It was brilliant for everyone involved with Allmankind to win the Grade One Finale Hurdle at Chepstow on Welsh National day. He was very impressive and just keeps going. For a three-year-old to go along at that gallop and to pick up out of that ground, he has to be a bit of a freak. Normal horses don’t do that.
He’s settling better which is pleasing to see. Down the back straight he was really relaxed and when we started to go downhill he grabbed hold of the bridle and off we went again.
We were delighted for the owners. They’ve been friends of our family for a long time through show jumping and all roads now lead to the Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham.
He’s obviously an incredibly exciting horse and after what he did at Chepstow he deserves to be at the head of the market for the Triumph.
Ch’tibello didn’t run terribly in the Christmas Hurdle, but it probably came a bit soon after his run in the International at Cheltenham and it was a bit of an afterthought. We’ll freshen him up now and then see where we go in the spring.
It was nice to ride a double at Doncaster on Sunday. Maire Banrigh was really good in the novices’ handicap chase. She jumps really well and stayed on strongly up the straight.
She is exciting and we’ll probably aim her at the Arkle now. She has won her last five and is unbeaten in three starts over fences. She’s showing no signs of stopping improving.
Boss Man Fred is a really likeable horse. He does nothing flashy but he gets the job done. We think he’s going to make up into a nice staying chaser one day, although there are no major plans for him at the moment.
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Cheltenham, Wednesday
Protektorat – 12:15
There is always a really good atmosphere at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day and we have some interesting runners starting with this horse in the novice hurdle.
He’s stepping up in trip to two and a half miles which shouldn’t be a problem. He has a fast brain but slow legs if that makes sense – he thinks he’s faster than he is.
His last run at Sandown was very promising and he’s now learning to settle. Hopefully they’ll go a gallop as he really needs this trip now.
1:25
We don’t have a runner in the Dipper, but Champ will be very hard to beat. He was good at Newbury without being squeaky clean as a novice chaser. He’ll get some valuable experience of Cheltenham here ahead of the Festival.
Oldgrangewood – 2:00
We were delighted that he managed to get his head in front at Newbury last time. He’s gone up 7lbs for that, but he has run okay at Cheltenham before and the drier the ground the better for him.
He came from a long way back last time to collar Kalashnikov on the line which showed that he still retains lots of ability. He is a bit of a monkey, though!
Anytimewilldo – 2:35
He only has 10 stone on his back and ran nicely at Newbury last time. If he runs like that again he should be in with a shout.
Might Bite is the class horse in the race and they’re trying hurdles with him after things haven’t quite gone to plan over fences recently.
The shape of the race is quite different with him in the field and he’s got to get back on track. It looks like quite a warm race and I’m sure plenty will fancy their chances.
Roksana – 3:10
She has come out of her race at Ascot really well. That came a bit quick after Aintree and we rode her a bit more handy than in the past. We’ll be going back to dropping her in like she’s been ridden in the past.
She is in really good form and I wouldn’t swap her for any of them. It’s a proper competitive Grade Two but trip, track and ground all seem perfect. There are no negatives with her.
Flu jabs
We’re set for a quiet couple of weeks now. All the horses will have their flu jab over the course of the next week. We’ll have some runners at Warwick on 11th January, but we’ll be focusing on freshening all of them up and trying to finish the season strongly.
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