Sandown, Saturday
We’re really excited to be running Boothill on Saturday in the Tingle Creek (15:00). He’s come out of the Shloer in top form, and we couldn’t be more pleased with him. He did a great piece of work during the week, and he seems in really good order.
Obviously, we’re taking on Jonbon again, and of course Edwardstone too. It’s a Grade One and so we always knew it was going to be as competitive as it’s turned out. Jonbon sets the clear standard and is the one we’ve got to beat, but they’re not machines and they’ve all got to turn up and run their races. As do we, of course, but our guy definitely deserves to be taking his chance and hopefully he won’t be too far away where it matters most.
It’s encouraging that Boothill has ran so well at the track before too, so that gives us confidence, as does the quality of his run in Cheltenham in November. He’s definitely come forward from that day at Cheltenham and hopefully that sees him in contention come Saturday.
We’ll be hoping they don’t get the rain they’re fearing, as our guy is really at his best on better ground, so we’ll just have to cross our fingers as far as that’s concerned! All being well, we’ll be there to take our chance and we’re really looking forward to it.
Altobelli is also in on Saturday at Sandown (14:25) and we’re very happy to be getting him out. He was due to run at Exeter on the day racing was called off due to high winds, and we’d actually had him ready to run at Sandown nearly a month ago, but we made the call to wait for the softer ground. He should get that on Saturday and while he’s got to bounce back from that disappointing run at Newbury in February, we’re excited to be starting him off.
He had the option to go over fences, but we felt that he still has plenty of upside over the smaller obstacles this season, and we’re looking forward to aiming him at some nice pots. While he’s been off the track for a decent while, he’s definitely ready to go and he ought to be very competitive.
Dubrovnik Harry is an interesting runner for us on Saturday too. He was an intended runner on the same Exeter card as Altobelli. That day we were due to run him over fences, and this is obviously a Pertemps Qualifier over hurdles (13:15), so we’ve been having to get a little creative with the programme book.
The race presented itself, really, as he’d finished a close third over this course and distance in February and Saturday’s pot is not a bad little purse. He’s more than ready to go and he does seem to go well fresh, so we’re keen to take our chance here. Hopefully he’ll go very well.
Stable update
We had high hopes for Gidleigh Park’s chasing debut last week at Kempton, but as has been well documented, things didn’t go to plan. He recorded an atrial fibrillation on track and that had clearly put paid to our chance, so Bryan Carver did the right thing by pulling him up when he did.
We’re delighted to report that he’d reverted back to a normal sinus rhythm of its own accord within 24 hours of the race. Subsequent tests have all been positive and it’s great that he’s fresh and well in himself too, and that’s probably to be expected given he didn’t have a race! From now on it’s just a case of easing him back into work and building that routine up gradually. We’ll continue to monitor him very closely, and without getting ahead of ourselves, we won’t see him back on track until the new year. Horses have a great way of making you patient, and the main thing is that he’s well, and that we can start to make plans for him in the long-term.
I was thrilled with Beat The Bat’s effort up at Haydock at the weekend before last. He was very brave to finish second in conditions which worsened by the minute up there as the ground got very testing indeed. He was tough as old boots to carry on going, especially after such a long time off the track, and we’ve now got a couple of options for him. He’s in the valuable two-mile handicap hurdle at Ascot on Long Walk Day, but I think he’d more than likely head for the Lanzarote in January. His form is beginning to look rock solid, and I think the make-up of that Kempton race ought to be right up his street.
In Excelsis Deo is all set to head back to Cheltenham next weekend for the December Gold Cup. It was unfortunate to see his mishap at the track in November, but he’s none-the-worse for that and it’s all systems go for a return to Prestbury Park. We’ll touch on him in more detail in next week’s blog, so stay tuned.
Anno Power is obviously an exciting mare for the team, so I was keen to provide a brief update on her. She’s taken a little while to get over her winning run at Sandown in November and needed a bit of time to come back to herself. She’s back working again now, but the time missed probably means we’re unlikely to see her until the new year. There are options for her, and one which is very much on our radar is the Class Two Winter Millions Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle. We won that with Love Envoi enroute to Cheltenham Festival glory, and it could provide this mare with a nice option to gain more racing experience.
Have a great weekend,
Harry