Friday Talking Points: Winter wonderland
Ben Linfoot looks forward to a fascinating day's action at Newbury where the Ladbrokes Winter Festival kicks-off with a card packed with points of interest.
1. Sevarano a top prospect
The condensing of Newbury’s Winter Festival to two days has meant a rapid increase in quality for the first day of the meeting and Friday’s card is a cracker.
It all kicks off with the Ladbrokes ‘National Hunt’ Maiden Hurdle at 12.10 and this race has been won by plenty of classy horses in the past, including two-time Champion Hurdle winner Buveur D’Air back in 2015.
Three years before that a certain Puffin Billy landed the spoils and the same connections – trainer Oliver Sherwood and owner Tim Syder – team up with Sevarano in this year’s renewal.
An impressive winner of a bumper on debut at Kempton, he followed that up with a good fifth in the Grade Two at Aintree’s Grand National meeting and was second on his hurdling debut at Sandown earlier this month.
Sent off 5/4 favourite that day, he wasn’t the most fluent at a couple of his obstacles but made up plenty of ground on the flat to finish a clear second.
The impression was he’d come on plenty for the run with that experience under his belt and he could well be the one they all have to beat in Friday’s opener.
2. Lostintranslation v La Bague Au Roi II
The Grade Two Ladbrokes Novices’ Chase at 1.50 has also thrown up more than one good horse in recent years with no less than two Gold Cup winners having taken this in the last seven renewals.
Bobs Worth and Coneygree both took this race on their path to Cheltenham glory and this year’s race features a rematch between La Bague Au Roi and Lostintranslation after they banged heads at this very track three weeks ago.
La Bague Au Roi won last time by a length and a half when in receipt of a 7lb sex allowance and she receives an identical concession again this time around, the main differences here being the ground and the trip.
Last time they met it was over 2m6f on good conditions and this time it’s 2m4f on softer ground, so just which one should thrive on Friday?
Soft ground holds no fear for either, but Lostintranslation looked, if anything, to want three miles on his chasing debut, so dropping back a few furlongs could well play to the strengths of the bold-jumping Warren Greatrex-trained mare.
Spiritofthegames and Talkischeap ensure this is no two-horse race, but the former faces a really tough task under a 6lb penalty, while the latter was five lengths behind the big two at this track three weeks ago.
It could well be a case of same again.
3. Willoughby courts interest on return
The aforementioned Ladbrokes Novices’ Chase was won by Willoughby Court 12 months ago and he was made JLT favourite on the back of it, but he’s only made the track once since and he missed the Cheltenham Festival.
However, he returns in the Ladbrokes Handicap Chase on Friday’s card, his first run for 333 days and his first since wind surgery, so plenty of eyes will be on him as he bids to defy a mark of 151.
The positives are we know he likes this track, we know he goes well fresh and we know he likes this sort of ground, and on his best form he has a class edge on these rivals as well.
Whether he can give weight away to horses that have had a run looks the vital question, with King’s Odyssey, a recent second at Aintree, looking his most potent rival in receipt of 10lb.
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