My Mate Mozzie and Encanto Bruno both breezed to victory to provide trainer Gavin Cromwell and jockey Keith Donoghue with a double on the opening day of the new season at Cheltenham.

Having won a Grade Three over hurdles, as well as being narrowly beaten in the Grade One Royal Bond two years ago and in the Galway Hurdle this summer, My Mate Mozzie’s ability was not in question ahead of the squareintheair.com Novices’ Chase.

However, he has on occasion been a weak finisher, including when beaten by 50-1 shot The Big Chap at cramped odds on his debut over fences at Fairyhouse three weeks ago.

Despite the doubts, My Mate Mozzie was a 4-7 favourite to reward those who kept the faith with victory and ultimately got the job done with consummate ease.

French recruit Jetronic took the field along for much of the two-mile contest on his British debut for Paul Nicholls, with Al Zaraqaan his nearest pursuer and My Mate Mozzie settled third of the four runners in the hands of Keith Donoghue.

Jetronic and Al Zaraqaan were both still in there pitching approaching the last, but My Mate Mozzie threaded between the pair under a motionless Donoghue and got up to beat the former by three lengths.

Coral make My Mate Mozzie a 33-1 shot for the Arkle Trophy at the Festival in March.

Cromwell said: “It was good. He jumped out a little bit to his right, and he made a couple of little novicey mistakes, but I’m happy with the result anyway.

“He arrives in all of his races travelling very well, and he has got beaten odds-on in running trading very short on a few occasions, but thankfully he didn’t today.

“On ratings he should have won at Fairyhouse no matter what way you rode him, but I think he really needs to be ridden to arrive late on and he probably only just barely sees out the two miles.”

Cromwell will consider a return to Cheltenham for the Arkle Challenge Trophy Trial on November 17, but future plans are ground dependent.

He added: “He could possibly come back here for the Arkle Trial next month, but it will all be ground permitting. I don’t think you would run him on ground that’s too soft. We will give him a little break in the middle of the season then bring him back in the spring.

“He will have to get another bit of experience along the way somewhere and step forward plenty from that to be competitive at the Cheltenham Festival, but we wouldn’t rule it out.”

Encanto Bruno won in similarly dominant style on his debut for the Cromwell team in the Trustatrader Novices’ Hurdle.

The five-year-old won a bumper at this meeting last year for John McConnell before going on to contest the Champion Bumper and returned to the Cotswolds as the 11-4 favourite, despite being pulled up on his most recent appearance at Galway.

Encanto Bruno cruised into contention under an ice-cool Donoghue before kicking two lengths clear of Gordon Elliott’s Mel Monroe, with the Henry de Bromhead-trained Tag Man making an Irish one-two-three.

Cromwell added: “He was keen quite early, and he jumped a few of them quite big, but he travelled very strongly and won very well.

“Although he goes quite well at home I’d say he is a far better racehorse than he is a workhorse, which is always the way you like to have it. I’m delighted with that, and it was a good performance.

“He is a pretty straightforward horse and I’m delighted to have him. It was one of those runs (when he pulled up the last day) that you leave behind you as there was something amiss and I wouldn’t read into that.

“He is versatile, as he has won over two and a half miles today, and although he doesn’t show much pace at home he could certainly come back to two miles as he was quite keen at home.

“He is a lovely horse to look forward to. I think he will be a lovely horse when he jumps a fence too.

“We will go away and have a think about it and have chat with the owners and Keith (as to what we do next).

“I don’t think he would like deep Irish winter ground so he would be more for the spring.”

Betfair left Encanto Bruno unchanged at 25-1 for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and 33-1 for the Ballymore.

Cromwell added: “We will have to look at a better race next and when life gets harder that’s when we will see how good he is.”

Auguste Rodin is firmly on course for what is shaping up to be a top-class edition of the Breeders’ Cup Turf.

The dual Derby and Irish Champion Stakes winner has enjoyed a break since his victory at Leopardstown, with Aidan O’Brien reporting the Deep Impact colt in good heart ahead of his date at Santa Anita on Saturday week.

The mile-and-a-half contest is also the destination for Juddmonte International winner Mostahdaf, as well as Champion Stakes victor King Of Steel.

Speaking on a Breeders’ Cup teleconference, O’Brien said: “We’re very happy with him, everything has gone well. He’s had a nice long lead up into this race and it’s a race we always thought would really suit since the last day.

“Obviously Leopardstown is a flat, left-handed track and we thought and hoped it would set him up nicely for the Breeders’ Cup given we’ve had our eye on it all year. Hopefully everything goes well for the next few days.”

Despite disappointing in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot on Champions Day, Paddington, a multiple Group One winner this season, is heading for the Mile.

“Paddington has had a very busy season, he turned up time after time and he wasn’t having a big break between them but he kept producing in all the top races,” said O’Brien.

“He went from the Irish Guineas and on from there. The last day at Ascot he was just a bit fresh and ran too keen in very deep, heavy ground and Ryan (Moore) just looked after him so it was one of those races you could put a line through.

“He seems to have come out of the race very well, he’s fast, he’s tough he’s hardy and tactical as well so we’re looking forward to him.”

The Ballydoyle handler will be well represented in California, with Cherry Blossom and Pearls And Rubies in the Juvenile Turf Sprint, Content (Juvenile Fillies Turf), Johannes Brahms (Juvenile/Juvenile Turf), Mountain Bear (Juvenile Turf), River Tiber (Juvenile Turf), Unquestionable (Juvenile Turf), Warm Heart (Filly & Mare Turf), Bolshoi Ballet (Turf), Broome (Turf) and Aesop’s Fables (Turf Sprint) all nominated.

One who will not be travelling, however, is 1000 Guineas fancy Opera Singer, winner of the Prix Marcel Boussac.

“Opera Singer had a busy enough season here,” explained O’Brien.

“After her last piece of work she worked very well but was a little bit quiet after it. The season was long here. We just felt to be fair to her, with a few to next year, it was the best thing to do not to ask her to travel.”

Flooring Porter is the star attraction at Cheltenham on Saturday as the dual Stayers’ Hurdle winner returns to the Cotswolds to make his debut over fences.

Gavin Cromwell’s stable star produced two tremendous front-running performances to lift the three-mile hurdling crown in 2021 and 2022, but could finish only fourth when bidding for the hat-trick in March.

The eight-year-old subsequently finished third at Aintree before failing to make an impact in the French Champion Hurdle, and Cromwell feels the time has come to switch to the larger obstacles.

“He’s jumped well at home so hopefully he can transfer that to the track,” he said.

“He was running well last season, but he didn’t win at all and we just thought he still had a bit of time on his side and he can always go back (over hurdles) if it doesn’t work out for him over fences.”

Flooring Porter will be a warm order to dispatch of three rivals in the William Hill Lengthen Your Odds Novices’ Chase, with Henry de Bromhead’s Toss Again and the Nigel Twiston-Davies-trained pair of Weveallbeencaught and Broadway Boy taking him on.

Cromwell added: “It’s a small field, but it’s not a bad race and while I won’t say he has to put his best foot forward, he’ll have to be doing things right to be winning.”

Proceedings get under way with the £60,000 Epic Value At William Hill Handicap Chase, in which Laura Morgan saddles the top-weight Notlongtillmay.

The seven-year-old enjoyed an excellent novice campaign over fences last term, winning his first three races before finishing second to Stage Star in the Turners Novices’ Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.

Other contenders for the two-mile contest include Gary Moore’s Haddex Des Obeaux, Emma Lavelle’s Red Rookie and course-and-distance winner Before Midnight, who made an encouraging debut for Fergal O’Brien when fourth over hurdles at Chepstow a fortnight ago.

“I was very impressed with him at Chepstow – I didn’t expect him to run as well as he did,” said O’Brien.

“He does have form on soft and heavy ground from a long time ago, but I expected him to need it a bit, maybe finish fifth or sixth and come on for the run, but he was actually bang there turning in.

“He probably ended up having a harder race than we hoped for, but he’s come out of that very well, he seems very well in himself and Ben Sutton came in and schooled him on Thursday morning and he jumped very well, so we’ll take our chance.”

Tiger Roll (2014), Sceau Royal (2016), I Like To Move It (2021) and Pied Piper (2022) are among the recent winners of the Masterson Holdings Hurdle and another intriguing renewal looks in store.

Blueking D’Oroux and Spirit D’Aunou are the top two in the market for Paul Nicholls and Gary Moore respectively, while Lucinda Russell sends recent Kelso scorer Bois Guillbert from Scotland.

She said: “He took in those junior hurdles last year which are a great initiative and it taught him so much. He won two of them, he ended up with a mark of 116 and he’s won off that mark at Kelso this season, so they’re being realistic about their marks.

“He’s still a novice, which is great, and we’re running him in a four-year-old conditions race here. It’s a huge step up in grade, but I think it’s worthwhile doing that with him and it will give us an idea about what we do next.”

Last year’s winner Lord Accord bids for back-to-back victories in the Epic Jumps Season At William Hill Handicap Chase, while Noel Meade’s Bugs Moran, the Willie Mullins-trained We’llhavewan and Ringdufferin and Gortmillish from Gordon Elliott’s yard lead a strong Irish contingent in the Pertemps Network Handicap Hurdle.

Cromwell houses the hot favourite for the William Hill Epic Weekend Free Bet Novices’ Hurdle in Antrim Coast, who impressed when opening his account over obstacles at Punchestown last time out.

Cromwell said: “He’s a nice horse and he put up a nice performance in Punchestown the last day.

“Obviously we’re stepping up a bit further in trip, but we’re chasing a bit of nice ground and if he takes a step forward, he definitely has a good chance.”

The Cheltenham & South West Racing Club Open National Hunt Flat Race brings the Showcase meeting to a close and there are plenty of interesting protagonists, including Kim Bailey’s Huntingdon scorer The Kemble Brewery, Ben Brookhouse’s point-to-point recruit Martin Plage and Mullins-trained newcomer Catch Yourself On.

Saturday’s meeting at Newbury has been called off due to a waterlogged track.

The card was set to feature two Group Threes, the BetVictor Horris Hill Stakes and the BetVictor St Simon Stakes, as well as the Listed Highclere Thoroughbred Racing Stakes.

With Friday’s fixture cancelled on Thursday, an inspection was called for 2pm on Friday ahead of Saturday’s meeting but clerk of the course George Hill was able to make an early call after a further four millimetres of rain.

“The weather at this time of year means it’s either overcast or even if the sun comes out for a bit, like yesterday, it’s only up for about five hours,” said Hill.

“Our back straight remained in the shade so it’s very difficult. All the racecourses are suffering.

“We walked it this morning and it had improved a little but not enough and then we got another 4mm on top, so unfortunately it was an easy decision to bring the inspection forward.

“The only positive of it is the jumps track will be enjoying this weather.

“We’re not looking at rescheduling the Group races, obviously our Flat season has come to an end, it’s late in the season for us.”

Saturday’s fixture at Doncaster will need to pass a 3.30pm precautionary check after Friday’s action was called off.

A total of 2.3mm of overnight rain on Town Moor has left some areas of already heavy ground saturated, forcing the cancellation of the seven-race card.

The track is due to stage the Kameko Futurity Trophy – the final Group One of the British season – on Saturday and clerk of the course Paul Barker is optimistic on the chances of that meeting going ahead.

He said: “Unfortunately we have had overnight rain which has caused the abandonment of today’s card.

“We are just looking at some rail movements to cover the affected areas and once we have done that, if the forecast is right, we would be pretty confident about tomorrow.”

Lucinda Russell is readying two of her stable stars for next week’s bet365 Charlie Hall meeting at Wetherby, with Ahoy Senor and Apple Away both in line to make an appearance in West Yorkshire.

Ahoy Senor disappointed in the Charlie Hall Chase itself last season, but will be given the option of contesting the Grade Two feature once again, with the bet365 Hurdle being considered as a possible alternative.

The eight-year-old went on to prove his worth in the second half of the last campaign, winning the Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham in January and signing off with a runner-up finish behind Shishkin in the Aintree Bowl.

“Ahoy Senor is getting himself ready for Wetherby, that’s the plan,” said Russell.

“He might get an entry in both races (Charlie Hall and bet365 Hurdle). We’ll see how he goes this weekend and that’ll give us a better idea.”

Apple Away won four of her seven starts over hurdles for William Hill ambassador Russell last season, including a Grade One victory in the Sefton Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree in the spring.

The six-year-old is set to embark on a novice chasing campaign this season and with connections having decided against a trip to Cheltenham, she could instead head to turn out next week.

Russell added: “She’s in good form and she might go to Wetherby.

“She’s been schooling really well, but it a combination of things led to us deciding against going to Cheltenham this weekend and we felt we’d try to find something a little bit quieter.”

Friday’s fixture at Doncaster has been called off following a morning inspection.

A total of 2.3 millimetres of overnight rain on Town Moor has left some areas of already heavy ground saturated, forcing the cancellation of the seven-race card.

The track is due to stage the Kameko Futurity Trophy – the final Group One of the British season – on Saturday and clerk of the course Paul Barker is optimistic on the chances of that meeting going ahead.

He said: “Unfortunately we have had overnight rain which has caused the abandonment of today’s card.

“We are just looking at some rail movements to cover the affected areas and once we have done that, if the forecast is right, we would be pretty confident about tomorrow.”

A member of the ground staff at Carlisle avoided serious injury in a nasty incident at the start of the seventh race on Thursday.

The man jogged across in front of the tape, but was still in the process of leaving the track when the tapes went up and was immediately knocked over as the runners set off, sent tumbling across the ground as the field galloped on.

A report from the stewards read: “An inquiry was held to consider the circumstances as to why a member of the ground staff had crossed the track at the start as the race was started resulting in his being knocked over by Euchan Falls.

“The clerk of the course, the member of ground staff, the starters and Gavin Sheehan, the rider of Euchan Falls, unplaced, were interviewed.

“Having heard their evidence and having reviewed video recording of the incident, the matter was forwarded to the head office of the British Horseracing Authority for further consideration.”

On a dramatic afternoon of National Hunt action, jockey Daire Davis was banned for 21 days at Ludlow for improper riding.

Daire was leading on Faha Belle in the fifth race of the day, but in moving right-handed – and about to take the wrong course – he clipped heels with Von Hallers who unseated David Bass. Daire corrected his mount to take the correct course, but in doing so ran into a group of other runners with his mount falling having gone through the rail.

Daire himself crashed into the Tom Bellamy-ridden Kit’s Coty, leading to Bellamy unseating.

Officials at Doncaster will carry out a precautionary inspection at 7:30am ahead of Friday’s meeting due to the threat of further rain.

Conditions on Town Moor are described as heavy but raceable ahead of what is scheduled to be a two-day fixture, with Saturday’s card due to feature the Group One Kameko Futurity Trophy.

Doncaster’s clerk of the course Paul Barker admits any rainfall over the next 24 hours would be problematic with Friday’s racing in mind.

He said late on Thursday afternoon: “We’ve had more rain than was forecast initially this morning. We’re OK at the moment, just, so it’s a case of what tonight brings us and tomorrow morning really.

“Some of the forecasters are saying we might get some more rain tonight, which we wouldn’t really want, and tonight is going to be a foggy, damp evening whatever happens. We won’t necessarily get a lot of rain, but it won’t dry anywhere.

“We don’t really want any more rain in any way, shape or form as we’re nearly as capacity.”

Assessing the prospects of Saturday’s high-profile meeting going ahead, Barker added: “The forecast after tonight’s threat of showers is relatively dry, although they did tell me that this morning and we got more rain than we were expecting today.

“It’s a bit more misty and foggy than wet. If it stays dry, with the time we’ve got before we race on Saturday, I’d be hopeful we could be in a better place.

“We could be here in the morning and be good to go on Friday and no problems for Saturday, but we just felt to be fair to everyone we’d hold a precautionary inspection.”

Friday’s meeting at Newbury has already been called off, with Saturday’s card also under threat due to a waterlogged track.

The Berkshire venue had 13 millimetres of rain on Wednesday and a further 3.8mm overnight on already heavy ground, leaving some areas of the course unraceable ahead of Friday’s fixture.

Saturday’s card is due to feature two Group Three contests in the BetVictor Horris Hill and St Simon Stakes, plus the Listed Highclere Thoroughbred Racing Stakes which is better known as the Radley.

However, the track must pass a 2pm inspection on Friday if the meeting is to go ahead.

Only a late setback will stop Inspiral heading to the Breeders’ Cup as connections are ready to “roll the dice” once again in a bid to end her campaign on a high.

Trained by John and Thady Gosden, the daughter of Frankel has been a high-class performer since her juvenile days and achieved the enviable feat of Group One victories at two, three and four when defending her Prix Jacques le Marois title in scintillating fashion in the summer.

She backed up that Deauville victory in supreme style when carrying Frankie Dettori to the easiest of victories in Newmarket’s Sun Chariot Stakes and having skipped the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on account of the testing ground at Ascot on British Champions Day, she has now been given the go-ahead for a first taste of action in America.

“It’s all systems go and the plan and we’re all very excited,” said Chris Richardson, managing director of owners Cheveley Park Stud.

“John Gosden seems very happy with her, so at the moment, fingers crossed, if there are no setbacks we’re looking forward to next weekend.

“She couldn’t have done it more easily at Newmarket (last time) and stamped her authority and John is very happy with where she is, so we may as well roll the dice again.”

Inspiral will be racing beyond a mile for the first time in her career when she lines up in the Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf.

However, buoyed by her going-away Sun Chariot success on the Rowley Mile, connections feel Santa Anita is the perfect spot to test the filly’s stamina reserves.

Richardson added: “The way she finished at Newmarket, she wasn’t stopping and she was well clear in the Sun Chariot.

“I think that gave us reason to think the slightly further trip on that sharper track at Santa Anita would suit her perhaps.

“It’s unknown territory, but depending on the run of the race, we think she will see it out.

“It will give us a few more options for, all being well, if she stays in training if she does stay a bit further.”

Only a late setback will stop Inspiral heading to the Breeders’ Cup as connections are ready to “roll the dice” once again in a bid to end her campaign on a high.

Trained by John and Thady Gosden, the daughter of Frankel has been a high-class performer since her juvenile days and achieved the enviable feat of Group One victories at two, three and four when defending her Prix Jacques le Marois title in scintillating fashion in the summer.

She backed up that Deauville victory in supreme style when carrying Frankie Dettori to the easiest of victories in Newmarket’s Sun Chariot Stakes and having skipped the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes on account of the testing ground at Ascot on British Champions Day, she has now been given the go-ahead for a first taste of action in America.

“It’s all systems go and the plan and we’re all very excited,” said Chris Richardson, managing director of owners Cheveley Park Stud.

“John Gosden seems very happy with her, so at the moment, fingers crossed, if there are no setbacks we’re looking forward to next weekend.

“She couldn’t have done it more easily at Newmarket (last time) and stamped her authority and John is very happy with where she is, so we may as well roll the dice again.”

Inspiral will be racing beyond a mile for the first time in her career when she lines up in the Maker’s Mark Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf.

However, buoyed by her going-away Sun Chariot success on the Rowley Mile, connections feel Santa Anita is the perfect spot to test the filly’s stamina reserves.

Richardson added: “The way she finished at Newmarket, she wasn’t stopping and she was well clear in the Sun Chariot.

“I think that gave us reason to think the slightly further trip on that sharper track at Santa Anita would suit her perhaps.

“It’s unknown territory, but depending on the run of the race, we think she will see it out.

“It will give us a few more options for, all being well, if she stays in training if she does stay a bit further.”