Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
THE CAP FITS
Walker ace Capriolette looks hot to trot on the all-weather if Lingfield can beat the big freeze
THE big freeze might have shunted back one of the best cards of the winter for eight days but all is not lost.
Lingfield’s all-weather meeting has come to the rescue and, while it doesn’t make up for the absence of Newbury’s ‘Super Saturday’, it makes sure we have some weekend sport to get stuck into this afternoon.
CAPRIOLETTE (3.10) has been knocking around on the sand all winter without success.
Ed Walker’s (right) mare does need things to drop perfectly but there’s every chance they might in this 1m2f handicap. She’s had only one race over today’s distance since last January, when ridden at the front from a wide draw at this course a week before Christmas.
Her 2019 form suggests she’s becoming well weighted and she
VALUE SCOPE has three all-weather fancies
should get a nice pace to aim at. Have 1pt each-way at 8-1.
Saturday teatime used to be all about Basil Brush, Noel
Edmonds or Gladiators, depending on how old you are, but this week it should pay to tune into racing from
Wolverhampton.
EPIC CHALLENGE
(5.15) has clearly had his problems.
He had 11 months off the track before making his debut for Ivan Furtado at Kempton in September.
His return from a three-month break over today’s track and trip last month was more promising, and he looked like he would take another step forward for the run. Jockey Jason Hart should be able to slot into a nice position from stall four and Furtado has his team in sparkling form. Have 1pt each-way at 6-1.
Hart also rides another of my fancies later in the evening. He’s on LORD RIDDIFORD (7.15) in the 5f sprint that looks a hot little contest.
John Quinn’s speedster was successful over tonight’s course and distance in November when both Venturous and Royal Birth were well beaten. He was forced to go too fast at this track in December when Venturous turned the form around but the weights favour Lord Riddiford this time.
Losing Hart coming out of the stalls at Chelmsford last month was bad luck but he was second favourite behind eventual winner Tone The Barone for that race and he’s a much bigger price today.
I was keen to take on Tone The Barone even though he’s won all four of his races on the sand.
However, they’ve all been at Chelmsford where you are more likely to get the strong pace he enjoys.
There’s less chance of a decent gallop in this contest and that should help Lord Riddiford get across from his wide draw in stall seven. Have 2pts to win at 6-1.
be taken at public auction and no-notice testing to be applied as the IHRB veterinary team has been granted authorised office status.
“Integrity around anti-doping is a top priority for the Irish racing and breeding industry,” said HRI’S chief executive Brian Kavanagh (inset).
“People who set out to intentionally break the rules and use prohibited substances will be identified and prosecuted. They have no place in Ireland’s worldrenowned racing industry, and all industry bodies are committed to zero tolerance in this area.”
He was speaking at HRI’S announcement that new powers, new supports and new funding will be deployed to ensure continuous improvement in the area of anti-doping. HRI will work closely with all racing bodies to ensure Ireland continues to operate to the best international standards. Under new powers granted to the IHRB by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, every thoroughbred in the country will be liable for testing without notice on both licensed (trainers) and unlicensed premises.
NOT for nothing does Paul Nicholls refer to Dan Skelton as ‘Mini Me’.
The similarities between the 11-time champion trainer and his assistant of nine years are endless.
Both are robust personalities who speak their mind and combine a gift for training National Hunt horses with a single-minded drive that borders on obsession.
Nicholls has been at the top of his trade for a decade and a half, and Skelton is on the ascent.
“Winning Grade 1s is vitally important,” admits the son of showjumping legend Nick, who sent out the first runners from his Lodge Hill base in Alcester eight years ago.
Skelton’s numbers, along with those of his jockey-brother Harry, have built up over the years.
But this season the pair have placed the accent on quality.
“We set out with a totally different ambition,” explains the trainer. “When they started coming back in, I thought, ‘These are a fancy bunch — if we get it right, these could be the ones to take us to another level.’”
That Skelton currently sits second behind his mentor in the trainers’ table is testament to the exploits of such as
Allmankind (right),
Shan Blue, Nube Negra and Roksana. Allmankind, a Grade 1 victor in the Henry VIII Novices’ Chase at Sandown Park in December, will tune up for an Arkle Trophy clash with Shishkin and Energumene in the rescheduled Agetur UK Kingmaker Novices’ Chase at Warwick on Monday.
The five-year-old is a 10-1 Arkle shot with Ladbrokes, and Skelton admits: “I don’t think we’ll ever be favourite against either Energumene or Shishkin, but that doesn’t bother me. “They are very, very good horses, but I believe in this horse,” adds the 35-year-old, who, like his old boss, likes to celebrate a big-race success with a stop off at Mcdonald’s on his way home.
Roksana is on course to take on male opposition for the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle at Cheltenham, while Skelton is insistent Nube Negra, who defeated Altior in the Desert Orchid Chase at Kempton over Christmas, will be “the fastest horse” in the Betway Queen Mother Champion Chase. In other words, the ‘fancy bunch’ have delivered.
“It’s where the owners want to be,” says Skelton. “It’s exhilarat ing. It’s fun. It’s top-end sport.
“It’s something I get to be a part of – despite my unhealthy diet, I get to be a competitor!