Storm Darragh caused issue last weekend, which was frustrating in isolation but probably more so with Storm Bert having written off some cards himself just a couple of weeks prior. Still, we did get to see some big names out and there’s plenty to look forward to with Cheltenham’s December meeting just around the corner and the return of jumps racing at Windsor.
JASMIN DE VAUX – TURNERS NOVICES’ HURDLE @ 12/1 (Ladbrokes, Coral)
I was happy to sit and wait on the hurdling debut of JASMIN DE VAUX before making a call in the Turners Novices’ Hurdle because a frightening performance in Navan’s two-mile event might have seen a contraction for this race, but it would throw a huge spin on the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle too. It’s probably not the traditional approach to wait and see nowadays but his price has barely fluctuated from before and after his hurdle debut which means I think if you haven’t already, you’d be happy to get him on board now.
The race itself panned out pretty much to market expectation, apart from the JP McManus owned Pen To Paper for Henry De Bromhead who was beaten out of sight and Come Walk With Me who outran his odds into fifth place on racecourse debut. Jasmin De Vaux was opened at 1/4 and sent off at 1/3 SP but 2/5 on the exchanges, so not the strongest in the latter stages of the betting. I know plenty of Willie Mullins’ horses have come out and run very well first time up, but it was only a few weekends ago that he was suggesting that his first-time-out runners may need the run more than usual. Still, he won by a growing four-and-a-quarter lengths which he put between himself and the runner-up in the space of a few strides and they were well clear of the third.
The two things I found noticeable in this debut were his pace on the home straight between hurdles and his jumping not being the most fluent. His engine showed it’s there in working order, but the jumping can be brushed up on, although it will need to be. Going up in trip I think will help with that, but you have the flip side that he’ll have to jump more hurdles. He went a little right at a few without running down the flights and while he made a mistake at the last, that was leaning into the left which I wonder was Paul Townend trying to ask for a good jump and a straight jump. I know it’s bumper form included, but he is unbeaten left-handed.
I admit that his jumping will need to improve to land almost any Grade 1 this season, but he’s entitled to do so and it’s allowed his price to remain about where it was before he ran. The ability is clearly there, and I think he could have won by any margin if they wanted but it looked an educational ride. He looks certain to step up in trip now and he was incredibly strong through the line in the Champion Bumper.
So, while you’d love him to be arrow straight over his hurdles, he’s not the most outrageous and there’s plenty of time after the last and up the hill in the Turners Novices’ Hurdle for him to simply show his class if worst case his jumping doesn’t improve. At the price he’s still available at, you can afford some cover in the race as the season moves on too which is why I believe now is the time to strike.
THE WEEK JUST GONE
Friday’s highlights came from Sandown where Bill Joyce looked more than worthy of his 7/1 price tag in the Champion Bumper last season despite the fact he was well beaten that day. For whatever reason, he ran well below par at Prestbury Park but before that he’d shown some very good-looking bumper form. Possibly now it may be his best will come right-handed? It is too early to say for sure, but he looks a serious contender for a Challow hurdle should they go down that route and while it’s a flat left-handed track, it will hopefully dispel the concern I’ve just cast.
A similar performance was put up by Handstands in the Esher Novices Chase over three miles and by that I mean he was beaten out of sight at Cheltenham, but most horses would be if they faced Ballyburn. I was frustrated with myself for being too critical of his jumping at Wincanton because he looked a bit keen to get his backend down, and with him falling before we knew the outcome, I erred on the side of caution. Both the slower ground and the step up in trip looked to benefit him and while Resplendent Grey leaves a reasonable yardstick in second, I did think he was inflated for that run in Cheltenham where they crawled for most of the race. Back to the winner though, Ben Pauling has a couple of nice options for Novice Chasing but with the middle-distance race now a handicap it does beg the question who will go to Cheltenham for the 3 miler. The Kauto Star Novices’ Chase on Boxing Day would be a logical route with The Jukebox Man having shown some speed in Kempton and his trainer still doesn’t hide the fact he believes he was an unlucky loser in the Albert Bartlett so might go looking for redemption. Whatever happens though, it’s a nice position for the Pauling yard to be in and there’s surely bundles to come from Handstands as a chaser.
Saturday we lost Aintree’s card which would have had some clues for the season, but we still had both Sandown and Navan with some incredible action. Starting with Sandown, L’Eau du Sud took the Henry VII Novices’ chase beating Touch Me Not and Down Memory Lane Good convincing display from the winner who was well on top at the end but Touch Me Not made a bad mistake down the back straight and that could have been enough to stop most horses finishing. Down Memory Lane didn’t jump anything like his chasing debut but showed he has lots of ability given he was only beaten eight lengths in the end but jumping is the name of the game and L’Eau du Sud looks a very good chaser. He’s now a stone higher rated than he was when beaten favourite in Scottish Champion Hurdle at the end of last season so I’m wondering where his progression will behind to taper off. I’m highlighting this because while the race has seen some phenomenal winners in the past, there’s only been one lower recorded winning RPR in the last decade and that was Le Patron last season in bad ground too, so he’ll need to be at least half a stone better by March if he’s going to be a genuine Arkle prospect, but at least he’s going the right way. Jonbon made a mistake at the second which made for different viewing after where you were left wondering how much that has taken out of him for the end of the race. The way he won you’d say it took nothing from him although it really must have. He’s always been impressive in Sandown and with Edwardstone falling, his biggest threat was out of the race. That was another 172 RPR for Jonbon and while he is yet to reach the 170s at Cheltenham, it really does feel like this could be his year.
Over to Navan where I’ve talked about Jasmin De Vaux already but in the following race, The Yellow Clay just got up on the line to take the Grade 2 over 2m 4f sent off at 4/11. The runner up was beaten 12 lengths by him in their race prior so I think Sam Ewing maybe underestimated him going into the last. He showed a good attitude to rally and get up but it was much more luck than judgement and that dampens his level of form somewhat. He is sure to be tested in Grade 1’s sooner rather than later, we’ll find out if that was just a bad day at the office or a sign of his ceiling. Ile Atlantique got his chasing career off to a winning one in a 2m 4f beginners chase with some depth in behind him too. Fluent over his fences in the main bar one mishap he ran out a ready winner and looked a horse who could take on anything this season. The same was true after his hurdle debut though, and he didn’t win after. He also won his only bumper first time up so there’s a concern with how he’ll go through the season. Willie Mullins has said that he’s conscious of that so they might not work him or race him as much this season but I noticed the tongue-tie was applied so maybe he’s had his wind tweaked as well. Clearly a talented animal but I’d still want to treat him with caution and just take it race by race with him.
On Sunday, we saw Venetia Williams’ Djelo land the Grade 2 Peterborough chase at Huntingdon and I find that performance very hard to rate. I wasn’t as expectant of such a display as many other people were before the race but he was very strong in the market. Protektorat was hardly steady as favourite but tactically I’m not sure why he was restrained as he was, but there’s no way he’s run anywhere near to his best. Not trying to take anything away from Djelo, he now has an interesting choice of campaigns for this winter. Maybe the Silviniaco Conti Chase in Kempton over 2m 4 ½f could be considered as might be the Ascot Chase in February. He’s only a 6yo turning 7 so there’s hopefully loads more to come from him.
Over in Ireland we got to see Energumene back on track as he took another Hilly Way Chase, but I don’t think the race was sewn up when Richard Deegan unseated at the last and Banbridge was giving the winner 10lbs. He ended up well clear of the eventual second Dinoblue who was also 10lbs wrong compared to if they met in a Grade 1, so it was great to see him back, but he doesn’t look entirely the force of old. It was a comeback run off a near 600-day absence though, and he was weak in the market and I’ve hinted earlier that maybe some of Willies are needing their first runs more than usual. I touched on Jonbon’s 172 peak RPR’s and that he was yet to reach 170’s at Cheltenham whereas Energumene in his pomp posted 177 and 179 to land back-to-back Champion Chases. He’s lightly raced for a turning 11yo, but I think time waits for no man and it wasn’t a comeback effort that made me think he can defy that in March. Still, it’s not all about Cheltenham and it was great to see him back.
COMING UP THIS WEEK
Both Cheltenham and Doncaster hold Friday and Saturday meetings with a Listed race and a Grade 2 the features on their respective Day 2’s. On Friday though, we could see The Kemble Brewery back in Prestbury Park with 15 entered who could take him on. Gordon Elliott has a few of those entries, including one of my horses to follow Wingmen. In the novices’ chase after it’s another Gordon Elliott entry for Better Days Ahead but even if he came over, he could face Springwell Bay, Jango Baie and even Caldwell Potter so that’s a potential Graded race on paper. A few competitive handicaps to come after where Valgrand could test his rating of 139 against the likes of Altobelli & Willmount in the Hurdle before Chianti Classico is expected to feature among many runners from last week’s cancelled Becher Chase with the addition of Irish entries for Fakir d’Oudairies and Chemical Energy. It is a good veterans’ chase after with seven horses of the 12 entered rated between 145-150 then it’s followed by a Cross-Country handicap chase which has attracted 28 entries with names like Delta Work, Coko Beach, Stumptown on the list but it’s Iceo Madrik for David Cottin who is being supported in the early markets. The card closes with a 3-mile handicap hurdle where course and distance winner Doyen Quest will be testing his 10lb higher rating for that win. An amount depends on the participation of another Gordon Elliott and Bective Stud entry Zanahiyr, who is putting more than half the field out the weights at the moment.
Saturday sees an entry for Triumph Hurdle winner Majborough which comes at the minimum trip so maybe we can speculate some more about where Ballyburn goes while he’s at home in his box. In Doncaster it’s the Listed Mares’ Hurdle over 3 miles which looks firmly in the grasp of the Skeltons with Kateira, West Balboa and Take No Chances all potential runners. Valgrand holds another entry in a handicap hurdle just after, with Favour And Fortune in there too as is Altobelli for Harry Fry who was also mentioned earlier. Back down in Cheltenham the card kicks off with a Triumph Hurdle Trial that could see James Owen run two against each other with Liam Swagger, Lavender Hill Mob and Ambiente Amigo all entered and jocked up. A good-looking novices’ handicap chase after followed by a nice mares’ handicap chase and then it’s the December Gold Cup which looks fiercely competitive this year. A couple more nice handicaps sandwich the Grade 2 Bristol Novices’ Hurdle after, where revelation of the season so far Skyjack Hijack will look to continue his impressive run by adding his 7th win in a row.
Sunday sees Navan and Carlisle hosting mainly handicaps but there’s a Listed bumper at Navan which seems to be a race for Gordon Elliott who holds 5 of the 9 entries, all last time out winners. Windsor is back too on Sunday for their opening Jumps card of the season so perhaps caution will be required to see how the track rides and horses handle it. But, there’s some very good horses holding entries to support the fixture which is great to see.
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