Cheltenham Festival Trials Day: Paisley Park and Santini among runners – BBC News

With six-and-a-half weeks to go before the start of jump racing’s Cheltenham Festival, the last Saturday in January provides some good opportunities for a well-timed big-race warm-up.

Here are some horses to look out for in races at Cheltenham and Doncaster.

Triumph Hurdle Trial, Cheltenham

12:40 GMT: Rowland Ward

Shrewd punters relish supporting a horse with clear ability that hasn’t necessarily receive the credit it deserves, particularly when the reason for that is simply that they aren’t trained or ridden by ‘household names’.

And there’s a chance that Rowland Ward, trained by Stuart Edmunds and being ridden by jockey Ciaran Gethings, falls into this category – just like Edmunds’ Wolf Of Windlesham, which I recall creating a shock in a different race at Cheltenham in 2015.

Rowland Ward, who is the second favourite behind Monte Cristo in the Triumph Hurdle Trial, was a well-touted ‘talking horse’ when making his hurdle-race debut at Warwick in December only to fall when making a potentially decisive move, but then he made no mistake when successful in a good quality race at Kempton.

Cotswold Chase, Cheltenham

14:25: Santini

Santini, a Grade One-race winner over hurdles, has the look of being one of the most upwardly mobile chasers around as he seeks to enhance his prospects further for the Cheltenham Gold Cup, for which he is rated a principal British-trained hope.

Second place in the RSA Chase at the 2019 Cheltenham Festival was particularly creditable as the eight-year-old, trained by Nicky Henderson and the mount of jockey Nico de Boinville, had been subject of a late scare because of lameness. Ultimately, he was only narrowly beaten by the much-heralded Topofthegame.

The challenge presented by Cheltenham’s unique contours seems to suit well – form figures at track: 132 – and he’s rightly a strong fancy to see off Bristol De Mai and company on this occasion.

Novices’ Hurdle, Cheltenham

15:00: Protektorat

The ex-French Protektorat, trained by Dan Skelton for a group of owners that includes Sir Alex Ferguson, finally fulfilled his early promise when successful after some near-misses over this same two-and-a-half mile distance at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day.

To practically everyone’s surprise that day, the horse, ridden as here by the trainer’s jockey brother Harry, was disqualified from first place by the stewards for causing interference to the runner-up, a decision that was reversed on appeal.

Though King Roland, a rather more straightforward winner also on 1 January, but at Exeter, is likely to be a hard nut to crack, Protektorat now has the winning thread and may well follow up en route to the Festival.

Great Yorkshire Chase, Doncaster

15:15: Chidswell

With champion jump jockey Richard Johnson breaking his right arm, and almost certainly losing the grip on the title that he’s had for the last four seasons, his principal rival Brian Hughes looks set for his first championship, so long as he himself steers clear of injury.

While Hughes, 34, is better known for quantity of winners rather than big-race successes, this three-mile prize could easily see him take a prestige trophy on board Chidswell, trained by in-form Nicky Richards.

It’s a competitive affair, but Chidswell has been well backed in the build-up as supporters consider the promise demonstrated when the 11-year-old finished second at Kelso in December after a long break, combined with the very fair weight that he’s been allotted.

Cleeve Hurdle, Cheltenham

15:35: Paisley Park

Some of jump racing’s outstanding long-distance hurdlers have used this three-mile prize to show off their well-being before the Cheltenham Festival – Inglis Drever and Big Buck’s spring readily to mind – and Paisley Park, the division’s current undisputed star, looks to do the same.

The Emma Lavelle-trained eight-year-old, owned by Andrew Gemmell and ridden as usual by Aidan Coleman, was successful in the 2019 Festival’s Stayers Hurdle, and is gradually asserting the same kind of dominance as some of the greats.

He’s put well behind him a past which included life-threatening illness as a youngster, and is now on an unbeaten run that stretches back six races to October 2018. The Lavelle team also runs the promising De Rasher Counter, part-owned by Gemmell, in the Cotswold Chase.