Away From The Spotlight: Horses to follow ahead of final day of jumps season

By David Massey

Horse Racing

Mon April 20, 2026 · 2d ago

David Massey maps out his week in the lead-up to Sandown Park on Saturday, including nods towards horses at Chepstow, Fontwell and Warwick.

Winners for the column last week include Nassalam (3/1) and Gold For Alec (9/2)

I don't think I’ve ever started an Away column by looking at Friday’s racing, but there’s only one place to kick off this week, and that’s Dunraven Bowl Night at Chepstow.

Not just The Dunraven Bowl, either, but The Dunraven Bowl Pink Eyed Pedro “Grassroots” Open Hunters’ Chase, in honour of David Brace’s evergreen 15-year-old, who is down to take his chance here.

What a wonderful old boy he's been over the years; placed in a Topham and a Summer Plate, and of course, winner of this last year at the age of 14, he would not be denied, putting his head down after the last and galloping home like a horse half his years.

He’s warmed up for this with a spin at Chilfrome a couple of weeks ago and if he can win this at his age, he’ll bring the house down, and provide a fillip for David Brace, who recently lost another of his stalwarts in Classic Concorde recently. Go on Pedro, we’re all cheering you on!

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The rest of the card is a good one. The Maiden Hurdle at 18:05 has a whole host of horses looking for marks and on my tracker is Harry Eustace’s Trapper John, winless after ten starts on the Flat and over jumps, but there were signs of ability when he was fifth to Swingin Safari at Wincanton back in December, and he almost broke his duck when beaten a neck back on the Flat at Kempton last time.

This run gets him his mark, but if he can’t win a little handicap this summer on good ground then I’ll eat my hat. Get him in your trackers, if you haven’t already.

I’ve been waiting for Blue Marvel (20:07) to reappear too; she caught the eye at Uttoxeter in the paddock last time, plenty of size about her but still green beforehand and was clearly learning her trade.

On and off the bridle throughout the race, she came home with a real rattle after the last and was reeling the leaders in. An extra half mile here can only help, you feel, and whilst she’s going to need to tidy her jumping up a bit, I think that will come with practice. Fifth home at Uttoxeter Rialannah has won a little race at Fakenham to give the form a boost, and she’s going to be a bet if she takes her chance, I feel.

Over at Fontwell on Friday, it’ll be interesting to see if Endersen takes his chance in the long distance handicap hurdle at 18:50. He's not quick, is Enderson, which is the nicest way I can find of saying it, stamina is very much his long suit and I think he needs good ground to show his best too, with placings here at Fontwell and Lingfield under those conditions backing that up.

He didn’t get on with fences at all on the winter, with two poor efforts, but back over hurdles, on what is likely to be quickish ground, could see a better run. Should be a fair price, given he appears in no form, but I’d be putting a line straight through his last two.

Might as well work backwards from Friday now!

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Thursday sees Warwick stage the rescheduled Challenger Series Mares Chase Final Handicap at 15:00 and it's a tricky race to solve. I’m edging towards giving Sunday Soldier the benefit of the doubt, as she’s 0-5 over fences to date, but a couple of those disappointments weren’t necessarily her fault, and her Wincanton third to Queens Gamble and Bluey was a very good effort, the runner-up franking the form at Market Rasen last week, and although the winner was beaten at Wincanton last time, it was still an improved effort.

The track suits, and I fancy she will go well at a price. (She's also in the hurdle that follows, and would be of some interest there, too, if connections went that way.)

By far the most interesting runner on the whole card is Caterpillar Girl in the handicap chase at 17:02. She won her bumper here in May last year and looked one to follow. Off the back of that, on her seasonal reappearance at Worcester, she was just a 9-5 chance in the market to beat future Cheltenham Festival winner White Noise but finished well held, and my notes say she had a good blow after. Two starts since then look no more than a means to an end, as she goes up in trip and straight over fences for her handicap debut from a mark of just 95 today. There’s some guesswork involved as to what ability there is, but this does have the whiff of a plan about it.

There’s not a lot on Wednesday catching my eye, but keep an eye on Kottayam in the Mares Handicap Hurdle at 16:00. I remember seeing her in the paddock at Uttoxeter last July and really liking her, a small each-way investment paying dividends that day, but her initial handicap mark was too high and she struggled to get competitive. She’s now 11lb lower and has moved to Dave Roberts, a trainer I have a lot of time for, and it’ll be interesting to see how she gets on under her new handler.

Over at Taunton, Daring To Dream (18:30) is one that’s had a mention at a huge price in the column previously (and like all good each-way bets, managed to finish fourth at 80/1, ouch) and I’m sure there’s a race in her. She managed to finish third, albeit a distant one, on her handicap debut at Stratford last month and I was expecting her to go up slightly in trip, but for the time being we’re sticking at two miles. Still very early days with her yet, and I’ll be sticking with her as her bumper form is pretty good, at this level at least.

Ffos Las stage the only jumps action on Tuesday and I’ll be rowing in again with Dessie Haze in the handicap hurdle at 17:42, a winner for sister column Punting Pointers at Chepstow at the start of the month. We’d given warning a win was on the way as like so many of his family he just needed plenty of time, and whilst some might think his defeat of the long odds-on The Italian Fox was a fluke, I don’t think so, and a 6lb rise looks more than fair. He’s already shown he acts around Ffos Las when fourth here last year, and I fancy he’ll follow up at a fair price.

And I wouldn’t think Jane Williams has ever had anything rated lower than - double checking this - yes, 69 in her yard, but winning pointer Stadmallen has a first try for her in the handicap chase at 19:12, having moved from Heidi McCreesh (Stadmallen is owned by her husband Brian). Ten years old now, so don't go expecting miracles, but look, you won't need one if Jane's got it ready from such a lowly mark.

Have a good week, see you all at Sandown for a final blast on Saturday.

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