Away From The Spotlight: Horses to follow over the jumps during Dante week

Horse Racing

Tue May 12, 2026 · 1d ago

David Massey takes a look away from York and ahead to some of the interesting summer jumps cards to come this week.

Sting to leave an impression

York will take centre stage this week but as ever, it’ll be tough finding winners there. Maybe we can do better on the summer jumps circuit, which could get very interesting towards the end of the week, with some rain due to hit these shores from Wednesday onwards.

What finer way to kick the week off with than a jaunt down the road to Southwell? There isn’t one, quite simply, and although I’ll be the first to admit this isn’t the most stellar card ever staged here, there are still winners to find.

The first looks at 14:42 (why the late start? The miners are sadly long gone, you know...) looks simple enough; if Huckleberry Sting turns up and does what he did at Bangor on his handicap chase debut, they might not see which way he’s gone. He won as he liked there, and a 10lb rise isn’t going to stop him. He ought to be odds-on for this. Maybe Cave Article, one from one here at Southwell, is the one for the forecast.

The novices' handicap hurdle at 16:42 looks particularly winnable, and if Chico Magnifica can take even half a step forward on handicap debut for Murphy and Bowen, then he’s potentially thrown in here. Shown little so far, but he was a winner from a mark of 79 for Karl Burke on the flat last year and so an opening mark of just 88 is not going to tax him too much.

I’d have liked to have seen further entries for later in the week, given he’s the sort that could rack up four or five before the handicapper gets anywhere near him, and any market moves here ought to be strongly noted.

Informative contest alert

I don’t know if there’s a bet or not in the novices' hurdle at 17:17 but it’s a really interesting little contest. Louis Veron is probably the one to beat if fit and well; he really caught the eye both beforehand and in the race at Chepstow on his only start so far, but that was back in October and you have to think there’s been a hold-up with him. King’s Scholar was useful on the Flat, rated in the 80s for Ed Walker, and ran respectably enough on hurdles debut at Ludlow, in March, but he now sports a tongue-tie. So does White Riot, bitterly disappointing at Market Rasen last time but surely capable of better, and you can throw both Sense Of Reason, second at Fakenham last time, and Fervent, twice a winner on the Flat in Ireland and making his debut for Warren Greatrex, into the mix too.

I suspect this is going to throw winners up - good ones too - and is a race to watch carefully.

The last at teatime, that’s 17:47 to us northern-based sorts, is tricky; Prairie Diamond looks the one to beat after an easy win at Wincanton last time, the visor doing the trick, but Beau Morgan nicked that and a 13lb rise looks a bit of a kick in the whatsits.

He’s going to have competition for the lead here, too. I’ll chance Sutherland, who definitely has his own ideas but might get this run to suit, and could find himself in front before he starts to have a think about things; with that, he’s a back-to-lay in-running all day, but he has ability and will find a race when it drops right.

Nothing to get excited about at Hereford on Tuesday (Worcester not being able to race is really taking its toll on Hereford, who are staging their fixtures; just 30 runners on the card) so we move onto Perth on Wednesday, and the one bet that I might be having is Theirshgoes in the finale at 17:25.

She lost her way last year but a break and the addition of some cheekpieces has seen her run two better races, not beaten far at either Kelso or Hexham, and Gregor Walkinshaw takes a useful seven off her back too. This looks an ideal test for her.

Don't give up on Bally

Onto Fontwell on Thursday, and Ballybay (18:40) is going to be one of those horses that has me tearing my hair out, I can see it now. I saw him in the flesh at Huntingdon back in December and thought he looked a horse that could win a race over fences, but he ran poorly that day.

Reverting to hurdles at Plumpton next time, too much use was made of him and he folded quite tamely (but not before trading about a fifth of his price in the run) and then, back over fences at Fontwell last time, was given too much to do!

He ran on for a close-enough sixth; like one or two in his family, he’s going to have his quirks but I do think there’s a poor race in him somewhere, especially if he tidies his jumping up a touch. Could be here, I’ll be keeping a close eye on him.

The other that might well turn up at Fontwell now, given he wasn’t declared for Hereford on Tuesday, is Estacas (19:10) trained by the Newland/Insole axis in Worcestershire. I saw him on his reappearance at Stratford last month after two and a half years away, and it’s fair to say I thought he was badly in need of the run beforehand.

He never really threatened that day but made some ground up after two out before understandably getting tired, and gave the impression the engine is still intact. It might be he needs another run or two before achieving full fitness, but he’s falling quickly in the handicap now and I don’t think he’s been brought back after such a long absence just to get some fresh air.

Now, annoyingly, he could come up against Tell The Tale, who was in last week’s column but never took up his engagement at Huntingdon and could come here instead. Might end up backing the pair to small stakes, let’s see what the day brings.

Doing the rain Dance

Aintree is threatening to get a fair amount of what rain there is about, and that leads me to think Masked Dance might have a solid chance in the Franny Blennerhassett Mares Handicap Hurdle at 17:45. Basically, this is a race she’s laid out for every year - winner in 2024, and beaten a neck by Ile De Jersey last year, she is 9lb higher this time around but that’s deserved, given her consistency, and she should strip fitter for her latest run at Haydock which she may have needed after a couple of months away.

She’d cope with soft ground a lot better than a few of these, and has a lot going for her.

Guet Apens could be hard to beat if he turns up for the 20:05. He dotted up in a little race at Carlisle back in March and off the back of that was made a very short-priced favourite to win a handicap at Kelso.

He travelled like the best horse and looked to have it won, trading a very short 1-9 in the run, but the 2m5f trip proved too far for him, and he was beaten a length and three quarters. Back to 2m1f today, he looks a horse ahead of his mark, and he won’t mind a bit of dig in the ground. He’d be a strong selection this week if he lines up.

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