WARREN IS SWEET ON TOM
TRAINER Warren Greatrex described Emitom as one of the best he has ever trained after a facile victory at Lingfield yesterday.
But punters who plunged on the 1-8 shot had their hearts in their mouths when the five-year-old made a shocking blunder at the first flight.
Gavin Sheehan somehow sat tight and went on to steer the rising star to an easy success in the novice hurdle.
Greatrex will now aim Emitom at the Listed Sidney Banks Memorial Hurdle at Huntingdon next month en route to a possible tilt at the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.
Setback
The Lambourn trainer said: “That [the mistake] wasn’t ideal at the first, but in a funny kind of way it probably woke him up a bit.
“Like I’ve said all along, his jumping has taken a bit of time to come to hand but he was good after that.
“He is coming back after a setback, where he was under the weather.
“There were a few ideas of going somewhere grand but as he had been off for a while, I thought the best thing to do was win another one.”
Greatrex, saddling his 23rd winner of the season, added: “He has got loads of class and I think he is a good horse.
“He is one of those horses whose biggest asset is his character.
“He needs to sharpen up to be competitive around Cheltenham but it could be when we put him in a better race he becomes more alert. Talentwise, he is as good as I’ve had.
“I would say that has done him good over two miles and Gavin said you could stick to two miles on a stiffer track.
“But I think two and a half is his best trip at the moment.
“I’d like to step him up in class and maybe something like the Sidney Banks (at Huntingdon next month) could be an option.
“We have done well in that race, the last few years.”
Jockey Tom O’Brien was in hot water at Lingfield when he failed to weigh in after finishing third on Shaws Cross in the starsportsbet.co.uk Handicap Hurdle.
The horse was disqualified after a stewards’ inquiry and O’Brien was banned from riding for seven days.
Another rider facing a spell on the sidelines is Noel Fehily, who underwent emergency surgery to have his appendix removed last weekend.
Fehily, who had stomach pains on Friday and gave up his rides at Kempton on Saturday, was rushed to hospital on Saturday and underwent keyhole surgery. He is hoping to be discharged from hospital later this week.