No surprise if The Doyen Chief emulates Smad Place in Hennessy on Saturday

November 22

It is now 10 years since Alan enjoyed one of his most memorable days on the racecourse, winning the Hennessy Gold Cup on our local course with Smad Place.

Masaccio was the horse many of us thought would fly the flag for Barbury this year, but sadly he has suffered an injury which will keep him out until next season. However, Alan tells me that Masaccio has been fired and is out in a field enjoying himself, and will hopefully return next year.

Meanwhile, this year’s likely representative is The Doyen Chief. He will probably start twice the price that Smad Place did, but he heads to Newbury with a solid each-way chance in a race in which second-season novices have excelled in the past.

With regards to The Doyen Chief, we had always been convinced that he had to go right-handed, but winning a six-runner race at Warwick at the end of last season gave Alan the encouragement he needed to try left-handed tracks again.

And with the Hennessy very much the race in our minds throughout the summer, Alan opted to give The Doyen Chief his prep-race at Bangor earlier this month, when he jumped straight virtually the whole way around that tight, turning left-handed track ,and, but for his rider losing an iron when his horse fluffed the final fence, he might have won.

Alan said:”The Doyen Chief worked well this morning, and the plan, if everything goes well through the week, is to run in the Hennessy. He had the perfect prep for Newbury at Bangor, and, though he has gone up another 3lb and is untried over the three and a quarter miles, he came out of Bangor well and has been in good form in the mornings.”

Also still with a Hennessy entry is Grandeur d’Ame, who jumped super on his seasonal debut at Stratford last month until capsizing at the final fence.

Unproven over this extreme distance – he lost all chance at the start when trying a trip beyond two and a half miles for the first time at last season’s Cheltenham Festival – Grandeur d’Ame also has an entry in the Becher Chase over the big National fences at Aintree a week later, and Alan will make a final decision on Thursday on whether we run one, two, or nothing at all in Newbury’s most prestigious steeplechase.

Statistics tell only half the story, so, while Alan has been conspicuous by his absence from the winner’s enclosure these past two weeks, you won’t find any doom and gloom merchants at Barbury as the horses have been rattling the crossbar, with the stable boasting six seconds during that period.

Like most trainers, Alan, who revealed that Baby Sage bled when pulled up on her first run over fences at Huntingdon today, has been barely able to work any horses on the grass gallops because of the dry summer, though the results started to come our way, and we enjoyed a lucrative autumn.

So it was no surprise when we caught up with each other for a morning of reflections today, Alan confessed that he was perfectly satisfied with the five horses he ran at Cheltenham’s Paddy Power Gold Cup meeting last week agreeing that they were “found to be a touch short towards the end of their races”.

He added:”Edwardstone and Es Perfecto were prime examples. They both travelled great and jumped super, but Es Perfecto was having his first race since the Festival in March, while Edwardstone had also been off seven months when returning for the Shloer Chase the previous day.

“Edwardstone came out of that race fine and worked this morning, so he will probably run next in either the Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown on December 6 or the Peterborough Chase at Huntingdon the following day.

“Es Perfecto also worked this morning and we were happy with him too. He was still close behind the leaders going to the second last in the Paddy Power but then stopped quickly. He runs well at Cheltenham and there is a possibility he could go back there next month.”

Alan was also pleased how well Noel Fehily’s trio of syndicated horses ran for us this week. He said: “Helnwein, Ski Lodge and Baron Noir all finished second. Helnwein probably bumped into a good horse in Alexei in the Greatwood Hurdle at Cheltenham on Sunday, and he is likely to run next in the valuable handicap hurdle at Ascot on the weekend before Christmas.

“Ski Lodge had been absent for almost a year when he made his comeback over hurdles at Lingfield. He is hopefully going to make up into a good staying chaser, and he’ll have his first run over fences next time, probably starting over two miles and five, while I was pleased with Baron Noir’s first run over hurdles at Warwick. He had been off since winning that bumper at Punchestown in early May and, like Ski Lodge, he ought to come on a lot for that.”

Alan was also positive on how well Callisto Queen shaped on her debut in the mares bumper at Warwick. “It was all new to her, but she suddenly got the hang of things in the last furlong and a half and stayed on well up the straight,” he added.

However, more immediately Alan’s focus is on Monday, when Blue Sky Dreaming runs in the maiden hurdle at Ludlow. He comes from the same family as Gold Cup winner Long Run, so we hope that jumping will bring out the best in him.

Alan said”We gave Blue Sky Dreaming one run in a bumper at Doncaster last season, and, though the ground was too quick, he ran nicely. He ran well after a long absence to finish fourth on his hurdling debut at Stratford a month ago, and with the experience behind him he should be sharper here.”

Also working well at Barbury just now is Charisma Cat, who won three of her first four bumpers last season. She has been a little bit behind the other horses as she suffered a hold up six weeks ago, but she is back in good form now and Alan expects to be able to launch her over hurdles soon.

He said:”She is a lovely big filly with a lot of scope and a good attitude. We think she could be pretty smart, and, while it’s early days, the mares novice hurdle at Cheltenham in March would be the long-term dream.”

I’m A Lumberjack has taken well to hurdles and Alan likes him. He added:”He won at Warwick and then had a little blip mid season with his back, but he came good again after treatment and won again at Bangor.

“He was just a big weak horse when he was younger, but he has strengthened up and I think there is more to come from him. He could reappear this weekend, maybe at Newbury on Friday or the following day.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

is going to be a proper staying chaser