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Huntingdon and Taunton join list of abandonments.
Early this morning, the national hunt cards scheduled for Huntingdon and Taunton on Thursday were both abandoned due to respective frozen circuits.
With Doncaster having already drawn stumps after an inspection on Tuesday afternoon, the current cold snap has decimated national hunt racing in Britain for yet another day.
Bangor and Kempton inspect tomorrow morning.
Friday’s national hunt card at Bangor-on-dee is subject to an inspection of the North Wales track at 8.00 am on Thursday morning, but with the course frozen solid, and with further sub-zero temperatures forecast, course officials are pessimistic about the meeting going ahead.
Kempton officials will also inspect at 8.00 am on Thursday morning ahead of a scheduled national hunt card on Friday afternoon, but with the BHA having put in place earlier this week the option to switch to a so-called Jumpers Bumper Card on the all-weather circuit, should the turf meeting be abandoned, Kempton Clerk of the Course Barney Clifford will at least have the satisfaction of confirming some kind of national hunt orientated meeting for Friday.
Warwick to inspect on Thursday.
With a frozen track already a major problem for Warwick officials ahead of Saturday’s scheduled high profile Betfair King Maker Novices chase Meeting, the decision has been taken to hold an inspection of the Midlands track at 2.00 pm on Thursday, with officials likely to make an early decision as to whether there is any likelyhood of their meeting going ahead at the weekend.
Uttoxeter inspect despite major reservations.
With a snow covering and frozen ground effecting his track, Uttoxeter Clerk of the Course Charlie Moore has indicated he is very doubtful about Saturday’s national hunt card going ahead, but he intends to inspect his track at 1.30 pm on Thursday to assess if there is any possibility of this weekend’s Betfred sponsored meeting going ahead.
Good card predicted for Musselburgh replacement fixture.
Saturday's John Smith’s replacement Scottish Cheltenham Trials meeting at Musselburgh has attracted a highly competitive turnout for most of the highlight races moved to this Saturday’s card.
A maximum field is probable for the John Smiths' Scottish County Hurdle with the majority of last Sunday's declared runners standing their ground and additional interest being stimulated by the inclusion of last year's Cheltenham Festival winner Divers – trained by Ferdy Murphy - and recent course winner Simply Ned.
Nicky Richards also has Simply Ned pencilled in for Kelso next Wednesday, so should the Richard’s charge be declared overnight for Saturday's race at Musselburgh, he would be a likely contender. While the course and distance winner Kaolak, trained by Jim Goldie and the probable mount of Graham Lee, is sure to give Scottish racegoers an excellent run for their money.
Lucinda Russell sounded optimistic about the chances of her runners for last Sunday's abandoned fixture and with three winners at Ayr the following afternoon, the Milnathort trainer will be anticipating further success from Bold Sir Brian in the Novices Chase and Quito Du Tresor in the John Smith’s Scottish Champion Chase.
Due off at 3.25, the Champion Chase will be ultra-competitive with Quito Du Tresor being joined by stable mate Santa's Son, and Lucinda Russell’s pair are likely to be taken on by the likes of the Ferdy Murphy trained De Boitron, Mick Easterby's Lightning Rod and the lightly raced Woody Waller, formerly with Howard Johnson and now trained by John Wade in County Durham – the latter an encouraging second when giving away weight to the consistent Storm Surge at Haydock last time out.
With Nicky Henderson opting to keep his horses close to home at Newbury and Kempton, Saturday's reopened John Smiths' Scottish Triumph Hurdle Trial could develop into a match between John Ferguson's Newmarket juvenile Creekside and John Quinn's duo, Blue Destination and Uncle Bryn - the latter has been narrowly beaten in each of his recent runs over hurdles and is the preferred mount of Dougie Costello, the stable jockey.
Oscar Whisky entered in Kempton Bumper.
The Nicky Henderson-trained Oscar Whisky is among 42 horses declared for one of the races on Kempton’s alternative Jumpers Bumper Card on Friday, should the turf national hunt meeting be lost to the current cold-snap.
Oscar Whisky was deue to be sent off as the short-priced favourite for the Welsh Champion Hurdle at Ffos Las last weekend, but the cancellation of that meeting due to winter weather, and the on-going abandonment of national hunt meetings due to the current sub-zero conditions in Britain, have forced Nicky Henderson into considering a run for his seven-year-old in Friday’s two mile Better Prices On Betfair Mobile Jumpers Bumper National Hunt Flat Race.
Oscar Whisky is currently second favourite behind Big Bucks in the market on the Ladbrokes World Hurdle at next month’s Cheltenham Festival, and if the Dai Walters-owned gelding does run on the all-weather on Friday, he could face smart hurdler Olofi, and the front running Marodima, both of whom are entered in the same alternative race at Kempton.
Ninety Seven Declared For Lincoln Handicap.
The £100,000 William Hill Lincoln is the first major race of the Flat turf season and the 2012 renewal of the famous heritage handicap, which takes place over the straight mile at Doncaster on Saturday, March 31, has attracted 97 entries at the initial decleration stage.
Sweet Lightning was the impressive winner of the William Hill Lincoln last year, the victor ridden by Johnny Murtagh for owner Andrew Tinkler, chief executive of the Stobart Group, with Sweet Lightning eventually coming home two and a half lengths clear of runner-up Brae Hill.
The seven-year-old, who is trained by Michael Dods, has not run since that memorable triumph, but Tim Jones, racing manager to Andrew Tinkler, revealed today that the William Hill Lincoln is on the agenda again - with Sweet Lightning being a 16-1 chance to complete a second victory with race sponsors William Hill.
Speaking today, Jones said:
“Sweet Lightning is in Dubai at the moment and is going to have one or maybe two runs out there leading up to the William Hill Lincoln. We will take it from there.
“The reality is that he is now rated significantly higher than he was last year (8lb more) so whether he can go to Doncaster and carry that sort of weight in the Lincoln or not, I don’t know. There are options at Listed level which we will also take into account.
“Very shortly after last year’s success he suffered an injury that he has taken a very long time to recover from, so it is a matter of trying to find out whether or not he has retained his ability, but he appears to be in great form at the moment and the whole idea of last season was to get him ready for Dubai.
“I would like to think he has more improvement in him, the other interesting thing is that last year’s race was his first run over a mile for quite some time except when he ran first time out in Dubai.
“However, the horse indicated enough to Andrew there that possibly he could be even better over a mile and so he was the one who led the decision-making the decision to run him in the Lincoln and he looked better than he had ever looked that day.
“The plan will be for Johnny Murtagh to ride him again and similar ground to last year will be perfect.”
If successful again in 2012, Sweet Lightning would become the first dual winner of the William Hill Lincoln since it was moved to Doncaster in 1965. Ob (1906/07) and Babur (1957/58) were the two dual winners of the race at its former home in Lincoln.
Penitent, currently a 16-1 chance with William Hill, won the William Hill Lincoln in 2010 and has also been entered. His victory two years ago was for trainer William Haggas but he is now under the care of North Yorkshire handler David O’Meara, having been sold for 40,000 guineas at Tattersalls in October.
The William Hill Lincoln has a safety limit of 22 runners and horses that fail to make the cut for the race are eligible to line up in the £40,000 William Hill Spring Mile, which also takes place on Saturday, March 31, over the same course and distance.
Eton Forever ran away with the William Hill Spring Mile in 2011 and trainer Roger Varian is planning to send the son of Oratorio back to Doncaster on March 31 for a crack at the William Hill Lincoln itself. He is the current 10-1 favourite with William Hill.
The Newmarket handler said:
“Eton Forever has wintered very well and, although it is still very early days, he will be on a training schedule to get him to the Lincoln although a lot can happen in the meantime.
“He didn’t do much wrong last season. He ran two good races at Ascot but we came away from there, particularly after the Royal Hunt Cup where he was travelling very well two furlongs out, thinking that he didn’t really get the trip over that stiff mile. We think an easy mile like the Doncaster mile or a stiff seven furlongs will be his ideal trip.
“He is rated 103 now, which is quite a high mark and he hasn’t done anything to suggest he should be any higher than that, but time will tell if he progresses further this season.
“He is a very likeable horse, with good ability, and the type of horse who runs well fresh so we will target him at the race as it might be the best time to catch him early on in the season.”
Primaeval, trained by James Fanshawe, is the 11-1 second favourite with William Hill and recently confirmed his well-being when second in a competitive handicap at Meydan, Dubai, on January 21.
Godolphin have entered Man Of Action, who defeated Eton Forever at Doncaster in September and Start Right. The pair are both 12-1 chancesthe race sponsors.
Weights for the William Hill Lincoln will be revealed on Wednesday, February 15.
BRITAIN’S RACECOURSES START TREE PLANTING FOR THE JUBILEE.
ALL 60 of Britain’s racecourses will be marking the 60 years of The Queen’s reign by planting trees, coppices or Jubilee Woods as part of a national campaign by The Woodland Trust.
The Jubilee Woods Project has set itself the goal of seeing six million trees planted in 2012, along with hundreds of new woodlands and 60 Diamond Woods of at least 60 acres.
The racing industry’s involvement will take in every racecourse in the country, from Perth in Scotland to Folkestone in Kent as well as the very aptly named Goodwood and Aintree race tracks.
Much of the planting work will commence this month, assisting the charity’s ambitious plan of getting one million trees in the ground during February 2012.
Stephen Atkin, Chief Executive of the Racecourse Association, said:
“We are delighted that all racecourses are participating in the campaign. It is a mark of appreciation for the contribution The Queen makes to British horse racing as well as recognition of the importance of the environment and racecourses’ contribution to the wider community.”
Several racecourses have already started their planting programmes, with Sandown Park well on the way to completing an avenue of Acers within its grounds. Taunton Racecourse is supporting the Buckingham Palace backed initiative by planting a coppice of birch which will provide sustainable fence building materials in years to come. Amongst the others, Hexham Racecourse will be planting a copse of Royal oaks, creating a lasting legacy for the Northumberland track, while Haydock Park between Liverpool and Manchester is planting 400 trees and Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire 100.
At Aintree, a tree will be planted close to the most famous fence that horses jump in the Grand National – Becher’s Brook.
One of the most ambitious projects is at Ffos Las in west Wales, Britain’s newest racecourse, where about 45,000 birch, ash, rowan, hazel, oak and other native trees have been planted to create a new 60-acre Diamond Wood within the 600-acre Ffos Las land-holding.
Dai Walters, the Chairman of Ffos Las, said:
“I’m delighted that Ffos Las has been selected as one of the exclusive Diamond Woods. It’s great to be part of the Jubilee celebrations across the country. We always recognised the huge contributions that trees could make in creating a superb racing venue at Ffos Las. Within as little as ten years we will have created a wonderful new woodland.”
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