Benson hoping to be the star of the show again at £310k Kelso card

Last year’s two-length victor Benson is set to defend his crown in the £120,000 bet365 Morebattle Handicap Hurdle, the centrepiece on a star-studded £310,000 card at Kelso on Saturday.

And once again, there is a £100,000 bonus up for grabs should the winner go on to land any race at the Cheltenham Festival later in the month. Benson, trained locally by Sandy Thomson, was pulled up in the Coral Cup but the bonus was scooped in 2021 by The Shunter.

The Shunter was later sold to JP Mcmanus and his famous colours are carried by Nicky Henderson-trained mare Under Control, one of the market leaders and a close runnerup in a Grade 2 hurdle at Doncaster in January.

Another mare, Brucio, is prominent in the betting too and she also holds an entry in the £55,000 Grade 2 bet365 Premier Novices’ Hurdle. She sports the ‘double-green’ silks of Simon Munir and Isaac Souede and was an easy winner in Listed company at last month’ s dublin racing festival.

The likely favourite for the Premier Hurdle is Nicky Henderson’s Jango Baie, who cost £170,000 at the sales last february andre paid a chunk of that by bagging a Grade 1 contest at Aintree on Boxing Day.

Meanwhile, Pitwood Road has plenty going for her in today’s Camden Stout Mares' Maiden Hurdle at Bangor.

County Cork trainer Terence O'brien brought her over to win a bumper at Ayr and he has now moved his attention from Scotland to Wales.

The six-year-old mare is owned by Derrick Mossop, who saw his colours carried to victory by Anglers Crag in the valuable Eider Chase last weekend, so he is on the crest of a wave currently.

Having chased home the useful Annalecka on her debut under rules having won a point to point, she was prominent in the betting at Thurles before Christmas but failed to lay a glove on Willie Mullins' Femme Magnifique, who ran in a Grade Two next time out.

Brought to Ayr earlier this month, she won in a canter under Brian Hughes and he maintains the ride in a race in which his main employer Donald Mccain has two runners.