In a not so surprising turn of events, former West Indies Test captain Jason Holder, along with compatriot Kyle Mayers, has chosen to forego the upcoming West Indies Test tour to Australia in January. Despite this decision, Holder emphatically asserts that it does not signify the end of his Test career, citing a strategic move to maximize his earnings and prioritize participation in the T20 format, specifically targeting the T20 World Cup.
Speaking to ESPNcricinfo, Holder explained the rationale behind his decision: "By no means is this me turning my back on Test cricket. It's not curtains for me in Test cricket by any means. It's my first time going through something like this, and I felt that it was necessary to be as honest and as open with CWI as I possibly can. It was a very difficult decision: I just feel as though this is the right cricketing decision for me at this time."
The West Indies team, already grappling with the absence of Shai Hope, now faces the challenge of incorporating seven untested players into the 15-member squad set to confront one of the world's best Test teams in Australia.
Holder highlighted the opportunity presented by participating in the IPL T20 league in the UAE in January, emphasizing the need to give himself the best chance of playing in the T20 World Cup. "I will probably sleep a little bit better knowing that I've given myself the best opportunity to do that," Holder added.
The decision also comes as a consequence of Cricket West Indies' directive, requiring players to make themselves available for both the ongoing series against England and February's T20Is in Australia to be considered for World Cup selection. This compromised Holder's availability for the Big Bash League, and he will miss the end of the ILT20.
Expressing his desire to feature in the T20 World Cup, Holder said, "I've never played a World Cup at home: I really, really want to be a part of it because I love playing in front of the fans in the Caribbean."
As Holder navigates the evolving landscape of international cricket, he acknowledges the increasing prevalence of players prioritizing franchise cricket, stating, "It all depends on what a player wants in terms of his career. It's a profession, and there's a massive window in terms of franchise cricket early in the year."
Holder's decision reflects a calculated move to align with the changing dynamics of the cricketing world, balancing professional considerations and personal aspirations as he sets his sights on the T20 World Cup and maximizes his earnings in the upcoming IPL T20 league.
Gerri Colombe will sidestep the Ladbrokes King George VI Chase on Boxing Day in favour of a run at Leopardstown.
Gordon Elliott’s charge has won five of his six starts over fences to date, with his only defeat coming when edged out by a short head in the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at the Cheltenham Festival back in March.
The seven-year-old was a narrow winner on his return in last month’s Champion Chase at Down Royal and had been among the leading lights for Kempton’s Christmas feature.
However, with the ground at the Sunbury track currently described as good to soft, good in places, connections are concerned conditions may not suit and have decided to stay closer to home, raising the prospect of a stellar field for the Savills Chase on December 28.
Reigning Cheltenham Gold Cup champion Galopin Des Champs could represent Willie Mullins in Leopardstown’s Grade One contest, with the Martin Brassil-trained Fastorslow – who has beaten Galopin Des Champs on his last two starts – another in the mix.
Elliott said: “The ground is just drying up a bit in Kempton and we’re just a bit worried about bringing him over on too good a ground, so we’ll keep him at home and run him at Leopardstown.
“It looks a good race at Leopardstown.”
Paddy Power make Gerri Colombe an 11-4 chance for the Leopardstown race, with Galopin Des Champs the 6-4 favourite and Fastorslow next best on 5-2.
The same firm has the Mullins-trained Allaho as the 11-8 market leader for the King George, ahead of Paul Nicholls’ defending champion Bravemansgame at 2-1.
In a heartwarming display of holiday spirit, a group of retired Jamaican athletes, including Sportsmax track and field analyst, publisher and author Danielle Dowie, brought Christmas cheer to the young patients at the Bustamante Hospital for Children in Kingston on a special Tuesday afternoon.
The initiative was orchestrated by Robert Wagner, a renowned track and field agent, whose athletes, including Dowie herself, gathered to share joy with the children. Freddy James, Wagner's local assistant, and the agent for weightlifter Sammy Depass also joined the cause, turning the hospital visit into a memorable event.
Accompanying Wagner, James, and Depass were esteemed retired athletes, Olympic gold medallists Nesta Carter and Melaine Walker as well as double Olympic silver medalist Yohan Blake, and Rhonda Whyte. The gathering of these accomplished individuals aimed to spread happiness and festive spirit to the young patients at the Bustamante Hospital.
Blake,the 2011 100m world champion, in a gesture of generosity, donated cases of his Riviere Water and Pedialyte rehydration fluids, contributing to the festive atmosphere at the hospital. However, the act of kindness didn't end there, as the group engaged in a quiet but meaningful handover of gifts. Dowie, the 2013 CAC 400m hurdles gold medallist, sharing the details of the event, explained that books authored by her were among the donations.
“It was just kind of a quiet handover. So it wasn't anything heavy. We donated some of my books. Robert and Freddy donated some books, and I went in and I read with the kids. Everybody grabbed a book, and they were reading along, and it was really fun," said Dowie, reflecting on the heartwarming experience.
The simple act of reading and sharing books with the young patients added a touch of warmth to the holiday season, leaving lasting memories for both the athletes and the children at the Bustamante Hospital for Children.
Aidan O’Brien has confirmed his intention to split his Classic aces next spring, with Henry Longfellow unlikely to take on his esteemed stablemate City of Troy in the Qipco 2000 Guineas.
While Henry Longfellow has done nothing wrong in winning each of his three juvenile starts, it was City Of Troy for whom O’Brien reserved the highest praise, stating after his Dewhurst success at Newmarket in October: “He is the best two-year-old we’ve trained, there’s no doubt.”
City Of Troy is best-priced evens favourite for the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket in May and while bookmakers rate his stablemate as his biggest threat, he could instead head to the French equivalent.
“I’d imagine that City Of Troy and Henry Longfellow will be kept apart for as long as the lads want to do that,” O’Brien told Sporting Life.
“We’re obviously thinking that City of Troy will be trained for Newmarket and then Henry Longfellow might be trained for France.
“If everything went well with City Of Troy at Newmarket, he could go straight on to Epsom (for the Derby) whereas the other horse could do the Curragh (Irish 2,000 Guineas) and Ascot (St James’s Palace Stakes) or something like that. There’s lots of scenarios that could happen I suppose.”
O’Brien has not been shy in pointing out City Of Troy’s extraordinary ability and continues to be effusive in his praise.
He added: “He’s the first horse we’ve had come along to show such class and courage, without us feeling that we’ve got to the last gear yet.
“He always had lovely balance, a lovely shape and a lovely mind. He was a lovely size of a horse, not too big and not too small. He looked the ideal horse all the way along really.”
Reflecting on his Dewhurst success and the feedback he received from jockey Ryan Moore, O’Brien added: “We just felt that we hadn’t had a horse like him before.
“Ryan was so confident in the horse that he really felt it didn’t matter what the ground was going to be like or anything else. He didn’t think he’d ridden a horse like this before, either – he’s always felt that this horse was different.”
Harry Fry is looking forward to raising Might I’s sights in an intriguing renewal of the Howden Noel Novices’ Chase at Ascot on Friday.
The seven-year-old was a high-class novice hurdler a couple of seasons ago, placing behind Constitution Hill and Jonbon along the way, while he also picked up minor honours in the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival last term.
He has been switched the larger obstacles this autumn and having pushed Complete Unknown close on his introduction before opening his account in a match race at Exeter last month, he will now test his powers at Grade Two level in Berkshire.
“This is obviously his third start over fences. He made the most of a match opportunity the last day, but it was still good experience nonetheless,” said Fry.
“We take the step up in grade, hopefully he puts in a good round of jumping and if he does that then I’d hope he’ll have every chance.
“There’s not much between the four runners, he deserves to be in there for sure and hopefully he’ll give a good account of himself.”
The quartet is headed by Dan Skelton’s Unexpected Party, who is eased in class and upped in trip after finishing fifth in the Grade One Henry VIII Novices’ Chase at Sandown a fortnight ago.
“He’s come out of Sandown very well. He didn’t figure prominently in the Henry VIII and this is not a dissimilar type of race, so he’s got a lot to do to win but he deserves his place in these types of races,” said Skelton.
“They’re not getting massively supported so if we’ve got one, we’re going to run them. He’s gone well at Ascot before so there are no negatives there.”
Djelo bids to make it three from three over fences for Venetia Williams following a couple of impressive handicap wins, while the Paul Nicholls-trained Kandoo Kid makes a similar move after beating Williams’ Frero Banbou in a Newbury handicap last time.
Difficulty in getting sponsorship, use of inferior equipment and poor coverage are some of the problems faced by the local throwing community according to renowned coach Michael Vassell.
In light of recent comments by national hammer throw champion Nayoka Clunis regarding a lack of financial support from the local track & field governing bodies, attempts were made to contact a number of Jamaica’s throws athletes and coaches to see whether or not they have had similar experiences.
For context, these were Clunis’ comments on social media two weeks ago.
“Nobody wants to talk about the lack of funding or sponsorship that track and field gets. If you’re not ranked in the top 5, people don’t take you seriously. I am ranked in the top 30 (27 to be exact), while some countries would jump at the opportunity to help develop my talent…. not mine. They don’t help with anything outside of airfare and stay at national representative meets. Yes, I’ve been pleading for assistance from JAAA, JOA, even the minister, and no one is willing to help! How are athletes to survive!? It cost me $120 for a massage and $150 for chiro and I can only afford one, once a month! So, when you all see athletes like me not getting to that next level or not performing up to standard it’s because we are not getting the help we need to be great. I’m not asking for the world I’m asking for the basics to survive, that’s it!”
The 28-year-old represented Jamaica in the hammer throw at the World Championships in Budapest in August, failing to advance from qualifying with a best throw of 58.10m, a far cry from the 70.17m effort she produced at the National Championships just a month earlier.
SportsMax.tv reached out to a number of other athletes and coaches looking for opinions on various issues faced by field event athletes in Jamaica and, while a number of them declined to comment, coach Vassell obliged and shed some light on some important topics centered around the Jamaican throwing community.
The first issue Vassell brought up was difficulty in getting sponsorship for his Throws Only meet.
“We have a preference for track in Jamaica. We believe in track and we love track. I have a Throws Only meet which has gotten to the point now where we have been doing this for 20 years and it has shown to benefit Jamaica in where we have produced medalists at the world level and all of these people are what you would call alumni out of these throws meets,” he told SportsMax.tv.
“We can say it has an impact but, having been around for 20 years, it is still a struggle to find sponsors for the meet, a meet that is used by coaches and schools to test their athletes. It is still a struggle to get sponsors,” he added.
The current Girls head coach at Excelsior High School also brought up the issue of the lack of access to top-class equipment due to high costs.
“Track & Field throwing depends on implements. You need proper implements to throw. Where do you get these implements? Are they world class? A training javelin will cost you US$200. A real good javelin can cost you US$3000,” he said.
“These things are what you call cost prohibitive. It also means that even the suppliers in Jamaica like Carl Chang at Western Sports who has been really supportive of throwing events, he buys implements but again, because of the cost, he can’t buy top of the line implements because if he does nobody can afford to buy them,” Vassell added.
The question was then asked regarding whether or not a possible solution would be for the local track & field governing bodies to provide top-class equipment for the athletes to have access to year-round.
“The governing body provides implements for competition,” Vassell said.
“They ensure that there is world-class competition equipment available to use. That, in most cases, is the extent of their support because they tell you that, while they’re in charge of that, there role is not to develop the sport like that to provide implements,” he added.
He went on to say that while some athletes may have sponsorships and be provided with world-class equipment free of cost, lesser athletes mostly have to rely on athletes or coaches coming from overseas.
“Some of the lesser athletes are dependent on maybe some of the guys coming from college overseas might leave an implement or some of the coaches from foreign might come down and leave two implements for the kids because to get good quality implements is expensive!” he said.
Vassell also noted that the use of the lesser quality equipment has a direct effect on some of the performances we see from Jamaica throwers at big meets around the world.
“Jamaica being what it is, if I buy a US$3000 javelin and throw it and it hits the ground and breaks in two, where does that leave me? Nobody really wants to make that kind of investment. You can get away and buy some javelins for $300 and use them but when your throwers go to the international meets and are exposed to world-class high-level implements, then they don’t perform as they can because they’re not used to them,” he said.
“A javelin is weighted to fly a certain distance whether that’s 60, 70, 80 or 90 metres. A 70m javelin thrower cannot take up an 80m javelin and throw it 80m because the strain that it puts on his elbow and his throwing arm is totally different from what the 70m javelin does,” he added.
When brainstorming possible solutions to this lack of access, Vassell circled back to the first problem, getting more sponsorship.
“We’re trying our best to navigate these challenges. You find sponsors. I remember Mr. Chang from Western Sports sponsored me for one of my throwing meets and he gave me some implements. These implements were used as prizes. So, people won an event and got an implement as the prize,” he said.
Vassell also addressed the way field events in general are covered at televised track meets.
“The purists will love the field events because they are exciting. They have rounds; they have lead changes; they have one man starting out in the front and ending up fifth; you have one man leading with one round to go and ending up fourth; you have people moving from eighth to first in one round but, because of how it is shown, it’s not exciting for a lot of people because you don’t see these lead changes,” he said.
“When it’s on the TV they’re showing the 100m because nobody has the time to show the discus that is also happening where the lead changed four times in the last round,” he added.
He also made reference to his throws only meets.
“When we have our throwing events, we have people qualifying for Olympics and World Championships and throwing world leads. When the seniors are throwing, everybody is watching. Everything is on pause and they are the stars of the show but, because a lot of people don’t know about it, they just push it by the wayside.”
Vassell says his dream is to one day put on a shot-put competition in the Half-Way-Tree square in Kingston as a way to draw more public attention to field events
“One of the things that Diamond League organizers do, for instance, is they’ll have the shot put the Friday evening like in the middle of a square or something like that. I’ve had this idea in my head all along to have a shot-put competition in the middle of Half-Way-Tree,” he said.
“Again now, we’d have to get sponsors because if you want to make that exciting you’d have to have world-class shot putters so you’d have to have prize money. You get like three of the top throwers out of North America, two good sponsors. Give the winners US$5000 or $6000 as a prize and who knows, they might come,” he added.
Nicky Henderson feels Champ has gone a long way to living up to his name as he goes in search of a second Howden Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot on Saturday.
Owned by JP McManus, the soon-to-be 12-year-old won the race two years ago under Jonjo O’Neill jnr and he has maintained the partnership ever since.
Famously named after former champion jockey AP McCoy, Champ was a dual Grade One-winning novice hurdler as well as winning a Grade One novice chase at Cheltenham, beating Minella Indo and Allaho in dramatic style.
He will be making his first appearance of the season at Ascot but that is by design, with Henderson confident he is at his best fresh.
“He’s actually very good. He’s one of our real friends, he’s been here a long, long time,” Henderson told Sky Sports Racing.
“He’s lived up to his name in a lot of ways and you couldn’t have a nicer horse.
“He’s very laid back at home, he doesn’t show you an awful lot and he loves to be fresh.
“Last year we started at Newbury when he had a fantastic battle with Paisley Park and then came to the Long Walk, but we’ve always thought he’s possibly best first time out, so we kept him back from Newbury to have a crack at this again.
“Last year after the Long Walk we decided not to go to Cheltenham and keep him for Aintree, but it didn’t really work.
“He works with another old friend, On The Blind Side, who ran a fantastic race at Sandown the other day and they do all their work together but you can hardly call it work, they just go through the motions enjoying themselves.”
With fellow veterans Dashel Drasher and Paisley Park in opposition along with some much younger rivals, Henderson is looking forward to the race.
He said: “You are never confident about any of these Grade One races, it’s going to be very competitive and you can be pretty sure it will be a solid gallop with Dashel Drasher there.
“Paisley will be lurking around, one minute you think you’ve got him covered and then he’ll suddenly reappear at the death – it should be good.”
Editeur Du Gite is set for a return to Kempton over the Christmas period where he will attempt to defend his Ladbrokes Desert Orchid Handicap Chase crown.
Gary Moore’s nine-year-old was a shock 28-1 scorer when landing the then Grade Two prize 12 months ago and went on to claim the rearranged Clarence House Chase at Cheltenham, downing Energumene and Edwardstone in the process.
He has failed to hit those same heights since, but could be rejuvenated by a return to both the Sunbury track and better ground for a race that is now run as a limited handicap.
“Hopefully the ground wouldn’t be too soft for him because he does like better ground and he hasn’t had it so far this year,” said Moore. “We look forward to seeing him run there again.”
Editeur Du Gite could face a maximum of 10 rivals which could include former stablemate and Tingle Creek third Haddex Des Obeaux, who has since moved to Nicky Henderson and is in line for his first outing for the Seven Barrows handler.
Harry Fry’s Boothill made it two from two for the season when getting the better Frere D’Armes at Ascot last month and the duo could lock horns once again, with the latter one of two in the mix for Dan Skelton alongside 2020 race winner Nube Negra.
Kim Bailey’s First Flow is another to chase home Boothill this term and amongst the entries, while Joe Tizzard has the option of saddling both the in-form Elixir De Nutz and War Lord.
The supporting Ladbrokes Wayward Lad Novices’ Chase has attracted 10 entries and could see Sarah Humphrey’s Nickle Back drop back to the minimum distance.
The seven-year-old has been something of a star turn for the Cambridgeshire handler and was last seen chasing home the high-class Hermes Allen in the John Francome Novices’ Chase at Newbury.
Humphrey said: “He’s got that high cruising speed and I have dithered about doing it, but thought ‘yes, we’ll give two miles a go’.
“He has obviously won over two and a half miles and runs very well but he does tend to set it up for the ones behind him, so we’ll drop him back, give him a go and see what happens.”
Others to note include Venetia Williams’ Djelo, who is two from two over fences and impressed at Newbury recently, and the useful Marble Sands, who was a couple of places behind Nickle Back most recently and represents training duo David Killahena and Graeme McPherson.
Editeur Du Gite is set for a return to Kempton over the Christmas period where he will attempt to defend his Ladbrokes Desert Orchid Handicap Chase crown.
Gary Moore’s nine-year-old was a shock 28-1 scorer when landing the then Grade Two prize 12 months ago and went on to claim the rearranged Clarence House Chase at Cheltenham, downing Energumene and Edwardstone in the process.
He has failed to hit those same heights since, but could be rejuvenated by a return to both the Sunbury track and better ground for a race that is now run as a limited handicap.
“Hopefully the ground wouldn’t be too soft for him because he does like better ground and he hasn’t had it so far this year,” said Moore. “We look forward to seeing him run there again.”
Editeur Du Gite could face a maximum of 10 rivals which could include former stablemate and Tingle Creek third Haddex Des Obeaux, who has since moved to Nicky Henderson and is in line for his first outing for the Seven Barrows handler.
Harry Fry’s Boothill made it two from two for the season when getting the better Frere D’Armes at Ascot last month and the duo could lock horns once again, with the latter one of two in the mix for Dan Skelton alongside 2020 race winner Nube Negra.
Kim Bailey’s First Flow is another to chase home Boothill this term and amongst the entries, while Joe Tizzard has the option of saddling both the in-form Elixir De Nutz and War Lord.
The supporting Ladbrokes Wayward Lad Novices’ Chase has attracted 10 entries and could see Sarah Humphrey’s Nickle Back drop back to the minimum distance.
The seven-year-old has been something of a star turn for the Cambridgeshire handler and was last seen chasing home the high-class Hermes Allen in the John Francome Novices’ Chase at Newbury.
Humphrey said: “He’s got that high cruising speed and I have dithered about doing it, but thought ‘yes, we’ll give two miles a go’.
“He has obviously won over two and a half miles and runs very well but he does tend to set it up for the ones behind him, so we’ll drop him back, give him a go and see what happens.”
Others to note include Venetia Williams’ Djelo, who is two from two over fences and impressed at Newbury recently, and the useful Marble Sands, who was a couple of places behind Nickle Back most recently and represents training duo David Killahena and Graeme McPherson.
Jonjo O’Neill’s ante-post favourite Monbeg Genuis has been ruled out of the Coral Welsh National due to a foot abscess.
The chaser had led the market since a fine third in the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury and appeared to have plenty of the required attributes for the Chepstow marathon.
However, his name was not among the 22 who remain in contention for the December 27 showpiece and O’Neill admitted the timing of the foot issue could not be worse.
“He’s got an abscess so he won’t be ready in time, unfortunately,” said O’Neill.
“He did pick up a few cuts at Newbury, but it’s nothing to do with them, they’d all cleared up. If it’s not one thing, it’s another thing.
“It’s very annoying but when they are not right you can’t run them. He’ll be all right but it’s just the wrong time.
“Unfortunately I didn’t tell him he was running!
“We might have a look at the Classic Chase at Warwick or the race at Lingfield (Fleur de Lys Chase). I’m not really thinking to be honest, I just want to get him back.”
O’Neill is still likely to be represented in the race by Iron Bridge, who also holds an entry in Wetherby’s Rowland Meyrick Chase on Boxing Day.
“He’ll go to Chepstow all being well. I put him in at Wetherby because you never know with the weather and one thing or another, but Chepstow was always the plan,” he said.
“He didn’t run great the last day, it was maybe a combination of the trip being a bit sharp on decent ground.
“He seems in good form at home but you’d have liked to get a proper run into him beforehand, it’s a big race. He’s as good as we can have him without another run, so we’ll take our chance.”
Previous winner Iwilldoit tops the weights with Complete Unknown, The Big Breakaway, The Galloping Bear, Chambard and Autonomous Cloud all in contention.
The Jamie Snowden-trained Super Survivor, winner of a novice heat on the Welsh National undercard last year and second on his seasonal bow at Lingfield, is the new 9-2 favourite with the sponsor following Monbeg Genius’ withdrawal.
The Adelaide Thunderbirds proudly announce the acquisition of Jamaican netball sensation Romelda Aiken-George for the upcoming 2024 Suncorp Super Netball League season. The seasoned shooter, who recently concluded a season with the New South Wales Swifts, where she was temporary replacement for the injured Samantha Wallace.
Aiken-George, a stalwart in the netball arena, brings an impressive track record, having participated in 214 national league games and contributing significantly to Jamaica's national team for over a decade.
Her illustrious career commenced in 2008 with the Queensland Firebirds, where she played a pivotal role in securing three premierships and clinching consecutive MVP trophies. Aiken-George, known for her dominance on the court, joined the New South Wales Swifts in 2023, filling in for the injured Samantha Wallace and showcasing her prowess with a notable 847.5 Nissan Net Points.
The prolific goal shooter boasts an array of accomplishments, including holding the record for the highest number of goals in a grand final with an impressive tally of 63. Additionally, she etched her name in Suncorp Super Netball history by becoming the first player to score 3500 goals.
Joining Jamaican teammates Shamera Sterling and Latanya Wilson on the Thunderbirds roster, Aiken-George's arrival is anticipated to fortify the team's attacking prowess for the upcoming season. Thunderbirds High Performance Manager Pitre Bourdon expressed enthusiasm about the newest addition, highlighting Aiken-George's experience and scoring consistency.
"Romelda has been a shooting force in the game for over a decade, as evidenced by her stellar performance in the 2023 season," Bourdon commented. "Her wealth of experience will be invaluable to our relatively young attack end, and we eagerly look forward to welcoming Romelda into the Thunderbirds family for the 2024 season."
Melbourne Cup-winning trainer David Eustace is to leave Australia for a new role in Hong Kong.
UK-born Eustace has been a joint-trainer with Ciaron Maher since 2018 and the pair have built up one of the most successful operations in Australia.
They have been champion trainers in Victoria for the past four seasons and are the current holders of the national trainers’ championship.
The pair have jointly trained over 1,600 winners which have included 30 Group Ones, with Gold Trip’s Melbourne Cup win last year arguably the highlight.
Eustace said: “My mother Gay is David Oughton’s sister and as a nine or 10-year-old, I was aware of David training over in Hong Kong and thought that it would be an amazing experience to train there eventually and it has genuinely been something in the forefront of my mind since then, really.
“It’s a great honour to be invited to train in Hong Kong. There are limited spots and there’s fierce competition, which certainly excites me. I think it’s a rare opportunity for someone probably of my age (32) to be able to go there and hopefully have a long and successful career – that’s certainly the aim.”
Eustace built up a strong body of work in Australia and feels now is the time to make the break on his own. His father, James, was a long-standing trainer in Newmarket while brother Harry is already a Royal Ascot winner.
“I spent a year with Peter Moody and then another year with Peter and Paul Snowden the year Capitalist won the Golden Slipper and that was fantastic. After that, Ciaron got in touch and I started working with him in 2015,” said Eustace.
“I hope to bring a varied style of training with experiences from the UK, experiences from Australia and with an emphasis on using sports science and data to enhance a horse’s training, longevity and careers in Hong Kong,”
Botox Has will spearhead Gary Moore’s Howden Long Walk Hurdle challenge on Saturday, with stable stalwart Goshen also poised to line-up at Ascot.
The former produced arguably a career best when claiming Wetherby’s Grade Two West Yorkshire Hurdle last month and his handler has been waiting for a crack at this Grade One ever since.
The form of that race has a strong look with Jeremy Scott’s reopposing Wetherby third Dashel Drasher getting the better of three-time Long Walk hero Paisley Park at Newbury and Moore is now keen to see if Botox Has can back up that performance and cement his place as one of the leading players in a wide-open division.
“I’m looking forward to running him and the form is working out well,” said Moore.
“Hopefully he is as good as he was that day at Wetherby but time will tell.
“He’s always been a fair horse and he was probably one of the best English horses during his juvenile year – if it had not been for Goshen he would have been the top four-year-old, he’s always been a good horse.
“He didn’t really take to chasing but has done well reverting back to hurdles.”
The race also offers a huge opportunity to conditional jockey Caoilin Quinn, who was aboard Botox Has when winning a valuable handicap at Haydock last season and when striking at Wetherby, with Moore feeling he deserves the chance to continue the association.
He said: “He has won two nice races on him so you could hardly take him off.”
There are no secrets surrounding the enigmatic Goshen, who was a winner at this track last term and also finished second when this race took place at Kempton last Boxing Day, but has struggled in both outings over hurdles this term.
Last seen in the rearranged Fighting Fifth at Sandown, Moore feels the return to three miles is just what the seven-year-old now requires and said: “I think that now suits him better, but I don’t know if the ground is going to be soft enough for him.
“It was an afterthought (to go to Sandown) and I probably shouldn’t have run there. He’s danced every dance.”
A field of 10 will head to post with Paisley Park going for win number four in the Grade One and Nicky Henderson’s Champ bidding to regain the title he won in 2021.
Dan Skelton’s West Balboa will try to extend her three-race winning-run after an impressive display at Aintree last month, while Fergal O’Brien has always thought plenty of Crambo who suffered an interrupted passage when third at Haydock.
Blueking D’Oroux is on a rapid upward curve and unbeaten in two outings this term. He is one of two for champion trainer Paul Nicholls alongside West Yorkshire hurdle runner-up Red Risk, with the in-form Gavin Sheehan aboard Nigel Twiston-Davies’ Gowel Road.
Last year’s winner Into Overdrive is on course to make his seasonal reappearance in the William Hill Rowland Meyrick Handicap Chase at Wetherby on Boxing Day.
Mark Walford’s staying chaser lined up in the West Yorkshire track’s traditional festive feature as a leading contender 12 months ago, having already won at Wetherby in the autumn before pushing top-class stayer L’Homme Presse close in the Rehearsal Chase at Newcastle.
Into Overdrive was disappointingly pulled up when well fancied for the Ultima Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in March and while he has not been seen in competitive action since, Walford is pleased with his condition ahead of his belated return.
He said: “A few of our horses haven’t been quite firing and he’d have been on that list, but they seem to be coming right now and he seems in good nick.
“We haven’t actually missed anything as a race at Wetherby we would have run him in was off and then the Rehearsal was off as well. They were the two races we’d have gone for and they were abandoned anyway.
“He seems in good form, Jamie (Hamilton) schooled him on Tuesday and it went well, so we’re hoping for a decent run next week.
“There’s plenty of races coming up for him in the new year and we’re looking forward to getting him out. It will be a big ask for him to win first time out in a race like this, but he’s a decent horse and I think we’ve got him in good nick.”
Into Overdrive is one of 16 entries for the Rowland Meyrick, with Sandy Thomson’s Empire Steel, Dan Skelton’s Ashtown Lad and the Nicky Richards-trained pair of Houston Texas and Famous Bridge among his potential rivals.
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