Equinties - a monster awaits

Gm Equinauts

The NH forecast is looking pretty bleak and there’s only one answer for it…

Let’s dive in.

HEADINE ROUND UP

WE WANT JUMPERS BUMPERS!

Many areas of the country have been hit by flash floods from heavy rain and snow melt, exacerbated by overnight freezing temperatures so naturally, the racing forecasts this week are pretty bleak. Leicester called off today’s meeting days ago and Hereford followed suit this morning, allowing for only the gamblers paradise of the all-weather to entertain!

Knowing how long this frustrating weather will last is up in the freezing air at the moment, but meetings such as Warwick who are hosting their Classic Chase this weekend will naturally be bearish on the chances to race given the fact the track is unfit to race at present.

The course is currently under water in places and it doesn’t drain like Ascot (none do unless they pay the multi-million £ bill for the drainage system), so clerk of the course Nessie Chanter will be having a few nervy nights ahead of Saturday. She said: "After 30 millimetres of rain overnight the brook has burst its banks and reached parts of the course. It [the track] is currently under water, but we hope it will drain back and we're doing everything we can to help it.

"The next challenge is that the temperatures from Tuesday night look set to go sub-zero, and we can't cover the track where its waterlogged, so we need the water to go down. It normally takes up to three days to recede, so we're rather sitting on our hands at the moment. "We seem to have had all the seasons in one go, with wind, snow, sleet and rain. It's fairly challenging, but we're up for the challenge."

Wetherby share similar problems with clerk of the course Jonjo Sanderson adding some brilliant self-deprecating humour to his BHA report:

After a blank day on ITV on Saturday due to the weather, the BHA have put themselves on the front foot ahead of this weekend. "The BHA racing team is expecting to make changes this weekend and is currently reviewing options, including the possibility of whether a jumps fixture could be staged elsewhere," said Richard Wayman, BHA director of racing and betting, on Monday.

What could this mean?

Well, if draining (and potential freezing) is the issue, moving the meeting back one day to Sunday might work, if the forecasts are accurate but the real event, we’re hoping for is jumpers bumpers!

PLEASE BHA, PUT ON SOME JUMPERS BUMPERS!

A MONSTER AWAITS

No, we aren’t talking about IL EST FRANCAIS. His future is still up in the air, but there could well be another French-trained horse waiting in the wings ready to tackle the Cheltenham Gold Cup one day.

The horse is called SAIN D’ESPRIT, a four-year-old trained by Francois Nicolle who landed the Grade 1 Prix Cambaceres on just his fourth-ever start.

His Grade 1 win at Auteuil saw him beat NIETZSCHE HAS by one-and-a-quarter lengths, with the pair pulling well-clear of the third:

They were both very impressive, and the second has come over to Chepstow since and bolted up in the Grade 2 Finale Juvenile Hurdle. Yes, it was a weak race in Wales, and we couldn’t see 70% of the performance, but that performance has gifted him the luxury of an early career change which will see him move from the track to the shagging shed! NIETZSCHE HAS will now stand at Haras de Montaigu for €7,000 per good time.

Unfortunately, although he would look like a real player at this stage, SAIN D’ESPRIT is not going to come over to Cheltenham for the Triumph Hurdle, but his trainer does have Festival hopes for the son of COKORIKO going forward. Nicolle said: "Sain D’Esprit doesn’t have that on his radar at the moment – I don’t see him heading over any time soon.

"Lynne and Angus MacLennan would love to run him in the Gold Cup eventually. He’ll stay over hurdles at Auteuil in the spring because the Grand Course de Haies is a race that should be well within his compass, and then he’ll definitely go chasing in the autumn.

"It could be that next winter we’ll have a little dart at Britain, although there are other owners including Thierry Cypres to consult, so everyone would need to be on board with the idea. But why not? Sain D’Esprit has the four-year-old programme at Auteuil and there is a lot of money attached to those races. He is already 1m 70cm – he’s a monster and he’s still growing so I see him as a horse for the Grand Steeple-Chase in the long run.”

Those are some nice races mentioned about a very unexposed horse. IRacing fans want to see the best horses from anywhere in the world compete at the top level so it’s only right should he came over, and the form is there for him to do it.

PLENTY TO LIKE

We’ve spoken a little bit about the Albert Bartlett over the last few weeks, with BILL JOYCE and THE YELLOW CLAY taking up a fair chunk of our copy. But, we can only be fair and mention THE BIG WESTERNER, an unbeaten daughter of, you guessed it, WESTERNER, who is well-found in the Albert Bartlett market.

She travelled strongly when winning on rules debut, and she did something similar when winning a Grade 2 at Limerick on Boxing Day. It’s hard to hate the form considering FLEUR IN THE PARK, the fourth, was just behind THE YELLOW CLAY on his previous start and MINELLA SIXO, the third, has form with POTTERS CHARM.

The half-sister to STAY AWAY FAY, the 2023 Albert Bartlett winner, is set to head straight to the Cheltenham Festival after her Limerick success with Henry de Bromhead commenting: "The Big Westerner has come out of Limerick very well and we'll give her a month to freshen up and go straight to the Albert Bartlett. She's been in training since mid-July, so we're giving her a little break.

"If the Mares' Novices' Hurdle was two and a half miles we might have thought about it, but the trip is a bit sharp for her. She's a staying type and her half-brother Stay Away Fay won the Albert Bartlett two years ago, so hopefully she can emulate him.

“She was very keen at Limerick and we didn't expect that as she settled grand at Punchestown, but the slower pace and the softer ground lit her up a bit.

"Darragh [O'Keeffe, jockey] said it was a messy enough race, but she put in a good performance and quickened away coming to the second-last, so she has that turn of foot which is good to have for stayers."

She has impressed quite a lot in two starts for de Bromhead and there is plenty to like, especially in a winnable contest.

RISK ON

Two horses bet yesterday, one 2/1 winner and one second - bumping into a complete handicap blot who, embarrassingly for connections, went off the rag at 22/1. Pathetic.

Nothing for the all-weather today unless something comes through which we will post to X @equinties