Pacify’s bid to land right royal victory

Trainer Jamie Snowden says Pacify is ready to have his credentials tested in Sunday’s Sky Bet Supreme Trial novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham.

The seven-year-old, good enough to run twice at royal ascot on the Flat when trained by ralph Beckett, has proved a natural over hurdles, winning all five of his races.

attention on Pacify is intensified because he was bred by the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, who still own him in partnership with arsenal chairman Sir Chips Keswick.

The Duchess of Cornwall was at Kempton last month when Pacify landed his biggest hurdling prize yet, making all the running under jockey Gavin Sheehan to triumph in a Listed novice hurdle.

Snowden said: ‘He has achieved more over hurdles than any horse in Sunday’s race and is the most hardened hurdler among them.

‘He has always attacked his jumping. We even popped him over a fence before he first raced over hurdles. He has taken to it like a duck to water.

‘The sequence has continued nicely and the Kempton race was a nice stepping stone to this Cheltenham race.

‘The Duchess has such a busy calendar that it is hard for her to watch Pacify run. But the Kempton race was always in the diary and she loved it. it was a very proud moment for all of us.’

Pacify will encounter much softer going at Cheltenham than he has done previously, but Snowden is not concerned.

He said: ‘Pacify always wanted a bit of cut on the Flat and his best trip was a mile-and-a-half. You’d assume either stepping up in trip or a little softer ground to place a greater emphasis on stamina wouldn’t be a bad thing.’

Snowden will gain further confidence from his best start to a season since he started training in 2008.

His 34 wins at a strike rate of 28 per cent is only one short of his best seasonal tally in 2017-18.

Snowden added: ‘You always want to better the previous season in terms of prize money and number of winners, with better horses winning the better races.’