Vicki Gibbins rounds up some of the key takeaways from Thursday's informative card at Newbury.
Patience for Presley
After losing the last two Flat fixtures of the year, Newbury kicked off their jumps season with a competitive seven-race card.
The Dan Skelton-trained Presley was an impressive winner of the 2m½f CSP Maiden Hurdle, overcoming a bad mistake at the second last-flight to power home for a two-and-a-quarter length success.
“He jumped the third-last very big, lost his back end at the second-last and the game looked like it might be up for a second; he must have a fair amount of ability to power on,” said Skelton. “I wouldn’t say he underwhelmed in bumpers but it was never his thing. He’s a fair horse.”
And would the Grade 1 Challow Hurdle be a possibility?
“It’s a long way to the Challow and we might have something in between. I might stick at two miles on deep ground. Stepping up in trip wouldn’t be a problem for him but maybe it would be the wrong decision. He’s a lovely horse and I said to the lads half-way round that we might be wasting a year [going hurdling] but it might not be. Whatever he does as a hurdler, he has to be better chasing.”
Unlimited Replays
of all UK and Irish races with our Race Replays
Discover Sporting Life Plus Benefits
Horse to follow live from track
Whilst waiting for the Skelton team to conduct their celebrations, there’s a chance to catch Ben Pauling and ask for a horse to follow for the season.
“That one,” he says, pointing at Octo Gane, who fills the second-place spot. “Seriously. He’s a very, very good horse and isn’t fit today. He’ll improve."
The son of Muhtathir was a well-beaten favourite when racing too freely on his bumper debut at Huntingdon in May 2024 and was subsequently not seen until a promising sixth in a two-mile bumper at Fairyhouse in April. Switched to hurdles for the first time in the CSP Maiden Hurdle, the six-year-old, having undergone a breathing operation, raced in second before finding the lead at the second-last flight and only found a late-closing Presley too good.
Old Park Star unlikely for Carlisle
For those with a keen eye on the five-day entries, you might have noticed a certain Grade 1 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle winner in the graduation chase at Carlisle on Monday. Old Park Star posted an impressive four straight victorird after transferring from Paul Nicholls to Nicky Henderson, culminating in an eye-catching Cheltenham success.
“He probably won’t go to Carlisle,” said Henderson. “We were trying to go to Exeter and we’ve lost the race that I was aiming for. We might wait."
Joy for Scott
Trainer Jeremy Scott ended a losing streak of fifty-eight runners without a winner as Coolnav utilised his experience to win the 2m3f Check Out The BetVictor Bet Builder Novices’ Hurdle.
The five-year-old had made a promising start on stable debut when out-running odds of 80/1 to finish fourth at Chepstow in early October and took another step forward.
“We were probably the most experienced horse and Lorcan rode a very good race,” said Scott. “It’s a relief. We haven’t been running too many horses that could win. I’d hoped Princess Day [promoted to third in the Grahame Church Memorial Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle] would win but in reality, she’s probably needs two-and-a-half miles, not two."
Bumper celebrations
Wordfromhome justified favouritism to land the first division of the British Horse Society Open National Hunt Flat Race for Paul Nicholls, completing a good two days for the trainer with four winners across the country.
Ridden by Sam Twiston-Davies, the smart four-year-old led throughout and was asked to extend his dominance with a furlong to run, pulling clear for a two-and-a-quarter length success.
“We always liked him,” said Nicholls. “He won his point-to-point in Ireland well and we bought the second horse from the same race, who we also like. He’s the future: he’ll make a lovely novice hurdler but we won’t be doing that this year. He is quite babyish and if he didn’t run until the spring, I wouldn’t be afraid to look at either the Aintree or Cheltenham bumpers. He’s got a bit of class and is only going to get better.
“The horses are just coming into form. We didn’t rush to get them ready in October and a bit of patience is paying off."
Harry Derham’s Radiant Walk showed a strong turn of foot in the second division of the bumper, defeating the Skelton-trained favourite Newgrove by a length.
"It was a bit of a surprise to win,” said Derham. “In all of my reports this year, I’ve said that he’s a really nice horse but I thought he might get tired in the final furlong. He wasn’t fully wound up by any means and hasn’t been on grass yet this autumn. To see him finish that well is hugely exciting.
"I won’t over-race him, he’ll have a six week break with a couple of runs after Christmas."
More Trackside Takeaways
More from Sporting Life
- Free bets
- Racecards
- Fast results
- Full results & free video replays
- Horse racing news
- Horse racing tips
- Horse racing features
- Download our free iOS & Android app
- Football & other sports tips
- Podcasts & video content
Safer gambling
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
Further support and information can be found at begambleaware.org and gamblingtherapy.org.
