The Owners Group were celebrating at Taunton as the well-regarded Will Carver made a winning reappearance on Thursday afternoon.

The Nicky Henderson-trained eight-year-old impressed when a novice hurdler, but then suffered an injury that kept him sidelined for over 600 days and has only been seen once since the summer of 2021.

Following an uneventful comeback run in February the gelding has spent another 278 days waiting for suitable conditions – but made connections’ patient approach worthwhile when sent off the 3-1 co-favourite for the Stables Business Park Handicap Hurdle in Somerset.

Not far off the lead throughout in the hands of James Bowen, he made smooth headway to hit the front with two flights of hurdles to jump, with even a blunder at the last not enough to stop him romping to an eight-length success from fellow market leaders Decorated and Afadil.

Having scored readily off a mark of 126, bigger days could now lie in wait for Will Carver, including a possible switch to the larger obstacles if his Seven Barrows handler deems him ready for a change of discipline.

“He’s only had one issue after his run in Perth in 2021 and we gave him loads of loads of time,” said Dan Downie of Owners Group.

“Because we gave him loads of time, we didn’t want to run him back on very quick ground and that is why we only ran him once last season. He’s only had the one issue and we’ve just had to be very very patient with him.

“He’s a horse that we have always been quite excited about anyway and particularly going chasing. I haven’t spoken to Nicky and I’m not sure if we’ll go straight to chasing or stick to hurdles for a bit longer, but the plan was always to go chasing at some point.

“He’s a horse we’ve always held in high regard, but when they have had that much time off you can’t be expecting too much, so we are delighted.”

Peter Scudamore is well aware Ahoy Senor has plenty on his plate when he bids to become the first horse since Denman to carry top-weight to victory in the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury on Saturday.

The eight-year-old produced a tremendous performance to land a Grade Two novice chase by 31 lengths at this meeting in 2021 and went on to round off his novice campaign with a Grade One success at Aintree.

He found life more difficult when stepping into open company last term, but did manage to win the Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham and was second to Shishkin on his return to Aintree in the spring.

For the second year in succession Ahoy Senor failed to fire on his reappearance in the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby, but Scudamore – partner and assistant to trainer Lucinda Russell – hopes he can at least take a step forward under the welter burden of 12st back at the Berkshire venue.

“We’re hoping for a big run. It’s a big ask for him, but he’s won round Newbury and we’re looking forward to it,” he said.

“He’s come on since Wetherby – I’m happier with him than I was going into the Charlie Hall.

“He’ll be a big price and if he finished in the first four, I’d be delighted.”

Denman twice won the historic handicap under top-weight, carrying 11st 12lb to victory in his Cheltenham Gold Cup-winning season in 2007 before regaining his Newbury crown in 2009.

Ahoy Senor will concede upwards of 12lb to his rivals this weekend in the hands of Derek Fox, with the Sam Thomas-trained Stolen Silver next in the weights on 11st 2lb.

Denman’s trainer Paul Nicholls this year relies on the well fancied Complete Unknown as he goes in search of a fourth victory in the race as a trainer. He also won back-to-back runnings of what was the Hennessy Gold Cup during his riding career aboard Broadheath and Playschool in the 1980s.

Jonjo O’Neill’s Monbeg Genius and Dan Skelton’s Midnight River are also prominent in the market, as are the Irish pair of John McConnell’s Mahler Mission and the Gavin Cromwell-trained Stumptown.

Jamie Snowden has declared Datsalrightgino and Ga Law, although the latter’s first preference is to run against Shishkin in the Rehearsal Chase at Newcastle if the meeting survives.

Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri says he is focused on the dangers Monza pose rather than the opportunity to go top of Serie A.

Victory at ninth-placed Monza on Friday will take Juventus above Inter, at least for 48 hours, with the leaders facing an awkward assignment at fourth-placed Napoli on Sunday evening.

But Monza upset Juventus 1-0 at home last season before recording a 2-0 victory at the Allianz Stadium in Turin.

“It won’t be easy in Monza and we’ve known this since last year,” Allegri said at his pre-match press conference.

“They are the only team that took six points off of us last season and we didn’t find a way to score against them.

“We face a team with good players who have put many teams in difficulty, the numbers say so.

“Monza, as often happens in football, demonstrates that the difference is mainly made by the defensive phase: in the last 10 games they have not conceded a goal three times and in the other seven they have only conceded one.

“They all defend together, united, so it will be a difficult match.”

While Monza have lost only once in 10 games – 1-0 at Jose Mourinho’s Roma – the Bianconeri are unbeaten in eight with six wins during that sequence.

But Allegri, whose side drew 1-1 at home to Inter last weekend, has played down Juventus’ impressive start to the season.

He said: “We know what our limits are, the group is cohesive and we hold a good spot in the standings, but we haven’t achieved anything yet and we know that in football you can’t afford to give up.

“There are six games left until the end of the first round – four away games and two direct clashes at home – so we have to take one step at a time.

“We always have to look at fifth in the standings and have to watch our backs to maintain the gap from the teams behind us.

“However, this cannot be done with the result of a single match: the championship is a marathon, not a speed race.

“Being two points behind Inter is a source of pride, but again, we haven’t achieved anything yet.”

Juventus have both Danilo and Alex Sandro, who made a late appearance from the bench against Inter, available after injury and will check on Manuel Locatelli.

Italy midfielder Locatelli played the final half-hour against Inter after suffering a fractured rib that ruled him out of international duty in November.

Allegri said: “In his case it’s a problem of pain: against Inter he came on and managed to lend a hand to the team.

“We’ll see how he responds in training. If he is not available, I will make my assessments on Hans Nicolussi Caviglia, otherwise we will find another solution.”

Classic Getaway led his rivals a merry dance to play a starring role in a Thurles five-timer for champion trainer Willie Mullins.

The Cheveley Park Stud-owned seven-year-old was one of four Closutton inmates to contest the Make Your Best Bet At BetVictor Chase, with Mullins also fielding Haut En Couleurs, James Du Berlais and Capodanno in the Listed feature.

With Paul Townend in the saddle, Haut En Couleurs appeared the stable’s first string as the 6-4 favourite – but under an typically well-judged ride from the front by Danny Mullins, 15-2 shot Classic Getaway always looked in control and beat his better-fancied stablemate by five and a half lengths.

Runner-up Haut En Couleurs was subsequently found to have finished lame. The Mouse Morris-trained French Dynamite stuck on to beat James Du Berlais to third.

“If you look at his form it reads very well and he turned over a hotpot (Minella Cocooner) this time last year in Gowran. He missed most of the season and came back to run with credit at Punchestown,” said the winning jockey

“We were hoping he could do something like that as he always promised and is thankfully starting to deliver. His jumping is so good and he probably wasn’t getting that advantage over hurdles.

“For a horse of his size he has great agility and with that size, maybe he was that bit weak early in his career. We took a few nice scalps there and hopefully it is on towards Christmas now and find another spot for him.”

Mullins and Townend had earlier successfully combined with 8-15 favourite Il Etait Temps in the Download The BetVictor App Beginners Chase.

A Grade One-winning hurdler last season and runner-up to esteemed stable companion Facile Vega on a couple of occasions, the five-year-old made a smooth transition to the larger obstacles with a comfortable four-and-a-half-length verdict.

Townend said: “He was very manageable, which was a pleasant surprise, and he has a lot more respect for fences than hurdles – I thought he jumped brilliantly on the whole today.

“We went a good, even gallop with a good horse (Aspire Tower) leading and he showed a good turn of foot from the back of the last.

“He is more professional and has more options over fences because he is maturing.

“Hopefully he will be an Arkle type – we went a good strong pace, he has a good cruising speed and stays too.”

French recruit Lombron (2-1 favourite) brought up the Mullins treble, making a successful Irish debut in the Sign Up To GavinLynchRacing.com Maiden Hurdle under Townend, who added: “It was very straightforward and he settled well.

“The others had had runs already this year so, on the flat, I was conscious not to do too much with him and his jumping put him back into the race.

“He quickened up, lengthened nicely to the last and sorted himself out and he jumped brilliantly.

“He has a lot of natural ability.”

An excellent afternoon’s work was completed by Grade Two bumper-winning mare Fun Fun Fun (30-100 favourite), who completely outclassed her rivals in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Mares Maiden Hurdle, and the Townend-ridden Daddy Long Legs (11-8 favourite), who was similarly dominant in the Killinan Maiden Hurdle.

Fun Fun was bred and ridden by the trainer’s son Patrick Mullins, who said: “She jumped brilliantly and her pedigree is all three-mile chasers. The way she jumped she can stay at two miles, and she’s keen – she likes to get on with things.

“We might come back here for a mares’ novice hurdle at the end of the month, but that might be too soon. Hopefully we’ll be going for black type after today.

“I lost a Doctor Dino brother during the year, but have a Doctor Dino sister and a Jukebox Jury sister. We bought the mare privately because she was a sister to Yorkhill who, at the time, we thought was going to win the Champion Hurdle, the Gold Cup and the Ryanair, but I think he only won one race after we bought her. We bought her in-foal to Martaline and that was a gift.”

The Middleham Park Racing team expect to have a clearer idea about Marie’s Rock’s potential ambitions for the rest of the season after she takes on two staying stalwarts in the Coral Long Distance Hurdle at Newbury on Friday.

Nicky Henderson’s mare claimed back-to-back Grade One wins at the Cheltenham and Punchestown festivals in the spring of 2022 and made a triumphant return from eight months out of action when beating the boys in the Relkeel Hurdle at Prestbury Park on New Year’s Day.

By racing manager Tom Palin’s own admission, the decision to run in the Mares’ Hurdle rather than the Stayers’ Hurdle on her return to Cheltenham in March did not pay off, with Marie’s Rock finishing a well-beaten seventh behind Honeysuckle.

But with the eight-year-old subsequently proving her worth over three miles when runner-up to Sire Du Berlais at Aintree, there is no doubt about which route she is pursuing this term.

“It’s great to get her out a month and a bit sooner than we were able to last year and she seems in great form with herself,” said Palin.

“She went to Newbury last Tuesday, which was a good away day for her as she is quite excitable, and it just helped to burn off some of that freshness and excitement.

“We’ve had this race in mind since Aintree and she’s not missed a day. Her schooling at home has been excellent, her work at home has been excellent and we couldn’t be happier with her coming into this.

“She’s fit enough to do herself justice. Obviously she’ll come on for it after 230 days off the racetrack, but that’s going to be the same for anyone who hasn’t had a race.”

Marie’s Rock is set to face two veterans of the division in Paisley Park and Dashel Drasher – but while Palin is respectful of both, he is more than happy to take them on.

He added: “It’s kind of over to us now, isn’t it? We’ve got the established servants of the staying division in dear old Paisley Park and Dashel Drasher, who we know quite well as we’ve taken him on twice and come out the right side on both occasions.

“Both horses deserve the utmost respect, but the division is kind of crying out for a slightly younger gun to have their moment in the sun and Marie’s Rock seems the likely candidate at this stage.

“Whether that’s still the case at 3.08pm on Friday, we’ll have to wait and see, but I’m hugely excited about running her in this race, as are the team, and it should firmly establish where we are in the British staying pecking order.”

It is four years since Paisley Park struck gold in the Long Distance Hurdle and he has been placed in each of the three runnings since.

Emma Lavelle’s pride and joy is clearly in the twilight of his career at the age of 11, but the Wiltshire-based trainer is pleased with what she has seen at home in recent weeks.

She said: “He has just been such a star and is loving his training.

“He looks great and he went to Newbury for the press morning and had a lovely time just having a gallop round.

“He seems in really good shape but the proof is always in the running, so we will get him out and we will go and see what happens.

“He’s showing at home that he is loving what he is doing and we have had a good preparation. He schooled really well on Tuesday and was tanking along, so hopefully we will get a feel as to where we are.

“There are going to be horses in there with younger legs, but he has a heart of a lion. He is unbelievable how he keeps turning up and he loves his routine. It’s very special to have him and we will just decide race by race where we go.”

Unlike his two main rivals, Jeremy Scott’s Dashel Drasher is race-fit, having finished a creditable third on his seasonal debut in the West Yorkshire Hurdle at Wetherby four weeks ago.

Scott had hoped to run his stable star in last Saturday’s 1965 Chase at Ascot, but felt he would be unsuited by the drying ground over fences, so he instead sticks to the smaller obstacles in Berkshire.

Deborah Cole’s Flight Deck, the Paul Nicholls-trained Hugos New Horse and Mahons Glory from Patrick Neville’s yard complete the field.

England complete their group games in the inaugural Women’s Nations League over the next few days, playing the Netherlands at Wembley on Friday and then Scotland at Hampden Park on Tuesday.

Here, the PA news agency looks at some of the talking points ahead of the double-header.

Must-win

This competition provides England with the chance to secure Paris 2024 Olympic qualification for Great Britain, should they first finish top of Group A1 – something they are in considerable danger of failing to do. Lying third with six points from four games, three points behind the Dutch and one behind Belgium, they have to win on Friday to stay in contention. They lost 2-1 in the Netherlands in September, and were also beaten in their most recent outing, 3-2 away against Belgium.

Relegation threat

If England are defeated again by Wiegman’s old side, and Belgium beat Scotland at home the same night, as well as the Olympic bid being over, the Lionesses will be confirmed as entering the Nations League relegation play-offs. After the highs of the last two years under her management, that scenario would represent some come down for the European champions and World Cup runners-up.

The Scotland situation

While it remains to be seen what the state of play is come Tuesday, a talking point from the word go as England headed into this competition as the one home nation able to claim Olympic qualification for GB has been that their group includes a Scotland outfit with players also holding Paris hopes. England midfielder Keira Walsh has described the situation as “a little bit strange”, but said of Tuesday: “If I’m putting myself in their shoes, it’s a big game against England. They’re going to want to win.” Wiegman’s team beat Scotland 2-1 in Sunderland in their group opener in September.

No Bright

England, already without Leah Williamson, also for these two games have the player who has skippered the team in her absence, fellow defender Millie Bright, out injured due to a knee issue. Wiegman has confirmed goalkeeper Mary Earps will wear the armband.

Mead’s return

England also have a big-name player back in the fold, with the fit-again Beth Mead – like Williamson, absent from the summer’s World Cup as she recovered from an ACL injury – having been recalled. Wiegman said it was as if Mead “hasn’t been away” without confirming whether the forward would start or not on Friday. Any appearance would be her first at international level in just over a year for the Euro 2022 Golden Boot winner.

Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall has criticised the “shameful” treatment of Owen Farrell in what he believes should be a wake-up call for the game.

Farrell will miss the Six Nations after deciding to take a break from international rugby in order to “prioritise his and his family’s mental well-being”, although he will continue to play club ruby.

The unexpected decision comes after the 32-year-old fly-half led England to a third-place finish in the recent World Cup after losing to champions South Africa by a point in the semi-final.

Farrell has long been a lightening rod figure in the sport, but the condemnation peaked in August when he was sent off for a dangerous tackle against Wales, a decision that was overturned by a disciplinary hearing only to then incur a ban on appeal.

England’s captain was frequently booed in France, sometimes with his family present in the stadium, and McCall is impressed that he delivered a series of strong performances despite shouldering a heavy burden.

“It’s remarkable that he played the way he played during the World Cup, if we take into account how he was feeling,” McCall said.

“He is a person who is right on top of his game at the moment, yet he and his family have been made to feel the way they feel. It is shameful. It’s not right.

“I’ve worked with Owen for 15 years, every day, and the person that has been portrayed in the media bears no resemblance to the person I know. He’s a family man, they’ve always come first.

“There was a narrative created and started and that’s been there for quite some time. There’s only so much that someone can take.

“On top of that, he’s a brilliant, caring, supportive team-mate and a loyal friend to many. And a very good, decent human being. That’s the person I know.

“It was courageous and brave of him to open up. I admire Owen for many reasons anyway, but even more for doing this.

“I’m not worried about Europe or the club at all. I’m worried about Owen. We want him to be OK and happy. Clearly he hasn’t been.”

Wales have enlisted the support of former manager Chris Coleman to help them avoid relegation from the Women’s Nations League.

Coleman memorably led Wales to the semi-finals of Euro 2016 and spoke to boss Gemma Grainger and her squad before Friday’s relegation decider against Iceland in Cardiff.

Wales need to probably win by a two-goal margin to stay in League A, as well as boost their Euro 2025 qualifying hopes, and Coleman gave the lowdown on his time as men’s team manager between 2012 and 2017 during a 20-minute Zoom call on Wednesday.

“One of the things we have done in terms of the mindset and mentality is being fortunate enough to spend some time with Chris Coleman,” Grainger said at her pre-match press conference.

“We spoke to Chris around some of the work he did with the men’s team because that journey is so similar to us.

“We are two years into a journey that was similar to the one Chris had with our men’s team. It was great for him to speak to the girls about that.

“It was interesting to hear him talk about when the team suffered and what that allowed them to do in terms of ‘Together Stronger’ (the national team’s motto) – the real togetherness of the team and what it takes.

“He talked about the criticism that team had, and to me that’s a natural part of when a team is successful.

“It was a pleasure to speak to him for me as a coach and also for the players.”

Wales remain without a point after four games and are bottom of Nations League Group A3 heading into their final two fixtures.

Grainger’s side finish their campaign against two-time World Cup winners Germany in Swansea on Tuesday.

So overcoming Iceland, who beat them 1-0 in September, represents Wales’ best chance of securing the third spot they need to avoid dropping into League B and head into the relegation play-offs instead.

If Wales win by a one-goal margin, bottom spot could end up being determined by goal difference – and Iceland currently have a superior advantage of four in that department.

Grainger said: “We are focused on winning. If we win by one goal then we know what we’ve got to do in the second game.

“Two goals would mean that we would likely go through on head-to-head.

“It’s an ideal game for us because when we qualify for the Euros we’ll go through stages where one-off games will matter. So it’s a great rehearsal against a top team in Europe.”

Wales have lost to Denmark twice and Germany away since losing their opening game in Iceland.

But Grainger was encouraged by the narrow 2-1 defeat in Denmark last time out, saying: “We finished that game stronger than they did. We scored in the 72nd minute and we really pushed for the equaliser.

“The first game against Iceland was one of our best performances since I’ve been here.

“The challenge now is to replicate that because the plan is to stay in League A.”

It could be a key afternoon in the chasing career of Colonel Mustard as he bids to open his account up against Paul Nicholls’ Hermes Allen in the Coral John Francome Novices’ Chase at Newbury.

Lorna Fowler’s eight-year-old has come close to big-race success on raiding missions from Ireland in the past, most notably finishing third to State Man in the County Hurdle in 2022, while also picking up a silver medal in both the Morebattle Hurdle and Scottish Champion Hurdle earlier this year.

The most consistent of operators, he has finished outside the podium positions on only three occasions in 17 career starts.

However, he arrives in Berkshire for Grade Two action still a maiden over fences having bumped into some of the best novices around in Ireland, including at Down Royal on his seasonal debut, where Gordon Elliott’s Found A Fifty proved too good in a race where plenty of the obstacles were omitted.

“He’s in great form and I was very happy with him going into Down Royal,” explained Fowler.

“He was never going to beat that winner, but it was a very unsatisfactory race with so many of the jumps taken out. It not so much didn’t give me as many answers as I wanted, but more so the race I wanted to give him some experience.

“The run physically will have brought him and I think Newbury will suit him a lot.

“He does need to find his rhythm with his jumping and that will be key. I know it’s a pretty good race, but he is a classy horse and if he can pull himself together and get his jumping OK, then I think we’ve definitely got a chance.”

It will be just the third time Colonel Mustard has raced beyond the minimum two miles, but Fowler is confident a trip is now what he needs to put his best foot forward and break his fences duck at the fourth time of asking.

“I think the two and a half is important to him and I do think he stays,” she continued. “He has tried the trip twice and circumstances wouldn’t have seen him in his best light in both.

“Rachael (Blackmore) rode him at Down Royal and she seems to think he will stay and I’m very confident he will also.

“In terms of D-Day, he is going to have to produce it over fences, otherwise we are lucky to be able to go back over hurdles.

“I feel like he hasn’t had his best shot over fences yet, but it does need to happen otherwise we will be back over hurdles.”

Standing in Colonel Mustard’s way is Hermes Allen, with the Grade One scorer returning to the scene of his Challow Hurdle success as he starts life over the larger obstacles.

Although failing to make his mark at the spring festivals, he is tipped for big things over fences and his handler is keen to get him on course after a slight setback pushed back his original start date.

“We planned to start him over fences earlier this season until a minor foot issue put paid to that, but he is fine now and he will have benefitted from a racecourse gallop with Complete Unknown at Newbury early last week,” Nicholls told Betfair.

“Hermes Allen had a wind op in the summer and his schooling over fences at home has been very good, but given the time he lost, I’m sure we can get him fitter. I’m sure he can improve on whatever he does on Friday.

“He was a star for us last season with an impressive success in the Grade One Challow Hurdle at this course and could be exciting over fences.”

Sarah Humphrey is not a familiar name on the big days, but Nickle Back could put her name in lights if building on his two wide-margin victories over fences to date.

Humphrey said: “For a small yard to have a potentially top-class horse, it’s very exciting and a big deal for us.

“He was always going to be a chaser, but things didn’t go to plan for his novice hurdling year and then last season we were on a recovery mission from something else, but he was always going to be a chaser and the plan was always to go chasing, so I’m glad it has worked out so far.

“It’s all very well the handicapper giving him a high rating and obviously he has won his first two (chase outings) easily, but it’s a big step up in grade and class and the quality of horses he is against, so we will find a lot more about him.”

Marble Sands, trained in partnership by David Killahena and Graeme McPherson, was not disgraced in Graded contests over hurdles last term and impressed at Ayr on his chasing bow.

Nicky Henderson’s No Ordinary Joe was runner-up to Iroko at the Cheltenham Festival and with the form of that Martin Pipe working out extremely well, he also merits respect on his debut over fences.

Emma Lavelle’s Tightenourbelts completes the field following a taking 10-length romp on his introduction to the larger obstacles at Ludlow.

Kevin Sinfield will set out on his latest super-human fundraising feat from Headingley on Friday morning with no end in sight to the initiatives which have so far raised in excess of £8million for research into Motor Neurone Disease.

The 43-year-old openly questioned his ability to continue pounding the streets prior to his most recent ‘7 in 7’ ultramarathon challenge last year, but says the overwhelming public support he has encountered is enough to push him forward for the foreseeable future.

Sinfield’s latest quest will take him from Leeds to York Minster on the opening day before six more back-to-back runs that will include visits to Birmingham, Brighton, Edinburgh and, for the first time in his series of challenges, Dublin.

Sinfield said: “Whilst my knees keep going, I will continue to do my bit and even then, when my knees won’t work like they should, we will find different ways of trying to raise money and awareness.

“We have been part of something that has been pretty powerful over the last couple of years and we are massive humbled by it.

“Last time we thought we shouldn’t go again, (but) on average three times a day people will stop me and tell me somebody they know has MND or someone has passed with MND, and they want us to keep going.

“The plan was to do three, but we haven’t got a cure, and we feel we can make a better impact on people’s lives who have MND, so why would we stop?”

Sinfield started his fundraising quest in support of his Leeds Rhinos team-mate Rob Burrow in 2020, when he ran seven marathons in seven days, and the following year he ran 101 miles in under 24 hours from Welford Road in Leicester to Headingley.

Last year, his ‘7 in 7’ challenge concluded on the pitch at half-time during the men’s World Cup final between Australia and New Zealand at Old Trafford.

This year, Sinfield’s final leg will lead him from Twickenham Stadium to The Mall, the traditional finish of the London Marathon.

“I promised myself last time I did the London Marathon that I would enjoy the last stretch so I was able to take a fair bit in,” added Sinfield.

“It will be a bit different with cars and pedestrians, but when we get to that finish point, I am sure we will be pretty tired but pretty happy.”

Sheila Lewis has hailed the input of fellow Welsh trainer Evan Williams having seen Straw Fan Jack finish second in Ascot’s 1965 Chase.

Lewis has always aimed high with her leading light, taking in Grade Ones at both the Cheltenham Festival and Aintree last term and it was no different on the eight-year-old’s return to action as he lined up against Shishkin and Pic D’Orhy in the Ascot feature.

With Shishkin refusing to start as the tapes went up, Straw Fan Jack was initially positioned at the rear of the trio who jumped off, but moved up to give Pic D’Orhy a real fright turning for home before giving way and settling for the silver medal after the second last.

Lewis admits she briefly thought her charge might hit the jackpot and having secured prize-money of £16,202 by finishing second, is thankful to the advice of Llancarfan-handler Williams who suggested targeting this race following the success of his own Coole Cody at Ascot in 2022.

“He was brilliant wasn’t he,” said Lewis. “For one minute it did cross my mind, ‘God, what if we won’.

“Evan Williams is always great at giving me advice and he said ‘what are you going to do with Jack?’ and I said ‘I suppose the Paddy Power Gold Cup’.

“He told me ‘I would stay clear of that for the minute and go to Kempton and Ascot for those Graded races. You might be coming up against a Nicholls hotpot but you are running for good money and running some nice races without putting a gun to his head’.

“We’ve picked up £15,000 for finishing second (at Ascot) and that is brilliant for my owners.”

Lewis will now continue to heed Williams’ advice, with Straw Fan Jack set to ply his trade in Graded company and races like Kempton’s Coral Silviniaco Conti Chase (January 13) entering calculations for the early part of 2024.

“We will probably stay down that route and I don’t think the handicapper will be too harsh on him,” she continued.

“Evan said to maybe follow the same route as Coole Cody and when he gets another year older he will be stronger and still lightly-raced and he might be able to go for some of the bigger races.

“He’s a very wise man Evan and he’s given me a lot of advice with me being relatively new to it all. He’s been very kind to me like that.”

The trainer – who previously combined running a beauty salon with training her string before turning her attention solely to racing – also anticipates improvement from Straw Fan Jack having struggled to get some serious work into her star chaser prior to his Ascot reappearance.

“I’ve struggled a bit this year as I have a sand circular gallop and you can only do so much,” explained Lewis.

“The rest of the time I have a really steep farmer’s field I go in and because of this weather it has been really, really heavy. I’ve kind of struggled workwise to get him really bang on, but he didn’t disappoint, he stayed on right to the line.

“I definitely think he will come on for the run because of the way he went, Sean (Houlihan, jockey) had to get after him a little bit.

“It wouldn’t have suited him by trailing behind for a while and then he was second and he could have done with someone upsides him to help him travel a bit better. So I would expect him to improve and I’m not saying improve enough to beat the likes of Pic D’Orhy, but he will come on for the run.”

Whether that improvement brings big-race success or not, for now the Brecon handler is content to keep enjoying the big occasions having switched her beautician’s tunic for winter afternoons chasing victories at some of the UK’s biggest racecourses.

Lewis added: “Last year when we went for the Arkle and the Grade One in Aintree we were picking up good prize-money for fourth and for a small yard to have a horse like this, you normally have to spend hundreds of thousands. So we are just enjoying the big days and whatever happens is a bonus.

“To have a horse like that and go to these places is a dream. When I set out in my training career I didn’t set out to be the next Venetia Williams or anything, but what I did wish for was one really lovely horse to take me to some nice places and live the dream for a while.”

Sarina Wiegman is confident England are ready for the task ahead of them as they prepare for Friday’s must-win Nations League clash with the Netherlands at Wembley.

The Lionesses are third in Group A1 after four games, having been beaten 2-1 in September by the Dutch and 3-2 last month by Belgium, who they trail by three and one point respectively.

Failure to beat the Netherlands in their penultimate group fixture will end their hopes of the first-placed finish they require to have a chance of securing a Paris 2024 Olympics qualifying spot for Great Britain, and boss Wiegman told a press conference: “I think the team is ready.

“We’re really excited to play at Wembley tomorrow. I think the camp so far from Monday to now has gone really well.

“We’re very clear on how we want to play and what we want to do; I see good things on and off pitch, and that gives me confidence that we’re really ready for tomorrow, and of course we all know what we have to do.”

She added: “If you look at the games I don’t think we played really poor, just in moments we didn’t get it over the line and then we got some losses – which is not good, we want to do better.

“In football, just as in life, you have ups and downs, and what we want to do is get to the high again, and that is what we are going to try to do.”

With Millie Bright having withdrawn from the squad last week due to a knee injury, goalkeeper Mary Earps is set to captain the side.

There are a number of defenders in the squad with only a few caps between them, and when asked about a lack of experience at the back, Wiegman said: “With the World Cup, you played the team you think are going to win, and then you change to win the game.

“That has also been the case in the Nations League, so we didn’t have that many opportunities at international level to try out things. Of course we do that in training sessions, and we see the players in the Women’s Super League.

“I think if it’s needed, they’re ready, and they know what is being asked of them. I hope in the future of course they get the opportunity to play.

“Last year around this time we had friendlies, we played lots of players. We are not in that situation right now. “

An experienced player Wiegman has back in the fold is Beth Mead, the Golden Boot winner when England won the Euros in 2022 who, having missed their run to the World Cup final during the summer, has been recalled after recovering from an ACL injury.

Wiegman said it was as if Mead “hasn’t been away” without confirming whether she would start or not on Friday.

Mead has 50 caps – a landmark fellow forward Lauren Hemp will reach if she plays a part against the Dutch.

And the 23-year-old said: “It would be a surreal feeling. To do it at Wembley – there’s no better place. It would be an incredible feeling.

“Looking back, a lot of the big games I’ve had have come at Wembley. There’s a lot at stake (on Friday). We know as a group what’s expected of us. I feel like when we’re put under pressure, a lot of the time, we do the job.

“I’ve been to an Olympics before so I’ve experienced it once. I want to experience it again.”

After Friday’s contest against Wiegman’s former side, England conclude their group games by playing Scotland at Hampden Park next Tuesday.