Away From The Spotlight: Horses to follow over the jumps as National Hunt season gears up

I am absolutely delighted to bring you the return of the Away From The Spotlight column for the foreseeable future; as my editor, the esteemed Mr David Ord, said when I reminded him a couple of weeks ago that it was coming back. “Goodness gracious me, is it that time of the year already?” Although perhaps not quite using those exact words. Well, we all know the rules. Once the Arc is done and dusted, it is officially autumn and jump racing is back. Except, of course, it is not, not as we know it. 

After a summer drier than a Bedouin’s flip-flops, tracks are simply not in any condition to stage racing. Ludlow, Exeter and Wincanton have all had to cancel their initial meetings and, in the cases of Exeter and Wincanton, you would have to be worrying about the West Country Weekend - the Haldon Gold Cup and the Badger Beer - taking place. Maybe we have a two-day Aintree meeting instead? That, of course, brings its own possible low-sun issues, but at the risk of sounding like an absolute bok, surely this sun cannot continue? 

Chepstow has its own issues too, and their season's opening weekend will not see any chases; Ffos Las and Worcester are the beneficiaries. I will be at Worcester on the Monday, not least as the sister-in-law is over visiting that weekend and it gives me the excuse to get out of the house. Only kidding, she is great really, and she has definitely not told me I have to say that.

I’ve been out and about a bit in the past couple of weeks, trying to work out which trainers have their horses a bit more forward than others, and I have been surprised that a couple of trainers I would normally associate with quick starts have been slower to get going than normal. I have seen a few from Jamie Snowden’s I thought would come on plenty for a run, and whisper it, for fear of ridicule - Dan Skelton too. However, one trainer - well, two - has/have hit the ground running: Nigel and Willy Twiston-Davies.

Young William is proving good value with a microphone shoved in front of him, and some strong opinions (most of which I agree with) on summer racing. I was at Newton Abbot last Monday and was very taken with their Scott’s Legacy; he’s got plenty of scope for better, and it is worth pointing out that the race he won Monday was won in 2012 by a certain horse called The New One. It will be remarkably interesting to see where he goes this season. 

From small acorns...

Right, enough chat. Let us find some winners this week, starting with Stratford today.

If you are going to make a fool of yourself, do it properly. I wrote up Mr Rafiki (15:26) for his chasing debut at Uttoxeter three weeks ago, having seen him in the flesh a couple of times and had him down as a chaser all day long. After enthusing about his chances and how I was sure he would make a better chaser than hurdler, he promptly went and fell at the first. Great start. 

It sounds silly, but I don't actually mind a novice chaser making mistakes early in their career, as that is how they learn. It is all very well pinging your way around Cheltenham or wherever first time up, but at some point in a race you are going to make a mistake, and you need to learn how to fiddle your way out of it. So, I will be sticking with Mr Rafiki here, and hopefully he can put a clear round in. If he can, then we will see what sort of an engine he has got. 

In the next at 16:00 is Golly Gosh, having his first start for Tom Ellis after leaving Billy Aprahamian, and it is obviously of some interest; he puts him straight over a fence, too. He attracted some support on his handicap debut for Billy last year but looked laboured, and blinkers did nothing for him on his only other start. There is another entry on Thursday at Market Rasen too, and I wonder whether that is a plan in the making. 

Onto Huntingdon on Tuesday, and the Mares' Maiden Hurdle at 15:06. Dancing Dame is likely to be quite short here, but she was not going the right way last year, and now the hood is given a try. That might turn her around, but she goes up in trip too, and so there are questions to answer. She might simply be one to lay, but the Olly Murphy/Sean Bowen axis has the nicely-bred Golden Tiara in here, and she might not need to be a superstar to take this. Let us see where the market is on the day. 

Wednesday sees us move on to Worcester (although I’ll be at Nottingham, bah) and Kelijoe, owned by one of the shrewdest on-course bookmakers in Dan Hague (a man that still does all his own form study, not every bookie is a slave to the machine), running in the 14:05. Trainer Stuart Edmunds is definitely in the 'has hit the ground running' category, with two winners last week.

Kelijoe was desperately unlucky on his chase debut at Uttoxeter in March (replay below). Despite pulling hard, he had the race in the bag when taking a tumble two out, something he did not deserve. He has been put up 6lb for that, but it simply does not look enough, so if fit and ready to go, I would fancy him to make a winning reappearance. 

Play On Court (16:05) is one I thought could win a handicap for Harriet Dickin at some point this season. More than once last year, he caught the eye, often making a move mid-race to get himself into contention but not finishing his race off. I don't think he stayed 2m4f on his final start last year, so this drop back to two miles looks like the right move. Might need the run, but one for the mythical tracker all the same. 

Market Rasen might be struggling for runners Thursday; the entries aren’t great, but Mistral Milly is worth a mention in the 16:16. She got a mention when she ran here a couple of weeks ago, taking a big step back up in trip after a couple of runs at two miles. She ran better, beaten by just over five lengths. Low sun meant a lot of hurdles were missing, so the form is not solid, and she did bleed from the nose again. She has physical issues then, but if her trainer D J Jeffries can sort them out, there is a race in her. 

And finally, Dr Newland (now a one-person operation again) might well send Upton’s Mighty Oak up for the last at 16:48, and this is a filly we have surely not seen the best of. She is only going to keep improving with experience and age; I am sure many of you will remember the dam, the game and genuine The Bay Birch, and her future will end up over further, and probably over fences in time. For today, she steps up in trip for her handicap debut, and this is not a strong 0-100. Money for her really needs noting!

Have a great week, and see you at, er, York at the weekend (I know).

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