Ballygrifincottage handed Lingfield mission by Skelton

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Dan Skelton will send exciting novice chaser Ballygrifincottage to Lingfield next weekend after deciding to bypass the Grade Two eventmasters.co.uk Hampton Novices’ Chase at Warwick on Saturday.

Fourth in the Albert Bartlett at the Cheltenham Festival in March, he opened his account at the first time of asking over fences when beating odds-on Beauport by 11 lengths in a three-runner affair over an extended two miles and five furlongs at Haydock in November.

Owned by Friends From Insurance, the lightly-raced eight-year-old is as short as 11-1 with Sky Bet for the extended three-mile Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase on March 15 and is 8-1 with William Hill for the three-and-three-quarter-mile National Hunt Chase on March 14.

A son of Stowaway, he is being primed for the extended two miles and seven furlongs of the Weatherbys nhstallions.co.uk Novices’ Chase, which is worth £50,000.

Skelton said: “He definitely goes to Lingfield next week for the Winter Millions meeting.

“I just wanted an extra week and I can split them all up as well then. He jumps well and loves slow ground.”

Skelton will instead rely upon the mare Gaila Des Liteaux in the three-mile event at Warwick.

She impressed on her chasing bow at Bangor, before being pulled up behind Thyme Hill when well supported for the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day.

Buzz given Cheltenham entry as he continues on comeback trail

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Buzz has been handed a tentative entry for the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival as he continues his recovery from a pelvis injury.

Nicky Henderson’s dual-purpose star has won five times for owners Thurloe Thoroughbreds since being bought out of Hughie Morrison’s yard, capturing the racing public’s attention when landing both the Cesarewitch and Ascot Hurdle in quick succession in 2021.

That set up the Motivator gelding for a tilt at the Long Walk Hurdle, but he suffered a fractured pelvis a day before the race and has been on the comeback trail ever since.

Although still in the very early stages of his training at Henderson’s Seven Barrows base, he has been given the option of competing in the Thursday feature at the Festival and James Stafford of owners Thurloe Thoroughbreds says it is a race they will think about if the nine-year-old gives the right signals.

He said: “He’s going through his very early paces. The entry stage was this morning so we had to make the entry for Cheltenham.

“It doesn’t mean Buzz is back, we hope he’s back, but if you are not in today you have no chance of running.

“It’s an entry, which if he tells us in the next two to three weeks he’s getting better, then we will think about it.”

Buzz will have been off the track for over 450 days if returning at Prestbury Park and Stafford believes the horse deserves that opportunity having been the model patient during his recovery.

“It would be fantastic to see him back as he has been the most marvellous patient and has done everything asked along the way,” he continued.

Buzz ridden by jockey Nico de Boinville (left) clear a fence on their way to winning the Coral Hurdle (Registered As The Ascot Hurdle) in 2021
Buzz ridden by jockey Nico de Boinville (left) clear a fence on their way to winning the Coral Hurdle (Registered As The Ascot Hurdle) in 2021 (Nigel French/PA)

“He deserves to come back for the effort, he as a horse, has put into his own well-being. There has been masses of loving people around him who have done a marvellous job helping, but he has been a massive help to himself, which is three-quarters of the battle.”

A percentage of the prize-money earned by Buzz has been donated to the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, a factor Stafford thinks is another reason for his popularity.

He added: “The cancer charity link has captured the imagination, he has won a Cesarewitch and a Grade Two and he’s grey. So there’s lots to love about him and he’s a trier – he will never give up for you.”

All options open for exciting bumper performer Fascile Mode

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Fascile Mode impressed when taking a competitive Leopardstown bumper with ease over Christmas and owner-trainer Tom Mullins now looks set to cash in on the homebred Walk In The Park five-year-old.

Having beaten a pair of better-fancied horses from each of Willie Mullins’ and Gordon Elliott’s yards, he is now as short as 8-1 for the Weatherbys Champion Bumper at the Cheltenham Festival on March 15.

Fascile Mode had to come wide in the two-mile contest under 7lb claimer Charlie Mullins, but had the race in the bag a furlong out and stayed on strongly, sparking plenty of interest from some powerful owners.

“There was loads of interest,” admitted Mullins. “We haven’t finalised anything yet, but if he is still with me, he will be going to Leopardstown for the (Grade Two) Dublin Festival bumper (February 4).

“He is a lovely horse. I bred him myself, so we have been minding him all the way.

“We were nearly going to go down the point-to-point route, so we have him well schooled. He was showing enough speed and we thought he’d win a bumper, which he did.

“He had to come wide turning in, which wasn’t ideal, and he still had it won a furlong down. He stayed on and was going away at the line, which impressed me.”

Mullins, who was unbeaten on the mighty mare Dawn Run when a jockey, is based at Goresbridge in Kilkenny and has had plenty of success as a trainer, in particular with four-time Grade One hurdler Asian Maze.

However, competing against big yards who boast owners with deep pockets means he is forced to sell on occasion.

“Sadly, I don’t have the mare (C’Est La Mode). I sold her three years ago,” he said.

“I don’t know if we will keep a piece of Fascile Mode, but I have a full-sister and a half-sister, so I’m really hopeful he will come on for them and go and win good races for them to breed from.

“I have a good Fame And Glory half-sister, she will be out in the spring, so we’re looking forward to that.”

Mullins is hopeful Fascile Mode will acquit himself well on his next start, before a potential run at Cheltenham.

Tom Mullins poised to sell Fascile Mode
Tom Mullins poised to sell Fascile Mode (Donall Farmer/PA)

He added: “If he runs very well or wins at Leopardstown, he’ll definitely be a Cheltenham Bumper horse.

“I can’t get my hands on bumper horses any more, as they have gone very expensive. I have to breed them to get them now, I suppose.”

He laughed: “It is not easy competing with Willie (Mullins’ brother) for young horses – and then you have to go and beat him on the track!”

Brown Advisory looks ‘most logical’ target for The Real Whacker

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Patrick Neville is planning to head straight to the Cheltenham Festival with his exciting novice chaser The Real Whacker.

Placed in Grade Two company as a novice hurdler last season, the seven-year-old made a successful chasing debut at Cheltenham in November before producing a spring-heeled display to land the Dipper Novices’ Chase on his return to Prestbury Park on New Year’s Day.

The Real Whacker has been given an ambitious entry in the Cheltenham Gold Cup but looks set to stick to novice company, with a step back up in trip for the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase the likely target.

Neville said: “He came out of the race on New Year’s Day very good, I’m very happy with him. He stepped up a good bit and I was delighted with him.

“I think he’ll go straight to the Festival now – we’re not that far away. Probably the most logical will be the Brown Advisory. I gave him an entry in the Gold Cup, but we’ll probably go for the three-mile novice.

“His jumping is very good and his last run was only his sixth run. He hasn’t much mileage on the clock and if he keeps progressing, I’ll be happy.”

The Real Whacker is the star of a team of around 20 horses Neville trains out of Ann Duffield’s yard in North Yorkshire, having made the move from Ireland in 2021.

Neville was due to take up residence at a yard of his own yard in nearby Middleham, but ended up setting up alongside Duffield on the outskirts of Leyburn and it has proved a fruitful relationship.

“I came over a year ago last November. I came to take a yard and when that fell through I ended up going to Ann Duffield and I’m delighted it’s working out,” the trainer added.

The Real Whacker was a winner at Cheltenham in November
The Real Whacker was a winner at Cheltenham in November (David Davies/Jockey Club)

“I thought it would be easy transferring the Irish licence over but it wasn’t – it took nine or 10 months. Initially we were running the National Hunt horses under Ann’s name and since we came over we’ve had about 17 winners.

“N’Golo was a Grade Three winner and ‘Whacker’ was second in the Grade Two hurdle last year.”

Reflecting on his decision to move across the Irish Sea, Neville said: “I’ve been training in Ireland since around 2006 and we had some nice winners, but just for the last couple of years it was a struggle. We just couldn’t get owners.

“The good thing about the UK is there’s plenty of racing and you can train horses for races. In Ireland there might be only one race meeting on during the week and you could be balloted out then for six or seven weeks. It’s very hard to keep a horse training for that long without getting into a race.

“I travelled over to England a few times and a had a few winners and I just thought ‘you know what, it’s costing too much to travel over, I’ll give it a go over here for a while and see how it goes’.

“We’ve got fabulous facilities and I get on great with Ann. I rent 22 or 23 boxes off her, it’s a lovely location and it’s going well.”

Supreme engagement on the cards for L’Astroboy

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Evan Williams could target the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival with L’Astroboy, who outran his odds to finish runner-up to Tahmuras in the Tolworth Novices’ Hurdle at Sandown on Saturday.

Adam Wedge’s mount, who had won a bumper at Ffos Las, beating Tahmuras by a neck on his debut in February, went into the Grade One contest on the back of a maiden hurdle success on the same Welsh track in November.

Sent off a 16-1 chance for the two-mile contest, the William and Angela Rucker-owned L’Astroboy stayed on under pressure to take the runner-up spot, some two and a half lengths behind the winner.

The six-year-old Kasmin gelding has taken the race well, according to his Llancarfan handler.

Williams said: “The horse ran well. We took a bit of a punt running in a race like that but I’ve no complaints whatsoever.

“He has run a very solid race. He still looked a work in progress in many aspects. You could only take positives out of it. You couldn’t in any shape or form be negative at all.”

With favourite Authorised Speed soon beaten and Irish raider Arctic Bresil pulled up, some were quick to crab the form of the eight-runner contest, which was run in soft ground.

“It was funny,” said Williams. “Before the race, everyone said what a good race it was. So, I read all these reports before the race about how hot a race it was, then I read the reports after saying what a poor race it was.

“So, what I am going to do, as always, is leave it to the experts in the press!”

Though L’Astroboy could take on Tahmuras again in the Sky Bet-sponsored Supreme on March 14, Williams is keen to let the dust settle before making any decision.

“I haven’t got a plan,” he added. “It was very sporting of the owners to have a crack at a Grade One after winning two races at Ffos Las.

“We are genuinely delighted with him and genuinely delighted with how he has come out of the race.

“I don’t think we will get too fixated on anything. We have got loads of options. He will be entered at Cheltenham in the two-mile race.

“I wouldn’t think we will go further at this stage, although he looks like he will stay further down the line. We will see if the experts are correct in their assumptions.

“I’m very lucky in that I have never, ever listened to anybody else’s opinion, I’ve only ever listened to mine – it has always served me well down the years!”

Longhouse Poet could make Galmoy stop on National trail

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Longhouse Poet could run in the John Mulhern Galmoy Hurdle as Martin Brassil plots a route back to the Randox Grand National on April 15.

The nine-year-old was pulled up on his reappearance at Punchestown in November, but returned to form in style at Christmas, keeping on well to land the O’Kelly Brothers Demolition Hurdle at Limerick.

Now Brassil looks poised to keep his charge over hurdles for his next outing and will head to Gowran Park on January 26 for the Grade Two contest over three miles.

The Galmoy Hurdle is the support act to the Thyestes Chase and it is somewhat fitting that Longhouse Poet will be back at Gowran exactly 12 months on from announcing himself as a Grand National contender when landing the feature handicap chase.

Subsequently sent off 12-1 for the Aintree showpiece in 2022, the son of Yeats took well to unique challenge of the National course and was still in the running, disputing the lead, at the second-last before falling away late on to eventually finish sixth.

And Brassil, who won the Grand National with Numbersixvalverde in 2006, is eyeing up another crack at the Liverpool marathon with his stable star in the spring.

“I’ll probably run him in the Galmoy Hurdle on January 26,” said Brassil.

“If everything is going well, we hope to get him back there (Aintree). If you have a horse with the profile of one of those National horses, it seems the obvious thing to do.

“He might have a run over fences before the National, but it will probably be the Galmoy Hurdle next.”

Brassil also provided an update on Panda Boy, who was narrowly denied in the competitive Paddy Power Chase at Leopardstown on December 27.

Panda Boy, here winning over hurdles at Leopardstown, will return to the Dublin track in February for a run over fences
Panda Boy, here winning over hurdles at Leopardstown, will return to the Dublin track in February for a run over fences (Donall Farmer/PA)

Having shown a real liking for the Dublin track, a return for the Leopardstown Handicap Chase during the Dublin Racing Festival on February 5 appears on the cards.

“We might head back for the Leopardstown Handicap Chase there at the Dublin Racing Festival,” continued Brassil. “He’s done well there every time he has run there.”

On whether Panda Boy could also progress into an Aintree candidate in the future, the Kildare-based handler added: “There will be a few more fences to jump, but you would be hopeful he might be at some stage.”

Crawford mulling the options for Gold Cup Bailly

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Stuart Crawford feels Gold Cup Bailly is “definitely one to look forward to” as he plots the next move with his unbeaten chaser.

The County Antrim-based handler is well supported by owners Simon Munir and Isaac Souede and has amassed plenty of ammunition in their famous ‘double green’ silks that have been a regular sight on raiding missions to the UK.

One of those at Crawford’s disposal is Gold Cup Bailly, a seven-year-old who secured a second Ayr victory on January 2, making a successful step up to three miles in the process.

“At this stage you would be hoping he can go a good while yet before he reaches his ceiling,” said Crawford.

“He’s still inexperienced, but he’s been foot-perfect with his jumping in his last couple of runs and I thought it was a good experience for him going up against seasoned handicappers the last day when he was obviously giving them weight as well.

“I know it was a small field, but it wasn’t a bad race for the grade of it and he’s come through that task well.

“He’s probably going to be forced to bite off a bit more the next day and he’ll be up into a better race again. He is definitely one to look forward to.”

Options remain open for the son of Turgeon’s next outing, with opportunities closer to home entering the equation as well as the Timeform Novices’ Handicap Chase on Cheltenham Trials Day later this month.

He continued: “Back in Ireland there will probably be a Grade Two or Grade Three novice we can look at or at Cheltenham at the end of January, the novices’ handicap there might be suitable.”

Crawford’s Newlands Farm base has become a real nursery for talent and soon to step out over hurdles for the first time is Lily Du Berlais, who beat a useful cast in a Grade Two bumper at the Dublin Racing Festival last year.

She is set to be aggressively campaigned with the intention of running in the top mares’ novice races in the spring, with the experience she has already banked standing her in good stead for the next stage of her career.

Lily Du Berlais (green) on her way to winning at the Dublin Racing Festival
Lily Du Berlais (green) on her way to winning at the Dublin Racing Festival (Niall Carson/PA)

“I would love to say I will keep her in her stable and keep her unbeaten, but we’ve already got her beat so I’m going to have to keep running her now,” said Crawford.

“I would imagine in the next couple of weeks we’ll be looking to get her started off in a maiden hurdle, then after that I imagine we would be pretty ambitious with her and give her a run or two in better company.

“She’s an exciting mare, there’s no two ways about it. She has a fair bit of experience under her belt as she was destined originally to start off point-to-pointing. So she’s had all that work done as a younger horse and we hope she won’t be too green the first day she runs over hurdles.

“You’ve got a very valuable race at Fairyhouse in the spring and that might be a suitable target for her further down the line, but hopefully we will be in the position where any of those better races, we’ll be fit to go to them anyway.”

Paul Nicholls brings up another century with help of Taunton four-timer

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Paul Nicholls broke through the century mark for the season as the champion trainer and Harry Cobden teamed up for a Monday four-timer at Taunton.

The Ditcheat handler began the afternoon on 97 winners for the campaign and sent a strong team of five runners across Somerset.

He was double-handed in the Broadway & Horton Cricket Club Novices’ Hurdle, with punters unable to split stablemates Iliko D’Olivate and Pleasant Man, who were the 6-4 joint-favourites.

Pleasant Man ran with credit in defeat to finish third, but Iliko D’Olivate was an authoritative six-length winner under Cobden, with Syd Hosie’s Way Out best of the rest in second.

Nicholls and Cobden swiftly doubled up with Cap Du Mathan (6-4) in the Summerfield Developments Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase before 2-5 shot Rare Middleton brought up the trainer’s century with victory in the first division of the Invest Southwest Maiden Hurdle.

The latter won on the Flat at Leopardstown in October before changing hands for 215,000 guineas and looks an exciting addition to the hurdling ranks.

“He’s a very smart horse and there’s loads more to come from him,” Nicholls told Racing TV.

“He only started schooling six weeks ago and I don’t like running them that soon, but he’d been outside on the grass luckily enough twice and he’s going to learn so much from jumping.

“I was concerned first time on this ground about whether he’d get the trip and everything else, but he’s a nice horse and I’m sure we’ll hear a lot more from him.”

Nicholls did not have to wait long for winner 101, with Afadil comfortably justifying odds of 8-15 in division two.

The son of Camelot gave his supporters a fright by almost refusing at the first flight, but ultimately won comfortably by two lengths, seeing Paddy Power cut his Triumph Hurdle odds to 16-1 from 33-1.

“I’m very happy with everything – the way the horses are looking, the way they’re running and the way Harry is riding. Everybody is working hard at home, it’s fantastic,” Nicholls added.

Cobden said: “I think they were all very well placed and it’s nice when you’ve got some good, young stock coming through.

“All three of the novices are nice horses. The first one (Iliko D’Olivate) is going to want plenty of time, Rare Middleton is green but knows his job and jumps well and felt like a nice horse and so did the last one. He handled the ground well and apart from a little scare at the first, he jumped well and was very straightforward after that.

“When you’re riding for someone like Paul Nicholls, the job is a lot easier because if something goes wrong you’ve got the next one to put it right.

“I’m sure it would be a lot harder riding for someone else who doesn’t have the same strike-rate.”

Byrnes rates Blazing Khal as ’50-50 at best’ to make Cheltenham date

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Blazing Khal’s chances of lining up in the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle at Cheltenham are no better than “50-50 at best”, according to trainer Charles Byrnes.

The seven-year-old won all of his three hurdle races last season, with two victories coming at Cheltenham.

He relished the step up to three miles when impressively landing the Grade Two Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle at Prestbury Park in December 2021.

However, he subsequently suffered a setback and has been sidelined since.

A general 6-1 second favourite for the Stayers’ Hurdle, Byrnes was hoping to see Blazing Khal run over Christmas, but has not been able to step up his work.

The son of Kalanisi was given a outing on the sands at Beale Strand on the Shannon Estuary, an hour’s drive from the trainer’s Ballingarry yard, on Sunday.

However, with a trip to the Dublin Racing Festival at Leopardstown on February 4 and 5 also ruled out for a belated return, Byrnes admits Blazing Khal’s Cheltenham bid is “probably a long-shot”.

He said: “We are hoping to get a run into him. Cheltenham is still very much in the balance. I would say it is 50-50 at best. We have stuck him in – the entries close tomorrow – but he will not run at the Dublin Festival, either.

“It is probably a long-shot now that he’ll make it to Cheltenham. We are going to try to do our best, anyway. We had him on the beach yesterday, but we have to take baby steps with him. He’s still not doing strong work.”

Byrnes, who won the Stayers’ Hurdle with Solwhit in 2013, will not entertain thoughts of going straight to Cheltenham without a prep run, either.

He added: “There is no way we’d go to Cheltenham without a run. But we are running very tight in time. There are a couple of options – there’s a race at Gowran and a race at Navan after the Dublin Festival.

Charles Byrnes is in a race against time with Blazing Khal
Charles Byrnes is in a race against time with Blazing Khal (Niall Carson/PA)

“But is all getting very tight now. Part of the problem is we don’t really know what the problem is.

“He is not moving as well as we’d like him to, but he’s going to be doing everything now – he’s going to be given every chance, but it is probably 50-50 at best.

“He’ll have entries at Punchestown and in France as well, but Cheltenham is looking tight. It is what it is, people have worse problems.”

Grangeclare West team retain faith after Naas defeat

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A viable reason appears to have been discovered for Grangeclare West’s disappointing effort in Sunday’s Lawlor’s of Naas Novice Hurdle.

A £430,000 purchase for Cheveley Park Stud after winning his sole start in the Irish point-to-point field, the Willie Mullins-trained seven-year-old looked every inch a top-class prospect in the making on his Rules debut in a Punchestown bumper, but then spent 18 months on the sidelines.

However, having proved his ability remains very much intact with a sparkling hurdling bow at Navan in November, Grangeclare West was a hot favourite to successfully step up to Grade One level at Naas.

Paul Townend’s mount travelled well for a long way, but weakened from the home turn and was ultimately well beaten in fifth place as stablemate Champ Kiely stole the show.

A post-race examination from the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board veterinary officer found Grangeclare West to be blowing hard and coughing, though.

Cheveley Park director Richard Thompson said: “I think we’re still confident the horse can do a good job long-term.

“It was disappointing yesterday of course, we’d have loved to have seen him win that, but it was not to be.”

Grangeclare West is 14-1 with Paddy Power for the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in March.