Trackside Live: Horses to Follow from the Festive period

Wendigo (Jamie Snowden)

26 December - Kempton Park - Ladbrokes Kauto Star Novices' Chase

It hasn’t been lost on the racing media, nor the shrewd punter, that Wendigo probably didn’t give his true running on a fast, flat track with good ground underfoot - and that his staying on third represents better value than the bare form suggests.

The ground and course only represent part of the story and although rugs were kept on till last minute, his appearance was noticeably poorer than when winning at Newbury - Jamie Snowden’s gelding was one of the least favoured in the field from a paddock perspective, especially against a race-fit Thomas Mor and a defined Kitzbuhel.

With markets in uproar after an avalanche of Graded races, Wendigo is available at 20/1 for the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase - seems a reasonable price for a horse who has already run well at a Festival.

Golden Falls (Lucy Wadham)

29 December - Newbury - Play Coral's Free "Racing-Super-Series" Mares' Handicap Hurdle

Occasionally, you can be so struck by a horse in the preliminaries that defeat feels out of the question. Paddock-watching is a humbling experience and Golden Falls did not live up to expectations, or her looks, when disappointing in the mares’ handicap hurdle at Newbury. Lean, with plenty of quality, the three-year-old filly appeared to have been prepared to the minute by the Wadham team but she failed to fire, losing her prominent position before the third-last flight and finishing a well-beaten seventh.

Interestingly, the filly finished behind the well-touted Manlaga on her debut at Auteuil for former connections and she showed a fair level of ability at Dieppe to both win and place before switching to Lucy Wadham. The daughter of Vadamos may continue to humble paddock admirers, but it may be worth keeping an eye on her when switched to a right-handed track - all her best performances have come clockwise.

Ivor Bear (Nigel & Willy Twiston-Davies)

1 January - Cheltenham - 18-24 Get Your Racepass 'Junior' National Hunt Flat Race

The Listed bumper on New Year’s Day at Cheltenham can tend to throw all sorts of shapes and sizes, but on paddock, this looked one of the better renewals in the last few years. It was an easy victory for James Owens’ Solly’s Gold, who presented as you’d expect to see from a yard who know how to ready a horse - he was compact, racy and very fit. In fact, similar comments applied to the top three with Jonjo & AJ O’Neill’s Garrincha definitely sharp enough to do himself justice on debut and he delivered with a strong second.

You could find a couple of horses to take out of the race but Ivor Bear was probably the one to follow, having been very on his toes in the paddock. A big, solid gelding, he earnt the comment ‘will improve mentally for this’, but raced fairly professionally to finish fourth, making up ground from four furlongs out and staying on despite struggling for room in the closing stages.

Mariole, one of the paddock picks (physically forward, good-looking stamp), was very disappointing and finished seventy-one lengths adrift - it will be interesting to see where he goes next and on looks, he shouldn’t be a forlorn hope against easier competition.

Sonigino (Paul Nicholls)

3 January - Sandown Park - Try Unibet's Acca Boosts Seniors' Handicap Hurdle

If there was one horse to dismiss from a paddock perspective in the seniors’ handicap hurdle; it was Sonigino. There is always some leeway to be given to the veterans, but the ten-runner field was full of match-fit horses and Paul Nicholls’ charge looked like he would improve for his second run back after a break.

The gelding had been struggling for a good run since winning at Aintree in 2023, but a wind surgery over the summer seems to have done the trick - he finished with a strong run to place third, on ground where others had been struggling.

A current mark of 132 is probably stiff enough in these competitive handicaps, but he’s won off higher in recent years and the wind operation has clearly helped.

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