Our UK racing guru Neil Morrice has a look at four horses who could impress in the coming weeks.
CHANTRY HOUSE Cheltenham, November 18th
CHANTRY HOUSE really caught the eye with the way he finished off in this competitive handicap hurdle. The former Cheltenham Festival winner fractured a bone in his neck when taking a horrible fall at Wetherby. This was designed to build back his confidence, and he will remain over hurdles for at least one more outing before connections consider putting him back over fences.
CREBILLY Cheltenham, November 19th
CREBILLY travelled like a dream in this first run over fences and appeared to be still under a tight hold when he crumpled on landing at the penultimate fence. His trainer Jonjo O’Neill told me the gelding put his foot in a divot, causing him to slip. Thankfully he is none the worse for the spill, but plans to take him back to Cheltenham for the pre-Christmas meeting have had to be shelved because there isn’t a suitable race for him.
EDWARDSTONE Cheltenham, November 19th
Alan King hinted in his pre-race conversation that EDWARDSTONE could be worth being tried over further than two miles this side of Christmas and the way the gelding ran here backs it up. Though going off in pursuit of Jonbon running down the hill he couldn’t make any impression on that younger rival. Connections might now take him to Huntingdon for its marquee race the Peterborough Chase over two and a half miles, and could also look at Kempton’s King George over three.
NEMEAN LION Cheltenham, November 19th
NEMEAN LION proved strong in the market for the valuable Greatwood Hurdle in which he was held up in rear. He made significant headway running down the hill, but mistakes at each of the final two flights impaired his momentum. He stayed on up the final hill but given less to do and without the errors he would have finished closer. This was only a sixth run over jumps for the gelding who could be worth trying in graded company.
