Red Indian and Jaleo (pictured) are reported on target for Saturday's Lanzarote Hurdle at Kempton - don't miss the latest Ben Pauling column featuring his Tolworth thoughts and a horse being aimed at Sandown's EBF Final.
What did you make of the Tolworth Hurdle on Saturday?
I was actually quite taken by runner-up KALASHNIKOV. I saw a video of him working away in Newmarket on a blog before the weekend and he just looked like a horse with a huge amount of speed and I don't think bottomless ground at Sandown was his thing at all.
Despite that he ran really well in second, but was just blunted rather by the going, and I like the way he stuck at it resolutely.
He's trained by Amy Murphy who will do the right thing for the horse but I'd possibly be tempted to keep him at two miles as I reckon he'll improve a lot on better ground. He's by Kalanisi and I'm sure he'll be happier under spring conditions.
The winner SUMMERVILLE BOY looks pretty smart too and I could see him possibly stepping up in trip next time.
Did your two Sandown runners find the ground a bit grim?
Yes, they were much of a muchness really in that they both didn't really appreciate the going. PERFECT PIRATE just found it all happening too quickly but Nico (de Boinville) said not too worry too much and that he'll be well worth another chance off a similar mark.
He got behind with his jumping before running on at the end when it was too late and although a bit disappointed initially you have to remember it was just his second chase start.
Little RAVEN'S TOWER didn't enjoy himself at all. I'd feared as much but he was in such good form I was happy to run him. There'll be other days for him as well, though he may just need a little more help from the handicapper.
Last week's column mentioned a 'mid-season pull' - what goes on behind the scenes in January?
A part of me wishes they could all be tucked away for the worst of the winter! But we have to crack on like everyone else and a lot of mine have now had their EHV jabs. That's an equine herpes vaccination and is essentially just a flu jab.
Some trainers do it, others don't, and in truth I've not done it every winter I've had a licence but the bigger you get in terms of numbers then there's a lot more comings and goings and we decided to do it this time. It hopefully just makes them slightly more immune to the bugs that naturally go around at this time of the year.
A lot will have an easy 10 days or so afterwards and then we'll be working up to getting plenty back out at the end of the month, or early February.
It's general maintenance really and it's just a question of keeping an eye on things and keep them ticking over.
There's a lot of talk about achievable goals this time of the year. If you could nominate one race you'd absolutely love to pull off during 2018, what would it be?
The obvious target is Cheltenham and I suppose in the future winning a Queen Mother Champion Chase would be right up there with the obvious ones like the Gold Cup and Champion Hurdle, but in terms of 'achievable' goals I'd have to say the Betfair Hurdle next month as it looks like I've got a cracking chance of winning it with HIGH BRIDGE, who seems in smashing form.
Hopefully next season WILLOUGHBY COURT will be taking us to some of the top championship races but I don't want to get too far ahead of myself.
Talking of future targets, what's the long-term plan with novice hurdler Delire D'Estruval?
We're possibly looking towards the EBF Final at Sandown with DELIRE D'ESTRUVAL.
He is quite promising but he's not the biggest horse in the yard and he'd have quite a big penalty in several races he could go for, as he won a Listed race at Haydock in November.
So we might head down the handicap route and the EBF Final in March, rather than a tilt at anything at the Festival, might be the way to go with him. We like him.
What does this week hold for the team?
We opted not to run FAWSLEY SPIRIT at Doncaster on Tuesday as it was still a bit tacky after the frost they'd had, but he might be of interest when he makes his debut. He's been a bit difficult ever since he was broken in but he's a different horse when you put blinkers on and he'll be wearing them wherever he goes first time out.
We may come north with BARDISTA and STAGE SUMMIT at Catterick on Thursday but we'll keep an eye on the ground.
It might end up being a fairly quiet Friday, despite having a few entered up, but we're looking to run RED INDIAN and JALEO in the Lanzarote Hurdle at Kempton on Saturday.
Jaleo pleased me when third at the same course on Boxing Day. We're on much better terms with him now. I just think he seems more of a man this year, he seemed a bit soft towards the end of last year but he's grown up a bit now.
He'll have improved again for that second run back and I wonder if we can ride him a lot closer to the pace now.
This has been the plan for Red Indian for a while. After Cheltenham we thought we'd leave him alone and he seems in good form. He worked very well on Tuesday morning under David Bass, who was really happy with him.
We've got EQUUS SECRETUS and CARLOS DU FRUITIER in the Grade Two Ballymore Leamington Novices' Hurdle at Warwick and we're undecided on these two.
'Equus' seems in good form but maybe not the sort of form he was in earlier in the season. He’ll be happier and better suited to the spring conditions when it dries out a little. Chasing is the aim with him eventually and he'll be made for Nationals in the future. He's as good a jumper as we've had.
'Carlos' is well but at the same time clearly has a bit to find in this and we may look towards a handicap instead.
Sky Bet and a few other firms have now gone NRNB at Cheltenham - would you recommend a risk-free bet on any of your horses at the revised prices?
Well, everyone knows I'm quite sweet on WILLOUGHBY COURT in the JLT Novices' Chase. I'm bullish about him in particular because I know he'll be electric on proper spring ground.
He'd have to be my pick but as I mentioned last week LE BREUIL is a decent price (20/1) in the Coral Cup with the money-back insurance and BARTERS HILL could look a fab bet at 20/1 in the Stayers' Hurdle if he goes and wins on his comeback in a week or so.
I'm still keeping everything crossed and there'll be more on 'Bart' in the final build-up to his comeback in next week's column.
