Nic Doggett provides an overview of the key things to note on Sunday.
Horses for courses flag battle on the cards at Kempton
For many, Saturday’s card at Ascot – led by the Champion Stakes – signals the end of the Flat campaign, but that means we are now one step further into a jumps season that has already featured Chepstow’s season-opening card which this year saw the return to the tack of the Welsh Champion Hurdle.
Various Champion Hurdle aspirations may still be in the minds of connections of those contesting the listed CopyBet Hurdle at Kempton (3.50) on Sunday, with last season’s eventual runner-up Burdett Road leading the four-strong field. The James Owen-trained five-year-old - who was third in the 2024 Christmas Hurdle over C&D - has failed to fire in three well-spaced-apart runs on the Flat since March but looks to have been found a realistic opportunity to carry on where he left off over hurdles.
Having said that, he is only 1 lb clear on Timeform’s weight-adjusted ratings of Rubaud who unsurprisingly also holds the Horses For Courses flag having won this race for the past two years. He returns to the smaller obstacles here following a good first season chasing which featured a Grade 2 win over two and a half miles here. Very much a force to be reckoned with on flat tracks and with a Kempton record of 8-2-1-1-2-1-F-1, he looks a much more pertinent threat than the admirable dual-purpose handicapper Kihavah.
There once was a horse from Knockeen...
Over in Ireland, the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Mares Beginners Chase at Limerick (5.22) is a race that Henry De Bromhead has done well in, with Quilixios landing it in 2023.
This year the race is limited to mares, but has attracted a strong entry, led by the yard’s July Flower. Recruited from France last spring, the mare impressively won a Grade 3 hurdle at Leopardstown in December before performing with credit when fifth in both the Mares’ Hurdle at Cheltenham and the equivalent race at Punchestown a month later.
Though clearly the class act, she might not get things all her own way, however, with stablemate Mystical Goddess – who is a sister to the unbeaten useful hurdler/smart chaser Giovinco (19f-25f winner) - also of interest after catching the eye of the Timeform race reporters when third at Listowel on her own chasing bow. Fellow Knockeen resident Tareze – who carries the Sally Rowley-Williams colours of Special Tiara – was fourth in a Grade 1 novice when last seen in April and is another worthy opponent.
With Stormalong and Coole Cherry – whose trainer boasts a 38% strike rate at Limerick since the start of the 2021/22 season – also in the field, this promises to be a good test for July Flower before she (hopefully) goes on to bigger and better things.
Irish eyes smiling at Sedgefield?
The Flat racing at Leopardstown is one of their more low-key cards, with a brace of listed contests the highlights, but there is plenty of Irish interest over at Sedgefield.
Co. Carlow-based Shark Hanlon jocks up his son Paddy – who has recently joined Nicky Henderson as a conditional rider – in the Citi Post Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Chase (2.30). Though yet to really get going this season, the trainer has a 17% strike-rate at the track and it would be no great surprise to see the point-to-point runner-up Prized Jet start to come into his own on good ground now over fences.
The more interesting runner, however, looks to be the Tony Martin-trained Zanndabad in the Ne3 Limited Handicap Hurdle (4.41). Though yet to break his duck over hurdles, the talented Iffraaj gelding has some excellent form in Flat handicaps from a mark in the low-90s and this perch of 123 over hurdles looks within range. One of only two rides on the day for Champion Jockey Sean Bowen, Zanndabad can make Martin’s first runner at the North East venue a winning one.
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