Tag Archive for: Winter Million

Moore fielding strong squad should Lingfield beat the freeze

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One man desperate for Lingfield’s scheduled third day of its Winter Million meeting to go ahead is Gary Moore, who has several leading chances headed by Goshen.

The seven-year-old would appear to have a strong claim in the Weatherbys Cheltenham Festival Betting Guide Hurdle, in which he was third last season, should the meeting pass an 8am precautionary inspection.

Goshen hung out to the right, as he had done on several occasions before, that day but Moore is happy to go back left-handed with him due to the excellent prize-money on offer, with £52,000 available to the first home.

An easy winner of the Coral Hurdle at Ascot already this season, Goshen failed to see out the trip when second to Paisley Park in the rearranged Long Walk Hurdle at Kempton over Christmas.

“We’ve got to give it a go as the prize-money is good and I don’t think the race is overly strong,” said Moore.

“He’s had a good year and done amazingly well and his next run will probably be at Wincanton back over two miles (Kingwell Hurdle).

“He’s in good form, has come out of Kempton well and would go there with every chance.”

Nicky Henderson’s First Street, third in the Relkeel Hurdle over two and a half miles, would appear Goshen’s main rival while three of the seven declared have other options this weekend.

In the Surrey National, Moore is represented by Movethechains, who enjoyed four wide-margin victories at Lingfield last season.

Movethechains finished a respectable fifth in the Welsh National
Movethechains finished a respectable fifth in the Welsh National (David Davies/PA)

He reappeared in the Welsh National and finished fifth, albeit beaten 46 lengths.

“I’m looking forward to him. He ran really well in the Welsh National to say he hadn’t had a run before,” said Moore.

“He runs well round Lingfield and I just hope it’s on for him. I would like to think he’s still well treated, but you can never tell until you get to the racecourse.”

Moore also runs Cloud Dancer in the opening bumper, Heaven Smart in the Winter Million Ballykelly Consulting Novices’ Handicap Hurdle, Hudson De Grugy in the Cazoo Beginners’ Chase, Teddy Blue in the Sovereign Handicap Hurdle and Haddex Des Obeaux in the Godstone Handicap Chase.

Haddex Des Obeaux was a winner at Warwick last weekend
Haddex Des Obeaux was a winner at Warwick last weekend (Nigel French/PA)

“They’ve been all trained especially for it really,” he said.

“I love Lingfield and it’s not far away. I think it’s a very underestimated racecourse and a great track.

“I know you do get soft ground there, but they are National Hunt horses and you know what you are going to get, so I guess don’t go there if you don’t want soft ground.”

The one race in which Moore is not represented is the feature Fleur De Lys Chase, in which Kim Bailey’s Two For Gold is out to repeat his victory of 12 months ago.

He went on to finish second to Fakir D’Oudairies in the Grade One Ascot Chase and ran well for a long way in the Grand National, but he disappointed back at Aintree in the Grand Sefton on his only outing this term.

Bailey said: “We shall be doing our best, so let’s hope the meeting is on.

“The horse is very well, I couldn’t be happier with him.

“He’s been trained for the day, we know he’ll go in the conditions, it will be a war of attrition so it’s fingers crossed.

“He has probably had one race too many at Aintree now, I don’t think we’ll be going back there again.”

Al Agaila on hat-trick trail in Winter Oaks feature

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Al Agaila bids to complete her hat-trick in the talkSPORT Winter Oaks at Lingfield on Saturday.

Following three placed efforts last summer, Simon and Ed Crisford’s filly bolted up when opening her account at Kempton last month before following up in similarly impressive style in the Winter Oaks Trial over this course and distance just before Christmas.

An 11lb hike makes life significantly tougher, but a bold bid can nevertheless be expected in the £100,000 all-weather feature of Lingfield’s Winter Million Festival.

“She went up 11lb for her win last time out, when she won very impressively. She’s an improving filly, but 11lb is a big hike,” said Ed Crisford.

“She has a good draw (stall two). It’s a big step up, but if she can carry the 11lb extra then I’m sure she’s capable of better things.

“She’s potentially an exciting filly.”

The Harry Eustace-trained Makinmedoit was beaten two and a half lengths into second place by Al Agaila little over four weeks ago and does have a significant pull at the weights.

“Makinmedoit has been a star really and just keeps on improving,” said Eustace.

Makinmedoit (red cap) chases home Al Agaila at Lingfield
Makinmedoit (red cap) chases home Al Agaila at Lingfield (Zac Goodwin/PA)

“We’re 10lb better at the weights with the Crisford horse, which probably won’t be enough, but we came from a long way back that day and there’s less runners this time round, which is extraordinary given the prize-money.

“If we could just sit a bit closer, you never know.”

Eustace has a second string to his bow in At A Pinch, who has not run on the Flat since 2021 but is fit from a recent spell over obstacles.

Eustace added: “With At A Pinch, the money was just too good not to roll the dice with her. She was bought to be a hurdler, but she’s got Flat form and there’s no reason why she can’t run a race.

“I was actually looking at the prize-money for Cheltenham the other day and if she was the very best hurdler we had going there, she’d be running for £125,000 added prize-money and she can run for £100,000 added in an eight-runner fillies’ handicap, so we’ll just see how we go.

“It’s extraordinary there’s less runners this time round than for the trial race a month ago. Everyone moans about prize-money, they put it on and no one goes for it, but there we are.”

Another trainer firing a twin assault is Charlie Fellowes, with top-weight Purple Ribbon joined by stablemate Tequilamockingbird.

Purple Ribbon steps back into a fillies’ handicap after finishing second to the highly-rated Belloccio in the Listed Wild Flower Stakes at Kempton in November, while Tequilamockingbird was only a short head behind Makinmedoit when third in the Winter Oaks Trial.

“Purple Ribbon is a very lightly-raced filly, but she’s very consistent. Barring an unfortunate run around Lingfield, she’s not finished out of the first two,” said Fellowes.

“She ran a blinder last time out in a pretty competitive Listed race. She’s got the class in the race, but she has to give weight away to everyone, which will be tough.

“But she’s a pretty good filly and I’ve got no concerns about the drop back to 10 furlong as she’s got plenty of speed, so I’m looking forward to seeing her run.

“Tequilamockingbird is a model of consistency and has a very good record around Lingfield – 10 furlongs around there is literally perfect for her.

“She was a bit unlucky last time out when they went absolutely no gallop and off a stronger pace, she goes in there with a nice each-way squeak.”

Charlie Fellowes is delighted with the prize-money on offer at Lingfield
Charlie Fellowes is delighted with the prize-money on offer at Lingfield (Mike Egerton/PA)

Fellowes was keen to give praise to Lingfield’s owners Arena Racing Company for putting on such huge prize-money at a time when owners are struggling to resist huge offers from abroad.

He added: “You’ve got to give all credit to ARC. It’s prize-money like this that will encourage people to keep horses in training and Tequilamockingbird is a perfect example of that, as she was due to be sold at the mares sale last year and I managed to persuade the owners to remove her from the sale and keep her in training over the winter for a crack at this.

“That is what everyone wants – to see horses kept in training in Britain. We have a fantastic industry and it’s frustrating for a lot of people that the cream of our horses tend to get sold abroad.

“The more of this (prize-money) we can get, the more we can keep horses in training and rebuff these ridiculous offers we’re getting from abroad.

“It’s all down to prize-money and the more money we can offer, the more we can attract our owners to keep horses here and the stronger our industry will be.”