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.

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.

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.

Officials at Newbury will stage a precautionary inspection at 7.30am to decide whether day one of the track’s Coral Gold Cup meeting on Friday can go ahead as scheduled.

The Berkshire circuit is due to host to a quality two-day fixture, with Grade Two honours up for grabs in both the Coral Long Distance Hurdle and the John Francome Novices’ Chase on Friday’s card.

Ground staff covered the entire course earlier this week in an attempt to guard against the cold snap – but while conditions were described as raceable on Thursday morning, a forecast for another night of sub-zero temperatures has prompted clerk of the course George Hill to call an early-morning check.

It is a similar story ahead of Doncaster’s National Hunt meeting on Friday, with a precautionary inspection also set to take place at 7.30am on Town Moor.

Clerk of the course Paul Barker said: “We’d race today, but temperatures are due to drop again this evening, lower than they’ve been for the last two nights, and daytime temperatures tomorrow aren’t as warm as they are today.

“There’s a chance of wintry showers this evening, so fingers crossed we get a bit of cloud cover which will help us stay above freezing.

“We dropped just below freezing last night and tonight we’re due to get down to minus 2C and temperatures are going to struggle to get above 2C by lunchtime.

“It’s only right we look at it in the morning and see what’s happened overnight.”

A full programme of racing is set to take place on Thursday after jumps meetings at Lingfield and Taunton passed morning inspections.

Harry Derham is eager to see further progress from Brentford Hope when he lines up in the Coral Bet Bundles Intermediate Handicap Hurdle at Newbury on Saturday.

A useful operator in both codes for Richard Hughes previously, he has won three times in just four starts for his new handler, with Derham having seemingly found the key to unlock the talented six-year-old’s full potential.

He returned with an emphatic 16-length success over the Gerry Feilden course and distance earlier this month and having been raised 11lb by the handicapper, now faces the toughest jumping assignment of his career as he takes on Nicky Henderson’s big-race fancy Under Control.

Also a track-and-trip scorer and a winner of four of her five career appearances, the unexposed four-year-old comes with a fearsome reputation in a race Henderson has won three times in the last four years and Derham concedes Brentford Hope’s task would be much simpler without Under Control’s presence.

“I think Under Control is pretty hard to ignore and her form looks pretty good to me, I would much rather she wasn’t in the race,” said Derham.

“She’s obviously a course-and-distance winner too, but I’m very pleased with Brentford Hope. He will have improved for that last run but he would have needed to.

“He’s a good horse and he looks to me like he has improved this season. It was nice to see what he did at Newbury, although maybe he won a bit too far.

“He’s a good horse but Saturday will be a really big test for him so he will have needed to improve.

“I wouldn’t have minded the ground to be a little bit wetter to be honest. I would have loved it to have been a bit slower and it looks like it has dried up quite a lot this week, but he will take his chance and hopefully he will run a big race.”

Dan Skelton has the Finale Juvenile Hurdle in mind for Kourosh after he strolled to victory on his British debut at Wetherby.

The well-backed 8-11 favourite was on winner on the Flat in Germany and in truth had little to beat in the wetherbyracing.co.uk Juvenile Maiden Hurdle.

Harry Skelton sent him into an early lead and he must have almost been a distance clear at one point in the straight, before being heavily eased to win by 21 lengths.

The Finale at Chepstow on December 27 has been downgraded to a Grade Two for this season.

Skelton said: “He’s a nice horse, from the first time we showed him a hurdle he’s wanted to jump which is a great attitude to have for a juvenile.

“He stayed a mile and six in Germany so the trip was never going to be an issue and he handles very soft ground. I think he can take pretty high standing.

“There are a few races worth a few quid in mind and with the laid-back attitude he has I’d have no problem going to Chepstow with him for the Finale. I know there’ll be some fancier horses going but they’ll need to show their liking for the ground whereas we’ve got that in our pocket already.”

He added: “I’ve got some nice juveniles, I run one next week called Le Fauve that came from France who is quite useful.”

Sam Drinkwater’s Gallic Geordie (5-1) won the feature Peter Beaumont Handicap Chase under Ned Fox.

“He pricks his ears when he’s in front but he has plenty of ability,” said Fox.

“He ran well first time out and everything fell in his favour today.”

Sue Smith’s Cerendipity (11-4) was thought highly enough of to run in the EBF Final at Sandown last season and got off the mark over fences at the second time of asking.

A fair third at Sedgefield first time out, he beat two useful types in Ukantango and Missed Tee and the six-year-old can only keep on improving.

Daryl Jacob was in saddle due to his association with owner Aafke Clarke, who has had the classy Midnight Shadow, the 2021 Paddy Power Gold Cup winner run in her colours.

Jacob said: “He’s getting there. He had a problem with his wind with that has been sorted.

“Sue picked out this race, it looked the right one to go for and he’s rewarded them.

“He’s a typical one of Sue and Harvey (Smith), he’ll keep on improving.”

The excellent Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero bagged another winner when No But I Will (7-2) held off Skelton’s Snipe in the Visit racingtv.com Handicap Chase.

Henry Brooke, who has struck up a good relationship with the yard, said: “His jumping is a big asset, but I didn’t give him the best of rides there. I got involved far too soon, but I was just anxious the one in front was getting a freebie.

“He’s a funny little horse to ride as he never really takes you anywhere, but he’s got a decent little engine on him when you rev him up.”

The Skeltons also had to settle for second with The Village Way in the Watch Race Replay At Racing TV Novices’ Hurdle as Toonagh Warrior (5-2) gained a first victory at the eighth attempt.

Now with Stuart Edmunds, he had previously been trained in Ireland by Philip Fenton.

Audacious Annie (11-8 favourite) won the closing mares’ bumper in fine style for Jamie Snowden and Gavin Sheehan.

The winner is a half-sister the classy stablemate You Wear It Well.

“She’s a really lovely mare, her owner, Semore Kurdi, sent her to me as we’d done such a good job with her sister and if she’s half as good we’ll be happy,” said Snowden.

“We’ll see how she comes out of this, but it would be lovely to think we could go for some black type.”

Nicky Richards is confident Haydock scorer Famous Bridge can keep progressing through the staying ranks, but a lack of chasing experience may put any Grand National ambitions on hold for this season.

The seven-year-old delighted his trainer when enhancing his fencing record to three wins from six appearances at the weekend and the handicapper was equally impressed, raising the gelding 6lb to a new rating of 135.

Richards will now seek out further opportunities for the talented stayer to continue his progression having always been hopeful he would develop into a handy operator.

“He did what we hoped he would do and I thought he did it nicely,” said Richards.

“He jumped economically and he jumped well down the home straight when he had to and stayed on well. He did everything nicely.

“He’s always looked fairly progressive. Hopefully he is still looking like that.

“I’m not quite sure where he goes next and he’s young for a staying chaser. He will be running in a nice race or two, but I’m not sure where that will be. We won’t be rushing into things, we will have a look at the programme book and take it from there.

“He’s a progressive horse and when you get one like that you want him to run in the little bit better races and we will be stepping up as he goes through the ratings hopefully.”

Famous Bridge runs in the colours of the late Trevor Hemmings who was synonymous with Grand National success thanks to the exploits of Hedgehunter, Ballabriggs and Many Clouds at Aintree. And given connections, Richards admits that the Liverpool showpiece has entered conversations.

However, the Greystoke handler is unsure whether the stern examination of the National is what Famous Bridge requires at this early stage of his chasing career.

“I’m sure Aintree will be on the agenda at some stage if things are going right, that goes without question,” continued Richards.

“Mick (Meagher) and the whole team think very similar to how the boss used to think, but we will try to do what is best by the horse this year and make the right moves.”

He went on: “He’s only had six runs over fences and if he was going to go in the National this year he might only have one more run, maybe two at the most, and would that be just enough experience for him? I’m not quite sure.

“It’s very interesting and we don’t know where the journey is going to end, but hopefully we are on an interesting one.”

Impressive Cheltenham scorer Broadway Boy will have his sights raised in his next outing, with connections eyeing either Sandown or Kempton next month for their star staying novice.

Trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies, the five-year-old went into plenty of notebooks when making a low-key fencing bow at Worcester, before performing encouragingly in defeat behind Flooring Porter in October.

Returning to Prestbury Park for Listed action during the November Meeting, he confirmed the promise of his early chasing endeavours with a destructive display, making all as he romped to a 20-length victory over well-regarded stablemate Weveallbeencaught.

The talented young chaser is now in line for a step up in class with Sandown’s Betfair Esher Novices’ Chase on December 8 or a Boxing Day tilt at Kempton’s Grade One Ladbrokes Kauto Star Novices’ Chase both options for his next start.

“He’s come out of Cheltenham amazingly well,” said Willie Twiston-Davies, who in his role as assistant to his father plays a key part in readying Broadway Boy.

“I’m a bit unsure where we are going to run him as the horse will tell me when he’s fresh and well again, but he seems to have come out of Cheltenham brilliantly.

“I suppose we will enter for Sandown on December 8 for the Esher Chase, the Grade Two on Tingle Creek weekend. If not we will probably wait for Kempton and go there.”

Although having one eye on the Cheltenham Festival in March, the Twiston-Davies team are keen to strike while the iron is hot when their talented operator is ready for action, with nothing among the UK staying novice ranks giving connections many sleepless nights.

“There is no rush and the owner Mr Proos is really laid back,” continued Twiston-Davies.

“We’ve obviously got one eye on March, but we realise there is plenty of prize-money and races to be won on this side of the pond at the minute.

“Stay Away Fay was impressive, but I don’t think many will have the improvement Broadway Boy has probably got. He’s only five and already running to a high rating so early on in his career. I don’t think we’ve seen the best of him yet.”

Broadway Boy’s Cheltenham victory saw him introduced into the betting for the two staying novice events at the Festival in March and although a shade shorter at a general 16-1 for the longer National Hunt Chase, connections are certain he will be sticking to the three-mile route, with the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase the aim for March.

Twiston-Davies added: “Dad and I had a big discussion about it after he won at Cheltenham. He’s only five now and will be six at the time, so I don’t think we want to be running over four miles and we would like to think he has a bit more class than just being a four-mile slogger at this stage of his career – he’s not slow at all.

“I think he’s a very classy animal and I don’t think we need to be going four miles just yet.”

The younger Twiston-Davies cut a delighted figure after Broadway Boy’s Cheltenham success, racing to the top of the shoot to congratulate winning rider and good friend Tom Bellamy.

And although admitting he should not have favourites, it is clear Broadway Boy holds a special place in the former jockey’s affections having been involved with the horse from the very moment he was purchased for just £22,000.

“I bought him and broke him in and have sort of ridden him every day,” said Twiston-Davies.

“You don’t sort of have favourites but you do get attached to some horses and this is just one of those I’ve been fortunate enough to ride every day and I deal with David Proos the owner very closely.

“It’s more chance than anything, but luckily he has turned into a very nice horse.”

Mouse Morris views the Make Your Best Bet At BetVictor Chase at Thurles as the perfect starting point for French Dynamite.

The consistent eight-year-old ran several big races in defeat last season, including when narrowly denied in the Paddy Power Gold Cup and when jumping the final fence in front in the Ryanair before fading into fourth.

Morris had earmarked the Clonmel Oil Chase as the place to get his season under way but testing ground has delayed him by a few weeks.

However, despite this only being Listed class, he faces five from the powerful Willie Mullins yard with two having won at Grade One level in the past.

“It’s some race isn’t it? It couldn’t be much tougher!” said Morris.

“He’s very well anyway, and we’ve got to get him started somewhere. We’ve had him ready a while, he was supposed to go to Clonmel but the ground was way too soft that day.

“We’ll see what happens and see how he gets on. We have to start somewhere.

“He’s a grand horse, I’d love a stable full of horses like him but he is just stuck between a rock and a hard place in not quite being a Grade One horse so far. The ground is a big thing for him, he always needs goodish ground.

“I have a couple of things in the back of my mind for him later in the season, but we’ll have to see how things go. He might be a horse for the Grand National, something like that.”

Mullins runs Janidil (Jody McGarvey), Classic Getaway (Danny Mullins), Capodanno (Mark Walsh) and Haut En Couleurs (Paul Townend).

Conor O’Dwyer’s El Barra, Ellmarie Holden’s Ex Patriot and Gordon Elliott’s Farouk D’alene complete the list.

A debate in parliament on the subject of controversial affordability checks is “crucial”, according to Nevin Truesdale, chief executive of the Jockey Club.

Industry leaders have warned that new regulations could cost the sport up to £250million over the next five years, threatening racecourses with closure and putting some of the 80,000-plus jobs associated with racing at risk.

On Tuesday, a petition against the implementation of what are seen as intrusive checks passed 100,000 signatures – the point at which parliament is obliged to consider whether to hold a debate into the proposals.

The petition is industry-wide, but is registered in the name of Truesdale, who said: “The racing industry and its many supporters have demonstrated the level of concern about the proposed affordability checks by helping this petition reach 100,000 signatures.

“The government has been left in no doubt about the strength of opposition to these intrusive and potentially discriminatory checks with a knock-on effect to racing’s financial ecosystem and the 88,000 jobs which depend upon it. It is therefore crucial that we now secure a debate in parliament so that the vitally important issue of problem gambling and how best to address it in the digital age can be discussed properly.

“We want to see targeted measures implemented so that those at risk of gambling harm get the support they need and that measures are put in place which actually address the core issue. As such I would urge parliament to take steps to ensure such a debate takes place as swiftly as possible.

“British racing has consistently demonstrated that it is stronger and more effective when it works together and the way we have collaborated on this issue, which threatens the future of the industry in so many ways, is another fantastic example of that.”

Leading National Hunt trainer Nicky Henderson helped drive the push to reach 100,000 signatures.

In an open letter to Racing TV customers, he wrote: “In recent weeks, I have realised that this very much is my problem. If you are reading this, you are a racing fan, which means it’s your problem as well.

“I have spoken to one or two quite serious punters who are already being impacted by affordability checks and are furious that the gambling white paper is set to make it even harder for them.

“They are adamant they are not going to hand over their personal financial documents. I don’t blame them. Why should they or any punter, big or small, be told whether or not they can afford to have a bet?

“It is completely wrong in principle – and even if you don’t bet, it doesn’t mean this has nothing to do with you. Affordability checks are going to smash a hole in racing’s finances and do untold damage to British racing and rural communities.

“That’s why I’ve been urging people in Lambourn to sign the sport’s petition against affordability checks. This is a massive issue and we must do all we can to make a difference.”

Earlier this month, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport provided a detailed response to the setting up of the affordability checks petition.

It stated: “The government recognises the enormous value of horseracing as both a spectator sport and through its economic contribution.

“The white paper’s estimate was that financial risk checks will reduce online horserace betting yield by 6% to 11%, which would in turn reduce racing’s income by £8.4 to £14.9 million per year (0.5% to 1% of its total income) through a reduction in levy, media rights and sponsorship returns.

“We are working with racing and refining that estimate. We have also commenced a review of the Horserace Betting Levy to ensure a suitable return to the sport for the future.

“The government and Gambling Commission are working with the industry and others to ensure the checks can be implemented in an effective but proportionate way.

“We are also exploring the role of pilots or phased implementation to help ensure this. The Gambling Commission will set out details on its plans in due course.”