking at Saturday’s race, I think he should be really competitive. The trip should suit, as should the track and I am hopefully he can go very well in our little raid up north.
Boothill was another of those who couldn’t make it to Sandown, and while that was frustrating, the softer ground probably wouldn’t have been his bag as it turned out. Our plan now will be to send him to Kempton on December 27th for the Desert Orchid. He fell in the race last year, but we feel like there’s a little bit of unfinished business in the race as a result, and we’re keen to make amends this year. He won the Wayward Lad at the track two years ago on the same card, and so we know he acts well around that venue. We’ll speak a little bit more about him and the race itself nearer the time, so keep an eye out for the blog in the run up to Christmas.
Have a great weekend,
Harry