CUE UP FOR THE KING GEORGE
TRAINERS make plans and the weather gods laugh.
But in the case of Nigel Twiston-Davies and his carefully plotted, and quickly aborted, novice chase campaign for stable star The New One, it all turned out well in the end.
A deep frost ended all chance of The New One making an expected winning novice chase debut at Exeter earlier this month.
A week later he reverted to hurdles and won Cheltenham’s International Hurdle for the third time with Richard Johnson deputising for regular pilot Sam Twiston-Davies, who was claimed to ride for his boss Paul Nicholls.
Now Twiston-Davies snr has postponed steering the gelding over fences for the foreseeable future, saying: “Exeter was definitely the best abandonment that ever happened. I must send a Christmas card to Exeter.”
THE NEW ONE (2.40) lines up in the 32Red.com Christmas Hurdle and can again beat My Tent Or Yours, who was behind him at Cheltenham, as well as the exciting second-season hurdler Yanworth.
Young Twiston-Davies, who has partnered the classy hurdler in 24 of his 26 races so far, takes over in the saddle.
The best bet on today’s holiday card is King George VI Chase favourite CUE CARD (3.15, nap).
Cue Card is a classic example of the improvement wrought by the new regime at the Colin Tizzard stable.
He won the King George at only his fourth attempt and this season he has shown himself as good as ever with a 15-length defeat of the former Gold Cup winner Coneygree in the Betfair Chase.
The part played by jockey Paddy Brennan in this upward curve cannot be underestimated either.
It is now seven Grade One jumping wins since Brennan’s association. There is little in the betting between the two Tizzard superstar stablemates, but Thistlecrack will surely have his chance at this level in the near future.
AMORE ALATO (2.05, nb) looks good in the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase.
The fact he is trained by the unheralded Johnny Farrelly probably explains his likely starting price of around 12-1.
On the strength of his latest victory in a three-mile Listed chase at Sandown in the hands of today’s partner Richard Johnson, he deserves to be much shorter than that. Johnson is the man to follow in the opening novices’ hurdle when GLARING (12.55) is expected to maintain his unbeaten record over jumps.
Amanda Perrett’s five-yearold had a Flat rating as high as 108 – albeit on the back of just one win – and took to hurdling with real elan when winning on his debut at Huntingdon.