EPATANTE CAN GET BACK IN WINNERS’ CIRCLE

WITH stablemate Constitution Hill safely tucked away in his box, Epatante appears to have found an excellent opportunity to get back to winning ways in The New One Unibet Hurdle at Haydock this afternoon.

The JP McManus-owned mare is clearly no slouch, with a Champion Hurdle, an Aintree Hurdle, two

Christmas Hurdles and two Fighting Fifth Hurdles already in her satchel.

She has proved no match for the magnificent Constitution Hill in either the Fighting Fifth or the Christmas Hurdle so far this season, beaten 12 lengths at Newcastle and 17 at Kempton. But she was comfortably best of the rest on both occasions and is odds-on for this weekend’s Grade Two assignment. Henderson told Unibet: ‘I think for all of us the ground is a bit of a worry but there’s nothing we can do about it and at the moment we just have to take what we can. ‘She’s been ticking over nicely and this is a good opportunity to give her the chance of winning a race after bumping into Constitution Hill all season.’

The highest-rated horse in the field is Jason The Militant, who makes his debut for Phil Kirby after being bought out of Henry de Bromhead’s yard.

The nine-year-old, who won at Grade Three and Grade Two level over hurdles, has also been declared for Lingfield on Sunday – but looks set to head for Merseyside provided the meeting goes ahead.

Kirby said: ‘He’s done everything he’s been asked to do and we were hoping for some soft ground this weekend. It looks like we’ve got it, so we just need the racing to be on somewhere.’