Our columnist had a Grade 1 winner last weekend and he's got five rides at Warwick on Saturday including Messire Des Obeaux.
Sceau to go well at Aintree
It was a great weekend at the Dublin Racing Festival and it was fantastic to be a part of it. Obviously my highlight was El Fabiolo in the Goffs Irish Arkle and it sounds like he’s come out of the race well, but all the horses I rode, bar James Du Berlais, ran with credit.
Sceau Royal was one of them in the Ladbrokes Dublin Chase and he wasn’t beaten that far. He’ll be freshened up for the spring now and he’ll move back up in trip to 2m4f with the Melling Chase and Aintree Hurdle likely to be his options at Aintree.
I've been catching up on riding work since I got back, I rode at Harry Whittington's earlier in the week, and then it was nice to ride Dom Perry to victory in the maiden hurdle at Southwell on Wednesday for Hughie Morrison.
He landed a gamble, 14/1 into 100/30, although I knew nothing about that until one of the delighted owners told me afterwards. Hughie is a lovely fellow and I met him at Henrietta Knight’s who I school for every Wednesday morning.
Dom Perry is a nice horse, he likes good ground and he’s a good jumper, so he's a good fun horse who will learn his trade as he goes along. He should be winning again going into the spring and the summer.
Kempton Friday
KILFILUM WOODS – 2.00 Kempton
I ride two at Kempton on Friday and I’d expect both to be winning in the near future. Kilfilum Woods will run better than he did at Lingfield where he got stuck in the ground. I felt like I was breaking his stride in that race last time but with better ground and more forward tactics he should go well. I think he’s a better horse when he’s attacking his fences.
ALL A STRUGGLE – 2.30 Kempton
He was very green and a little bit novicey at Lingfield last time, but the more I did with him the better he went. It was tacky ground last time and I’d expect him to be better on Friday on the quicker ground.
Warwick Saturday
MESSIRE DES OBEAUX – 1.30 Warwick
I’ll be watching the kilos here as I’m riding off 10st 10lb which is towards my limit these days. He ran a nice race last time under Tom Cannon at Wincanton even though he was pulled up in the end, he’d been off for a long time and needed the run. He will be sharper here and I’m hoping he can run a nice race, I think the track will suit him and we’re looking forward to it.
INDEFATIGABLE – 2.05 Warwick
She's obviously up against it here against Love Envoi and her form this season has gone off the rails a bit as well, so she's a big price. However, I do have a nice relationship with her having won the West Yorkshire Hurdle on her while we were beaten a neck at Cheltenham, too, so hopefully we can bond again and she can bounce back and get some more black type.
BYRON HILL – 3.13 Warwick
He’s going to be a nice novice hurdler down the line but he’s still learning at the moment. He was running okay at Fontwell where the race half fell apart but then he hit the top bar and got rid of me. Hopefully we can stay together this time and he takes a step forward.
GUGUSS COLLONGES – 4.23 Warwick
We’ve got on quite well together without winning, especially at Stratford when we were second. He didn’t like the ground at Lingfield but ran much better at Ludlow under Brendan Powell over fences. He’s back over hurdles on Saturday and he’s come down the weights a bit, while he won’t mind the track and the ground, wither. Hopefully he can run well.
MR BARROWCLOUGH – 4.55 Warwick
Simon and Isaac purchased him after he won a bumper at Doncaster and this is his first run for us. I’ve sat on him at Nigel Twiston-Davies’ and he feels like a nice horse so hopefully he’ll be competitive, but he’ll be one to look forward to when he goes hurdling.
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