Minella Drama was a good winner at Kelso last week; I had thought he was one of my better rides of the weekend! He did it well and I believe ran a good Timeform figure, especially under top weight.
I can’t imagine there’ll be many other horses who’ve won a handicap under 150! It was a good performance. I don’t know where he’ll go next, whether it’ll Cheltenham or Aintree or anywhere else. That’ll be up to Donald [McCain].
Donald has a few entries in the handicaps at Cheltenham, but we don’t yet know if they’ll go or not. A few of them may be more geared towards Aintree in April.
Aubis Walk won by a huge 23 lengths at Sedgefield on Thursday for Nicky Richards. It was good to see her putting it all together. She’s a mare with plenty of ability so hopefully she can just kick on now, keep showing us her best and win some more races.
Obviously a lot of focus has been on the whip this week. It’s been a tough one for plenty of the lads, as we’ve seen lately with 20 of them with suspensions or sanctions as a result of being in breach. It’s still very much a work in progress and hopefully we’ll all get used to it soon enough.
Minella Trump got a good racing weight at the National weights launch. He’s been a horse that has progressed well, largely in small fields. We’ll be hopeful of a good round of jumping. I’ve never ridden a National horse before, so I don’t know quite what’ll make the winner, but he’s been a grand horse for us, winning eleven races, and he’s a yard favourite. Let’s hope the best for him.
Newcastle – Saturday, 25th Feb
I’ve got six rides at Newcastle’s Eider Chase meeting this weekend.
First up is Woogrey, (1.10pm) who ran okay at Newcastle under a 7lb claimer and reopposes the top horse here, who won that race last time. I think we can discount her last race as making the running I don’t think suited her and she should have an each-way chance in this.
Heroique De Maulde is next at 2.18pm. He was last time out at Doncaster and has gone well at Newcastle in the past. The drop back down to two miles here shouldn’t be a problem – he’s the youngest in the field and I’d like to think that he’s improving. He’ll have every chance in a race like this.
Then I’ll ride Blue Fin in the maiden hurdle at 2.53pm. He’s run really well his last three starts, especially when he stepped up to two and a half miles on his last outing at Catterick, where he was third by just over a length. He’s back to two miles here on a galloping track, which shouldn’t be an issue. He should be capable of winning this race, but we have Hashtag Boum to look out for, alongside Si Elegant who ran out last time at Hereford and Long Symphony – a 40/1 bumper winner earlier this month. Not sure what he brings to the table as he was clearly unexpected!
Then I’ve Bavington Bob in the Eider Chase at 3.25pm. To be honest, he’s been very disappointing this year. He was second last time at Kelso in a race that I really felt he should have won, hence the blinkers go on here for the first time. He didn’t really feel like he was giving me his all. But, as Eiders go, this looks to be a fairly open race. This guy will want plenty cut in the ground, and on last year’s form he can win. With this year’s form, though, I’d be more hopeful than confident.
Dreams Of Home is next at 4.03pm. He hasn’t run a bad race this year, winning at Kelso first time out and two fourth places in January and February. Those last two races might have been a bit sharp for him and he steps up to two and a half here for the first time since his chase debut. He’s fairly well handicapped and could be competitive, but Christian Williams’ Five Star Getaway and Venetia Williams’ Easy As That do throw him a question.
Lastly at Newcastle I’m on Jungle Jack for Donald McCain (4.38pm). He’s been a nice horse for us this season, winning first time out, and we felt he got bumped into when second last time. Donald has given him plenty of time to recover from his last run in December. Most of these are fairly well exposed horses, with the exception of Rebecca Menzies’ horse Lihyan, but he’s a nice horse and the track shouldn’t be an issue, neither will the ground. He’d be one of my better rides tomorrow I’d say, alongside Heroique De Maulde and Blue Fin.
