Nicholls hope set in Stone
SUITED BY CONDITIONS Southfield Stone
CONDITIONS have dried up just in time for Southfield Stone in the Close Brothers Handicap Chase at Kempton today.
Trained by Paul Nicholls, the eight-year-old certainly has more to offer over fences than we have had the chance to see to date.
He simply must have good ground to be seen at his best, as he showed when beating the talented Angels Breath in the Dovecote Novices’ Hurdle at this meeting two years ago.
Flat tracks definitely suit him best too, which was why, despite winning that Grade Two, Nicholls did not even send him to Cheltenham that year, instead waiting for Aintree where soft ground scuppered him.
As he did not win his first novice chase until February last season having had the misfortune of bumping into some smart recruits, he was still eligible for a novice in October, when he beat the subsequent Paddy Power Gold Cup winner Coole Cody.
He has subsequently been put in his place by Protektorat, although there was no disgrace in that considering he was giving him weight, and then bogged down in the Caspian Caviar Gold Cup won by Chatham Street Lad.
That run though, along with his effort in Grade One company at Aintree, are the only times he has been out of the frame in 17 starts and his consistency must be admired.
It is not hard to make a case for him as he is trained by a master, has his ground, loves the track and arrives having won a jumpers’ bumper most recently, beating the smart Didtheyleaveuoutto.
THE Gordon Elliott-trained Teahupoo should book his place on the lorry to Cheltenham by landing the Grade 3 Norman Colfer Winning Fair Juvenile Hurdle at Fairyhouse today.
The card features three Grade 3 events, including the Bobbyjo – a traditional stepping-stone to the Randox Grand National, and the Red Mills Trial Hurdle – transferred from Gowran Park.
But the unbeaten Teahupoo looks the best bet in the graded action. And, if he follows-up his Irish debut success over course and distance, a trip to Cheltenham could be on the cards.
Successful on his only start in his native
France, a juvenile hurdle at Auteuil in
October, Teahupoo had his first outing for
Cullentra over this course and distance in mid-january and, sent to the front turning for home, had been joined and marginally headed by odds-on favourite Youmdor when that rival crashed at the final flight.
It looked likely Youmdor (subsequently disappointing in a Grade 1 at Leopardstown) would have prevailed. But, left clear, Teahupoo galloped on resolutely to the line to score by 15 lengths from subsequent Naas winner Druid’s Altar.
Willie Mullins relies on German import and hurdling debutant Tax For
Max, successful once in six starts on the level and tried in Group 1 company on his final start in Germany.
And Joseph O’brien’s filly Scholastic, receiving 11lb from Teahupoo, is another danger. But Teahupoo might prove a cut above his five rivals.
Bidding for a six-in-a-row in the race, Willie Mullins (inset) runs both last year’s winner Acapella Bourgeois and Aintree-bound Burrows Saint in the Bobbyjo Chase.
Back at the scene of his 2019 Boylesports Irish Grand National victory, Burrows Saint is best-suited by race conditions. And, the choice of Paul Townend, he gets a marginal vote despite two largely disappointing runs over hurdles this season.
Expected to strip fitter than when fading late to finish sixth behind Sams Profile in the Galmoy last time, Burrows Saint is rated 1lb superior to Acapella Bourgeois and receives 6lb from his stable-companion. Acapella, brushed aside by dual Gold Cup winner Al Boum Photo at Tramore on New Year’s Day, finished fifth to Coko Beach in the Thyestes last time and is a big threat, while Tony Martin’s classy seasonal debutant Anibale Fly is sure to improve from the run.
Although set to concede weight to his five rivals, Henry de Bromhead’s unexposed Jason The Militant, a close third to Abacadabras in the Grade 1 Morgiana, might overcome an absence by taking the Red Mills Trial Hurdle.