Jeriko Du Reponet justified his lofty reputation with a facile success on his rules debut at Newbury.

An impressive winner on his sole start in the Irish point-to-point field in the spring, the French-bred four-year-old was subsequently snapped up by JP McManus and sent to Nicky Henderson.

The Seven Barrows dogs had been barking his name even prior to a recent racecourse gallop at Newbury, while he was already prominent in ante-post lists for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in March even before he jumped off for his competitive introduction in Berkshire.

Jeriko Du Reponet was the 4-11 favourite for the Coral Get Closer To The Action “National Hunt” Maiden Hurdle, a race Henderson has won six times in the last 10 years, with two McManus-owned stars in dual Champion Hurdle hero Buveur D’Air and the top-class Jonbon among those on the roll of honour.

Nico de Boinville had to chivvy the trainer’s latest candidate into the bridle on a couple of occasions in the home straight, but he was motionless after jumping the final flight upsides in front and soon eased three and a quarter lengths clear of the runner-up King William Rufus.

“It was quite straightforward, the main thing was to give him the experience as well. I thought he was very genuine, it rode like an okay race and he’s gone through it well,” De Boinville told Racing TV.

“There was a bit of a tight gap, which it was good that he came through, and once he’s got through that he’s come back on the bridle.

“He’ll obviously come on for the run, he had a nice piece of work here about 10 days ago and he’s a very good-looking horse.”

Paddy Power make Jeriko Du Reponet an 8-1 shot for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle, while Unibet were even more impressed and offer just 4-1 for the traditional Festival curtain-raiser.

Baroness Harding is in line to become the first woman in the Jockey Club’s 273-year history to be appointed as senior steward.

The role is currently held by Sandy Dudgeon, but when his term expires in July, Harding is poised to take over the unpaid position chairing the Jockey Club’s main board, which sets the strategic direction of the organisation and oversees the executive functions.

Harding was appointed to the board of stewards in 2017 and it is understood she is the only name that will be put to a vote by Jockey Club members later this month.

A spokesperson for the Jockey Club – which owns high-profile racecourses such as Epsom, Newmarket, Cheltenham and Aintree – said: “Sandy Dudgeon’s term as senior steward runs until July 2024 and we will announce his successor in due course.”

Dido Harding, who is a former chief executive of TalkTalk and initially oversaw the Government’s test-and-trace programme during the coronavirus pandemic, rode more than 25 winners as an amateur jockey and owned 1998 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Cool Dawn, the horse she had ridden the previous year to finish second in the Festival hunter chase.

She more recently won the Magnolia Cup in 2017, winning Goodwood’s charity race at the third attempt having previously finished second twice.

Luxembourg is set to lead a four-strong team for Aidan O’Brien into battle in this year’s Longines Hong Kong International races at Sha Tin.

The son of Camelot notched a third victory at Group One level in the Tattersalls Gold Cup in the spring and was last seen going down narrowly to his dual Derby and Breeders’ Cup-winning stablemate Auguste Rodin when bidding for back-to-back triumphs in the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown in September.

With a minor setback subsequently ruling Luxembourg out of an intended tilt at the Qipco Champion Stakes at Ascot, he has made the trip to the Far East to contest the Hong Kong Cup on December 10.

O’Brien said: “We were training him for the Champion Stakes in England and he got a foot bruise. It just held him up for a couple of weeks, so that’s why didn’t go there.

“Obviously it was a great run in the Irish Champion Stakes over a mile and a quarter, he’s versatile we think and he likes nice ground. We’re looking forward to him.”

While the Hong Kong Cup is one of the few major international prizes to so far elude the master of Ballydoyle, he has a far better record in the Hong Kong Vase, with Highland Reel striking gold in both 2015 and 2017 and Mogul providing him with a third success in 2020.

This year’s representative in the mile-and-a-half event is Warm Heart, winner of the Yorkshire Oaks and the Prix Vermeille at the highest level earlier this year before going down by a neck to Inspiral in the Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf at Santa Anita.

“We were debating what we’d do, I suppose either of them could have gone either way, but we just felt it was a very good run in the Irish Champion Stakes from Luxembourg,” O’Brien told the Hong Kong Jockey Club.

“Warm Heart ran over 10 furlongs in America, but she’d won her two Group Ones over a mile and a half.

“She’s been very progressive, she’s thrived physically, loves nicer ground, she’s tactically quick and she doesn’t surrender. She’s been unbelievable really.”

The O’Brien raiding party is completed by the Hong Kong Mile-bound Cairo, who was second to prolific stablemate Paddington in the Irish 2,000 Guineas earlier in the year, and Aesop’s Fables, who would not be winning out of turn if plundering the Hong Kong Sprint, having finished third in the Prix de l’Abbaye and the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint on his two most recent starts.

“We were hopeful Cairo would get into Hong Kong, but he had to have a run and we were delighted with him (when third in a Listed race at Leopardstown in October),” O’Brien said.

“He obviously got a bit tired, the ground was very soft and wasn’t ideal, but his run before when he was second to Paddington was on nice ground and we’ve been very happy with his work since.

“He think he’s progressed plenty. We always thought and hoped he could be a horse that could go on to a lot of those races all over the world.

“Aesop’s Fables has been progressive all the time. We put the blinkers on before France, we were delighted there and then he ran a stormer in America.

“He’s a big horse, maybe he just took a bit of time to get the hang of it. His best two runs were over five furlongs, but he looks like he’s been coming home well in both runs. There’s every chance he should be OK over six, but we’ll learn a lot more about him.”

Friday’s meeting at Newbury will go ahead as planned, but a precautionary inspection has already been called ahead of Saturday’s Coral Gold Cup card.

The opening afternoon features two Grade Two contests, the Long Distance Hurdle and John Francome Novices’ Chase, and following a morning inspection, the venue is fit for action with the going described as good to soft, good in places on the chase course and good to soft on the hurdles track.

Covers were put down earlier in the week and they will be reapplied at the end of Friday’s card ahead of overnight temperatures which could dip as low as minus 4C overnight.

With another cold day forecast on Saturday, clerk of the course George Hill has called a 7.30am check to assess conditions.

An inspection will also take place at Newcastle on Friday afternoon ahead of Saturday’s Fighting Fifth Hurdle.

Champion Hurdle hero Constitution Hill is set to make his seasonal bow in the Grade One feature, with fellow Nicky Henderson inmate Shishkin starring in the line up for the supporting Rehearsal Chase.

Covers were also deployed at Gosforth Park, but a precautionary inspection has been called for 2.30pm on Friday, with the track reported to be raceable despite just over a centimetre of snow.

Leicester’s Sunday card will have to pass an 11.30am check on Saturday with a hard frost anticipated on Friday night.

The Owners Group were celebrating at Taunton as the well-regarded Will Carver made a winning reappearance on Thursday afternoon.

The Nicky Henderson-trained eight-year-old impressed when a novice hurdler, but then suffered an injury that kept him sidelined for over 600 days and has only been seen once since the summer of 2021.

Following an uneventful comeback run in February the gelding has spent another 278 days waiting for suitable conditions – but made connections’ patient approach worthwhile when sent off the 3-1 co-favourite for the Stables Business Park Handicap Hurdle in Somerset.

Not far off the lead throughout in the hands of James Bowen, he made smooth headway to hit the front with two flights of hurdles to jump, with even a blunder at the last not enough to stop him romping to an eight-length success from fellow market leaders Decorated and Afadil.

Having scored readily off a mark of 126, bigger days could now lie in wait for Will Carver, including a possible switch to the larger obstacles if his Seven Barrows handler deems him ready for a change of discipline.

“He’s only had one issue after his run in Perth in 2021 and we gave him loads of loads of time,” said Dan Downie of Owners Group.

“Because we gave him loads of time, we didn’t want to run him back on very quick ground and that is why we only ran him once last season. He’s only had the one issue and we’ve just had to be very very patient with him.

“He’s a horse that we have always been quite excited about anyway and particularly going chasing. I haven’t spoken to Nicky and I’m not sure if we’ll go straight to chasing or stick to hurdles for a bit longer, but the plan was always to go chasing at some point.

“He’s a horse we’ve always held in high regard, but when they have had that much time off you can’t be expecting too much, so we are delighted.”

Peter Scudamore is well aware Ahoy Senor has plenty on his plate when he bids to become the first horse since Denman to carry top-weight to victory in the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury on Saturday.

The eight-year-old produced a tremendous performance to land a Grade Two novice chase by 31 lengths at this meeting in 2021 and went on to round off his novice campaign with a Grade One success at Aintree.

He found life more difficult when stepping into open company last term, but did manage to win the Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham and was second to Shishkin on his return to Aintree in the spring.

For the second year in succession Ahoy Senor failed to fire on his reappearance in the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby, but Scudamore – partner and assistant to trainer Lucinda Russell – hopes he can at least take a step forward under the welter burden of 12st back at the Berkshire venue.

“We’re hoping for a big run. It’s a big ask for him, but he’s won round Newbury and we’re looking forward to it,” he said.

“He’s come on since Wetherby – I’m happier with him than I was going into the Charlie Hall.

“He’ll be a big price and if he finished in the first four, I’d be delighted.”

Denman twice won the historic handicap under top-weight, carrying 11st 12lb to victory in his Cheltenham Gold Cup-winning season in 2007 before regaining his Newbury crown in 2009.

Ahoy Senor will concede upwards of 12lb to his rivals this weekend in the hands of Derek Fox, with the Sam Thomas-trained Stolen Silver next in the weights on 11st 2lb.

Denman’s trainer Paul Nicholls this year relies on the well fancied Complete Unknown as he goes in search of a fourth victory in the race as a trainer. He also won back-to-back runnings of what was the Hennessy Gold Cup during his riding career aboard Broadheath and Playschool in the 1980s.

Jonjo O’Neill’s Monbeg Genius and Dan Skelton’s Midnight River are also prominent in the market, as are the Irish pair of John McConnell’s Mahler Mission and the Gavin Cromwell-trained Stumptown.

Jamie Snowden has declared Datsalrightgino and Ga Law, although the latter’s first preference is to run against Shishkin in the Rehearsal Chase at Newcastle if the meeting survives.

Classic Getaway led his rivals a merry dance to play a starring role in a Thurles five-timer for champion trainer Willie Mullins.

The Cheveley Park Stud-owned seven-year-old was one of four Closutton inmates to contest the Make Your Best Bet At BetVictor Chase, with Mullins also fielding Haut En Couleurs, James Du Berlais and Capodanno in the Listed feature.

With Paul Townend in the saddle, Haut En Couleurs appeared the stable’s first string as the 6-4 favourite – but under an typically well-judged ride from the front by Danny Mullins, 15-2 shot Classic Getaway always looked in control and beat his better-fancied stablemate by five and a half lengths.

Runner-up Haut En Couleurs was subsequently found to have finished lame. The Mouse Morris-trained French Dynamite stuck on to beat James Du Berlais to third.

“If you look at his form it reads very well and he turned over a hotpot (Minella Cocooner) this time last year in Gowran. He missed most of the season and came back to run with credit at Punchestown,” said the winning jockey

“We were hoping he could do something like that as he always promised and is thankfully starting to deliver. His jumping is so good and he probably wasn’t getting that advantage over hurdles.

“For a horse of his size he has great agility and with that size, maybe he was that bit weak early in his career. We took a few nice scalps there and hopefully it is on towards Christmas now and find another spot for him.”

Mullins and Townend had earlier successfully combined with 8-15 favourite Il Etait Temps in the Download The BetVictor App Beginners Chase.

A Grade One-winning hurdler last season and runner-up to esteemed stable companion Facile Vega on a couple of occasions, the five-year-old made a smooth transition to the larger obstacles with a comfortable four-and-a-half-length verdict.

Townend said: “He was very manageable, which was a pleasant surprise, and he has a lot more respect for fences than hurdles – I thought he jumped brilliantly on the whole today.

“We went a good, even gallop with a good horse (Aspire Tower) leading and he showed a good turn of foot from the back of the last.

“He is more professional and has more options over fences because he is maturing.

“Hopefully he will be an Arkle type – we went a good strong pace, he has a good cruising speed and stays too.”

French recruit Lombron (2-1 favourite) brought up the Mullins treble, making a successful Irish debut in the Sign Up To GavinLynchRacing.com Maiden Hurdle under Townend, who added: “It was very straightforward and he settled well.

“The others had had runs already this year so, on the flat, I was conscious not to do too much with him and his jumping put him back into the race.

“He quickened up, lengthened nicely to the last and sorted himself out and he jumped brilliantly.

“He has a lot of natural ability.”

An excellent afternoon’s work was completed by Grade Two bumper-winning mare Fun Fun Fun (30-100 favourite), who completely outclassed her rivals in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Mares Maiden Hurdle, and the Townend-ridden Daddy Long Legs (11-8 favourite), who was similarly dominant in the Killinan Maiden Hurdle.

Fun Fun was bred and ridden by the trainer’s son Patrick Mullins, who said: “She jumped brilliantly and her pedigree is all three-mile chasers. The way she jumped she can stay at two miles, and she’s keen – she likes to get on with things.

“We might come back here for a mares’ novice hurdle at the end of the month, but that might be too soon. Hopefully we’ll be going for black type after today.

“I lost a Doctor Dino brother during the year, but have a Doctor Dino sister and a Jukebox Jury sister. We bought the mare privately because she was a sister to Yorkhill who, at the time, we thought was going to win the Champion Hurdle, the Gold Cup and the Ryanair, but I think he only won one race after we bought her. We bought her in-foal to Martaline and that was a gift.”

The Middleham Park Racing team expect to have a clearer idea about Marie’s Rock’s potential ambitions for the rest of the season after she takes on two staying stalwarts in the Coral Long Distance Hurdle at Newbury on Friday.

Nicky Henderson’s mare claimed back-to-back Grade One wins at the Cheltenham and Punchestown festivals in the spring of 2022 and made a triumphant return from eight months out of action when beating the boys in the Relkeel Hurdle at Prestbury Park on New Year’s Day.

By racing manager Tom Palin’s own admission, the decision to run in the Mares’ Hurdle rather than the Stayers’ Hurdle on her return to Cheltenham in March did not pay off, with Marie’s Rock finishing a well-beaten seventh behind Honeysuckle.

But with the eight-year-old subsequently proving her worth over three miles when runner-up to Sire Du Berlais at Aintree, there is no doubt about which route she is pursuing this term.

“It’s great to get her out a month and a bit sooner than we were able to last year and she seems in great form with herself,” said Palin.

“She went to Newbury last Tuesday, which was a good away day for her as she is quite excitable, and it just helped to burn off some of that freshness and excitement.

“We’ve had this race in mind since Aintree and she’s not missed a day. Her schooling at home has been excellent, her work at home has been excellent and we couldn’t be happier with her coming into this.

“She’s fit enough to do herself justice. Obviously she’ll come on for it after 230 days off the racetrack, but that’s going to be the same for anyone who hasn’t had a race.”

Marie’s Rock is set to face two veterans of the division in Paisley Park and Dashel Drasher – but while Palin is respectful of both, he is more than happy to take them on.

He added: “It’s kind of over to us now, isn’t it? We’ve got the established servants of the staying division in dear old Paisley Park and Dashel Drasher, who we know quite well as we’ve taken him on twice and come out the right side on both occasions.

“Both horses deserve the utmost respect, but the division is kind of crying out for a slightly younger gun to have their moment in the sun and Marie’s Rock seems the likely candidate at this stage.

“Whether that’s still the case at 3.08pm on Friday, we’ll have to wait and see, but I’m hugely excited about running her in this race, as are the team, and it should firmly establish where we are in the British staying pecking order.”

It is four years since Paisley Park struck gold in the Long Distance Hurdle and he has been placed in each of the three runnings since.

Emma Lavelle’s pride and joy is clearly in the twilight of his career at the age of 11, but the Wiltshire-based trainer is pleased with what she has seen at home in recent weeks.

She said: “He has just been such a star and is loving his training.

“He looks great and he went to Newbury for the press morning and had a lovely time just having a gallop round.

“He seems in really good shape but the proof is always in the running, so we will get him out and we will go and see what happens.

“He’s showing at home that he is loving what he is doing and we have had a good preparation. He schooled really well on Tuesday and was tanking along, so hopefully we will get a feel as to where we are.

“There are going to be horses in there with younger legs, but he has a heart of a lion. He is unbelievable how he keeps turning up and he loves his routine. It’s very special to have him and we will just decide race by race where we go.”

Unlike his two main rivals, Jeremy Scott’s Dashel Drasher is race-fit, having finished a creditable third on his seasonal debut in the West Yorkshire Hurdle at Wetherby four weeks ago.

Scott had hoped to run his stable star in last Saturday’s 1965 Chase at Ascot, but felt he would be unsuited by the drying ground over fences, so he instead sticks to the smaller obstacles in Berkshire.

Deborah Cole’s Flight Deck, the Paul Nicholls-trained Hugos New Horse and Mahons Glory from Patrick Neville’s yard complete the field.

It could be a key afternoon in the chasing career of Colonel Mustard as he bids to open his account up against Paul Nicholls’ Hermes Allen in the Coral John Francome Novices’ Chase at Newbury.

Lorna Fowler’s eight-year-old has come close to big-race success on raiding missions from Ireland in the past, most notably finishing third to State Man in the County Hurdle in 2022, while also picking up a silver medal in both the Morebattle Hurdle and Scottish Champion Hurdle earlier this year.

The most consistent of operators, he has finished outside the podium positions on only three occasions in 17 career starts.

However, he arrives in Berkshire for Grade Two action still a maiden over fences having bumped into some of the best novices around in Ireland, including at Down Royal on his seasonal debut, where Gordon Elliott’s Found A Fifty proved too good in a race where plenty of the obstacles were omitted.

“He’s in great form and I was very happy with him going into Down Royal,” explained Fowler.

“He was never going to beat that winner, but it was a very unsatisfactory race with so many of the jumps taken out. It not so much didn’t give me as many answers as I wanted, but more so the race I wanted to give him some experience.

“The run physically will have brought him and I think Newbury will suit him a lot.

“He does need to find his rhythm with his jumping and that will be key. I know it’s a pretty good race, but he is a classy horse and if he can pull himself together and get his jumping OK, then I think we’ve definitely got a chance.”

It will be just the third time Colonel Mustard has raced beyond the minimum two miles, but Fowler is confident a trip is now what he needs to put his best foot forward and break his fences duck at the fourth time of asking.

“I think the two and a half is important to him and I do think he stays,” she continued. “He has tried the trip twice and circumstances wouldn’t have seen him in his best light in both.

“Rachael (Blackmore) rode him at Down Royal and she seems to think he will stay and I’m very confident he will also.

“In terms of D-Day, he is going to have to produce it over fences, otherwise we are lucky to be able to go back over hurdles.

“I feel like he hasn’t had his best shot over fences yet, but it does need to happen otherwise we will be back over hurdles.”

Standing in Colonel Mustard’s way is Hermes Allen, with the Grade One scorer returning to the scene of his Challow Hurdle success as he starts life over the larger obstacles.

Although failing to make his mark at the spring festivals, he is tipped for big things over fences and his handler is keen to get him on course after a slight setback pushed back his original start date.

“We planned to start him over fences earlier this season until a minor foot issue put paid to that, but he is fine now and he will have benefitted from a racecourse gallop with Complete Unknown at Newbury early last week,” Nicholls told Betfair.

“Hermes Allen had a wind op in the summer and his schooling over fences at home has been very good, but given the time he lost, I’m sure we can get him fitter. I’m sure he can improve on whatever he does on Friday.

“He was a star for us last season with an impressive success in the Grade One Challow Hurdle at this course and could be exciting over fences.”

Sarah Humphrey is not a familiar name on the big days, but Nickle Back could put her name in lights if building on his two wide-margin victories over fences to date.

Humphrey said: “For a small yard to have a potentially top-class horse, it’s very exciting and a big deal for us.

“He was always going to be a chaser, but things didn’t go to plan for his novice hurdling year and then last season we were on a recovery mission from something else, but he was always going to be a chaser and the plan was always to go chasing, so I’m glad it has worked out so far.

“It’s all very well the handicapper giving him a high rating and obviously he has won his first two (chase outings) easily, but it’s a big step up in grade and class and the quality of horses he is against, so we will find a lot more about him.”

Marble Sands, trained in partnership by David Killahena and Graeme McPherson, was not disgraced in Graded contests over hurdles last term and impressed at Ayr on his chasing bow.

Nicky Henderson’s No Ordinary Joe was runner-up to Iroko at the Cheltenham Festival and with the form of that Martin Pipe working out extremely well, he also merits respect on his debut over fences.

Emma Lavelle’s Tightenourbelts completes the field following a taking 10-length romp on his introduction to the larger obstacles at Ludlow.