Coltherd hints at Captain Redbeard return after long lay-off

One of the best-known racehorses in the Borders could be back in action in the coming months after more than a year out through injury. Redbeard, a veteran of two Grand Nationals and the Cheltenham Festival, plus numerous other prestigious race meetings, has been out for 16 months through injury.

But owner and trainer Stuart Coltherd, of the Clarilawmuir stables near Selkirk, has hinted there may be a route back for the Captain to general race action.

The 12-year-old chestnut gelding pulled up in a race at Newcastle at the end of November 2019 with a tendon injury, of the kind which can commonly affect racehorses, and often spells around a year on the sidelines for treatment and the recovery process.

Coltherd said at the time that Captain Redbeard had given the family some excellent days and would have had no problem accepting the possibility that the horse might have to retire, should the medical experts advise it.

However, the Captain was reported a few weeks ago to be cavorting about in the fields and enjoying himself in the winter sunshine, so a decicaptain sion on retiring him could now be reversed.

Coltherd said: “We will hopefully start riding him in the next two or three weeks and see how he’s going after that. We’ll see where he takes us and how he stands up to everything.”

While it isn’t quite definite that the Captain will return to major race meetings, Coltherd

added: “There’s always a chance, yes.”

Ridden regularly by Coltherd’s son, Sam, Captain Redbeard unseated his jockey at the seventh fence in the 2018 Grand National but, 12 months later, he ran an excellent race at Aintree and enjoyed the prestige of completing the course, finishing 16th.

In today’s action, Sigurd can register his fourth win of a fine campaign in the racingtv.com Handicap Chase at Wetherby.

Sigurd appears to be in the form of his life at the age of nine and he won by 11 and 39 lengths in the space of a week at Catterick over Christmas and the New Year.

It looked like the handicapper might have caught up with him after being pulled up on his next couple of appearances at Carlisle and Sedgefield in February, but he bounced back to winning ways in no uncertain terms over this course and distance on his latest outing.

A further 9lb hike makes life tougher,butwithtitle-chasing Brian Hughes in the saddle, he should take plenty of beating.