All is not lost for either The Doyen Chief or Grandeur d’Ame after Newbury

December 1

The Racing Calendar never stops turning, so, while today we welcome December, Alan already has Grandeur d’Ame pencilled in for the £100,000 Betfair Exchange Handicap Chase over two miles and five furlongs at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day.

Grandeur d’Ame trailed in last of the 17 finishers in the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury on Saturday, but the 66-1 shot ran far better than his finishing place suggests and I very much doubt if he will start even a quarter of those odds at Prestbury Park.

Nothing jumped better than Grandeur d’Ame at Newbury, and he travelled strongly just behind the leaders until fading before the fourth last.

“It was his first try at three and a quarter miles and he did not stay,” said Alan, who was delighted with his performance and is adamant that dropping back in trip will suit him well, while Grandeur d’Ame has run some of his best races at Cheltenham, being beaten only a short head in another premier handicap over the same course and distance on Trials Day last season.

The Doyen Chief, our other runner in Newbury’s biggest race of the season, was caught flat-footed by the standing start and took no part in the race.

Reflecting on that unfortunate experience, Alan said:”It happens, and it’s water under the bridge, but both horses are fine after Newbury, and The Doyen Chief will run in the Howden Silver Cup at Ascot’s pre-Christmas meeting.”

Alan was also very encouraged with the way that Charisma Cat ran on her jumping debut in the mares novices Listed hurdle at Newbury. finishing second to a mare who is 2-2 over hurdles and whom trainer Jamie Snowden rates very highly.

He added:”Charisma Cat was only just ready for the race. She showed her class when winning a Listed bumper at Sandown last March, and we think she is very smart. The plan is to work back from the Cheltenham Festival, taking in a couple more mares novices on the way.”

There was a lot of money for I’m A Lumberjack in the three-mile handicap hurdle at Newbury on Friday, but, though favourite-backers walked away with burned fingers, Alan has certainly not lost faith in the horse.

He said:”I’m A Lumberjack ran too free but it was his first time over the trip. He had a blip earlier in the year with his back, but he had treatment and came back to win at Bangor, and Newbury was his first race for seven months. so that ought to bring him on.”

November was a somewhat frustrating month for Barbury, but, having repeatedly rattled the crossbar for a couple of weeks, we ended the month in style, with Granny Hawkins winning her first race over hurdles at Hereford and I’d Go Maniac doing likewise on the all-weather at Wolverhampton.

Alan said:”Granny Hawkins had been knocking on the door, twice finishing second and once third in her previous four races, so it was pleasing to see her finally get her head in front, especially as her owner, Geoff Kennington, hasn’t been too well lately. Fingers crossed Granny Hawkins winning will have given him a timely lift.

Alan was also pleased to see I’d Go Maniac give the Alan King Racing Club another winner at Dunstall Park, and with Uhtred Ragnarson having having won a handicap hurdle so well at Warwick last month, he tells me that the Racing Club are two winners from just five runners, and that there are still a few shares available in the syndicate. Maybe the ideal Christmas present?

There was a lot to like about the bumper debut of Seven Stars at Kempton last March, and this filly comes from a family which Alan knows inside out. She showed plenty of promise to finish third on the Sunbury course, and, having undergone wind surgery in September, she has since come on well, so it will be good to see how she shapes in another bumper on her return at Ludlow on Wednesday.

Out In De Wild, runner-up in his only point-to-point, is one of Noel Fehily’s young horses who caught my eye on the all-weather recently, and Alan has also been pleased how well he is shaping,  He could kick-start his career under Rules in a bumper at Exeter on Friday, while Sixty’s Rock is an unraced three-year-old who could be launched in a bumper at Wincanton on Thursday.

 King Al, who won on the Flat at at Newbury in August, has been schooling well and might well make his hurdling debut this week, either at Market Rasen on Thursday or Sandown the following day, while none of us at Barbury have lost faith in Don’t Mind If I Do, even though he has been beaten at short odds in his last two races.

Alan said;”Don’t Mind If I Do is a lovely big horse and, though things have not gone his way so far, he has been working well and could reappear at Huntingdon next Sunday.

!The weather played havoc with our plans for Don’t Mind If I Do last season. It went from one extreme to another as from the ground being too heavy after all that rain mid-season, it became too quick when we had that prolonged dry spell towards the end.”

Don’t Mind If I Do strengthened up through the summer, and, though it was disappointing to see him finish only third on his comeback at Aintree last month, he had been off since January and Alan is adamant that he is better than that and that he remains one of our most exciting young horses.

Another who could be heading to Huntingdon on Sunday is Blazeon Five, who has proved a money-spinner for his owner-breeders (Calne Engineering Ltd), winning four races on the Flat. The seven-year-old mare won twice on the level during October and coped with the soft ground when scoring at Nottingham, so, with the weather forecast for the rest of the week including plenty of heavy showers, she should handle the likely testing conditions.

Granted, Blazeon Five has yet to win over hurdles, but her last attempt over timber proved to be her best, finishing third at Warwick in June, and, though she will be eight on New Year’s Day, there is no doubting her enthusiasm.

Obviously, we are all looking forward to Edwardstone turning out again this week-end, but whether he will have a ninth attempt at beating his old-rival Jonbon in the Grade 1 Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown on Saturday or instead wait for the Peterborough Chase at Huntingdon 24 hours later has yet to be decided. Alan will make a decision on Thursday,