Matt Brocklebank looks forward to the NH season going through the gears at Cheltenham this week with half a dozen handicappers to add to your My Stable tracker.
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DUBROVNIK HARRY (Harry Fry)
Favourite Knappers Hill palpably didn’t run his race on the day but the EBF Final at Sandown in March has worked out really well – as is often the case – with Arizona Cardinal and Thunder Rock others to have won subsequently, while the likes of winner Complete Unknown, fourth Mumbo Jumbo and 10th Mucho Mas have hardly let the form down since.
Harry Fry’s Dubrovnik Harry arguably shaped like the most promising of the lot, held onto in the early stages by Sean Bowen before staying on steadily all the way up the final climb to finish a never-nearer third, beaten four and a half lengths.
The tall son of Yeats looks bound to be sent straight over fences this season and while he’s going to need plenty of ease in the ground, some of the valuable novices’ handicap chases around Newbury – or back at Sandown – before Christmas should be right up his street.
Ideal scenario: Heavy ground; 2m4f+ novices’ handicap chase; right-handed track; strong gallop; possibly second time out.
EAST STREET (Sue Smith)
It’s pretty telling to see a Smith-trained, Hemmings-owned, long-term chase prospect being sent off 11/8 favourite first time out over hurdles and East Street duly coped well with the relatively tight two miles around Wetherby when winning on debut last November.
He couldn’t quite follow up under a penalty at Newcastle (not many do, in fairness) and then looked to have his confidence dented when hampered by an early faller on his handicap debut at Catterick, but the season ended on another high note when stepped up to two and a half miles at Hexham in April.
He’s been nudged up to a mark of 112 from 107 for that gritty win which means he should still have loads to work with, especially as the horse he beat at Wetherby last winter – Kinondo Kwetu – was winning for the fifth time since when defying a mark of 124 in a novices’ handicap chase at Uttoxeter earlier this week.
Ideal scenario: Good to soft or worse; Haydock; 2m4f+ novices’ handicap chase; possibly first time out.
SAINT SEGAL (Jane Williams)
Grade One-placed already after his Finale Juvenile Hurdle second to Porticello at Chepstow last Christmas, Saint Segal looks a very likely type for the handicap hurdle division this season.
And although ultimately unable to make much of an impression when sent off 14/1 for the Boodles off a mark of 126 at Cheltenham in March, that pressure-cooker atmosphere and huge field looked to just come a bit soon for the son of Saint Des Saints.
Having raced too freely and finished tamely at the Festival, he’s undergone a breathing operation and returned from his summer break with a low-key, but respectable, run at Chepstow earlier this month. The run was clearly entitled to be needed and the good ground was the fastest he’s encountered in public so I’d expect him to step forward quite considerably with that outing under his belt.
Dropping him another 2lb to a mark of 123 certainly looks handy with future targets in mind and there is no shortage of valuable options over the minimum trip throughout the months of November and December. This horse could prove very well handicapped when getting his conditions.
Ideal scenario: Soft ground or worse; 2m handicap hurdle.
HOLLY (Jonjo O’Neill)
Another to catch the eye at Chepstow’s Jumps Season Opener near the start of the month was the JP McManus-owned Holly, a five-year-old mare by Voiladenuo, himself a son of Network who sired the likes of Sprinter Sacre and Delta Work.
Holly was making waves on the French bumper scene in 2020, winning three times before being tried at Grade One level, only to meet with defeat before changing hands and being sent to Jonjo O’Neill.
They wasted little time getting a maiden hurdle win on the board – second time out at Wincanton last December when just edging left at a couple of the hurdles – and the form of that race looks more than respectable with runner-up Storm Dennis going on to win a couple of handicaps in the New Year and third San Giovanni also a dual winner since, albeit at a relatively low level.
Holly’s initial handicap mark (125) didn’t look too harsh on that basis but a significant market drift on her return to action, when opening 5/2 and going off 5/1, told its own story. She duly ran like she needed it, looking a bit keen early on before coming from the back of the field to lay down a challenge between the final two flights, and eventually running out of steam in third behind well-backed winner Sonigino (replay below).
That outing looks a great base from which to build into the season proper and there could be a temptation to go down the potentially fruitful mares-only route, though she’s evidently capable of holding her own against the boys and the next engagement is eagerly anticipated, with the assessor having dropped her a pound to 124.
Ideal scenario: Good to soft or worse; 2m handicap hurdle; left-handed track; big field.
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PATS FANCY (Rebecca Curtis)
Pats Fancy’s National Hunt Chase challenge was an uphill struggle after a mistake at the very first of the 23 fences appeared to light him up in Barry O’Neill’s hands.
He went on to drag his heels through a few more obstacles on the second circuit, which isn’t like him at all, and it’s hoped we can put the whole Cheltenham experience down as a bad day at the office – one from which he’ll hopefully learn a great deal.
The son of Oscar only had officially soft ground once all last season and on that occasion he slammed subsequent Trials Day winner and Festival runner-up Imperial Alcazar by 11 lengths, so there’s surely potential for him to climb the ranks further granted a proper test.
The Newbury novices’ handicap over an extended 2m7f obviously wasn’t enough of a test but he still jumped beautifully and chased home Bravemansgame in second, giving the impression he could win more races despite being nudged up into the low-140s.
The Coral Trophy (formerly Ladbrokes Trophy/Hennessy) immediately springs to mind as a possible early-season target for this horse, but he could be more of a Welsh National project, especially considering his good record at Chepstow, and he’s possibly one to monitor until mid-winter as he’s tended to need a run or two before reaching peak fitness anyway.
Ideal scenario: Soft ground or worse; 3m+ handicap chase; Chepstow; second/third time out.
THE GLANCING QUEEN (Alan King)
The Paddy Power Gold Cup doesn’t close until Tuesday October 25 but it would be quite surprising if The Glancing Queen (14/1, general) isn’t among the entries given her current mark of 145 and the fact seven of her 15 NH outings to this point have come at Cheltenham.
She’s always been a classy mare, winning the Grade Two bumper at Aintree’s Grand National Festival in 2019 and gaining some Grade One experience when third behind Bravemansgame in the Challow a couple of years ago.
Chasing has arguably been the making of her, though, and she was sent off just 4/1 for the Plate at the Festival this March, where the soft ground and final climb to the line caught her out – looking a big threat coming to the second-last before weakening to be seventh.
A drop back to two miles saw the daughter of Jeremy back to winning ways against fellow mares at the mid-April meeting at Prestbury Park and while she’d have one or two question marks against her if lining up for the Paddy Power next month, the relatively sharp chase track on the Old Course should give her every chance of seeing out the trip (Plate is run on the New Course).
It’s not that she doesn’t stay two and a half – she’s won a couple of times over that sort of distance already at Warwick – but a really stiff test in top handicap company may just stretch her a little, whereas her natural pace could be a key asset in a race like the Paddy Power as that race tends to go to a prominent racer with a bit of boot.
Alan King’s horse should be in her prime as an eight-year-old this time around, she goes well fresh and a mark of 145 doesn’t look beyond her.
Ideal scenario: Any ground barring extremes; 2m-2m4f handicap chase; Cheltenham Old Course preferable; possibly first time out.
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