Jamie Snowden retains all his faith in Wendigo

Wendigo was never able to land a telling blow on Boxing Day, staying on late into third, but the trainer admits he always felt it wasn't going to be an ideal test for his charge who was a taking winner at Newbury the time before.

"He won the Grade Two John Francome over two-and-a-half miles at Newbury and I think he outstayed them that day," Snowden told Sky Sports Racing.

“I think he’s all about stamina this horse, but he’s not devoid of speed, but is more about stamina. The obvious thing to do then was go up in trip but most of the graded novices at this time of year are right-handed.

“But I wanted to try him in a Grade One at Kempton with the sneaking suspicion he was always going to be better going left-handed and on a stiffer track, but I thought if we don’t try it in our novice season, we might be thinking about doing it in the King George next year.

“We went to Kempton, it didn’t quite work and he finished third but only beaten about three lengths. The ground was very good and the sharp, right-handed track didn’t really suit him.

“He did very well to be only beaten three lengths by what I think is a very good horse, but I’d like to have a rematch on a left-handed track and back on soft ground as well. I still retain a huge amount of faith in the horse and it just didn’t quite work at Kempton."

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