Jamie Snowden believes Stoney Mountain can provide him with his most significant success of the season at Haydock Park on Saturday by becoming the first two-time winner of the Betfair Exchange Stayers’ Handicap Hurdle.
The Lambourn trainer hopes the eight year old gelding can make a triumphant return to the scene of his biggest success by capturing the same Grade Three prize he secured in 2019, which the race sponsors make him an 8-1 chance for.
After beating just one rival home on his stable debut in a novice chase at Ludlow in December the Mountain High gelding then turned in two tame efforts back over hurdles at Aintree and Huntingdon in the spring.
Stoney Mountain staged a recent revival when ending his near two year drought with victory at Newbury last time out, a performance Snowden is confident he can build on in a race that should be run to suit.
He said: “The plan is to go to Haydock on Saturday and the ground there should be fine for him. He won very nicely at Newbury the other day and he only went up four pounds for it.
“That win qualified him for the Pertemps Final at Cheltenham in March and that will be the plan later on, but short term this has been very much on our radar since when we brought him back in from his summer out.
“It is only two weeks since his last run but he is in good form and we will now try to win this race, which he won back in 2019.
“He was off 138 that day, which is the rating he won off at Newbury, so he is higher than his previous mark but he is only eight and he should certainly run a nice race in a proper handicap like this.”
However, regardless of the performance, Snowden is adamant that we will not be seeing Stoney Mountain back over fences any time soon.
The trainer added: “He went over fences last season and that is what put us on the back foot as he picked up a nasty cut when he finished third at Ludlow.
“After that we decided to shelve novice chasing and stick to what we are good at as he told us chasing is not for him.
“He travelled very well through the Newbury race and although he only won by half a length at the line it was still a good display.”
Meanwhile stablemate Hardy Du Seuil remains on course in his attempt to double his tally of wins over fences at Market Rasen on Thursday in the Pertemps Network Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase.
Although Hardy Du Seuil also holds an entry at Ascot on Friday, Snowden is leaning towards running the progressive four year old in the extended 2m 5f contest at the Lincolnshire track.
Having suffered a first fence fall on his chasing debut at Wetherby, the Coastal Path gelding left that effort behind when defeating his sole rival in impressive fashion on his most recent start at Carlisle.
And Snowden added: “We’ve put the entry in at Ascot but he is probably going to go to Market Rasen as that is where we have been looking at.
“I just thought two mile five around there as it will give him a bit more jumping practice. It was a race that sprung out on paper.
“Although the runner-up perhaps underperformed at Carlisle, and a few dropped out, it was still a taking performance.
“What impressed me the most was the way he quickened from the back of the last and I think he would have won despite having his four year old allowance.
“He is an exciting horse and a mark of 129 should be workable. He does things very easily so who knows how far he could go?”