John Kington enjoyed his biggest victory in the saddle as J’Ai Froid took advantage of a final-flight blunder from Kyntara to claim the Pertemps Network Handicap Hurdle at Warwick.
Both Laura Morgan’s winner and the Mel Rowley-trained runner-up were to the fore throughout in the extended three-mile contest, but J’Ai Froid’s chance appeared to have evaporated as the 11-year-old came under a drive two out while Kyntara appeared full of running under Charlie Deutsch.
However, Kyntara put in a sluggish leap at the last which gave the chasing pack hope and Kington conjured up extra from the willing veteran to rally for a three-quarter-length victory at odds of 8-1.
Kington was keen to express his gratitude to J’Ai Froid’s handler Morgan, who has allowed him to strike up a fine partnership with one of her stable stalwart’s this season.
He said: “I moved down by Laura’s at the start of the season and began to ride out, I’ve been in four or five mornings a week and she ended up putting me on him for his first run of the year and he ended up winning.
“Luckily enough and thank you to Laura, but she has kept me on him and we haven’t been out of the first two.
“It’s marvellous for the team back at home and I’m just a small part of the team who gets to enjoy riding him on the track.
“It’s one of the biggest days of my riding career and I’ve been at it a long time. I love my racing and this is what I’m here to do. I’m normally away somewhere else riding when the racing is on the TV and it’s thanks to Laura really for giving me that opportunity.
“Days like this are what you wake up in the morning for, finding that one horse, and I’m over the moon.”
Nigel Hawke’s Donnacha (2-1 favourite) had bumped into quality opposition when placing at Cheltenham the last twice, but supplemented his early-season Chepstow success with a battling display under Lorcan Murtagh in the Michael Costello Memorial Handicap Hurdle.
“He deserved that,” said Hawke. “The last two runs have been in good company and he hasn’t disgraced himself and he’s a work in progress and is improving all the time.
“We won at Chepstow first time out, so this is his second win of the season and he has been to Cheltenham twice. The idea was to go to Cheltenham to get an idea of what we have got and we got that.
“We waited 18 months before he even hit the racecourse, he was a lovely three- and four-year-old but we’ve waited and are reaping the rewards now. There is a lack of these horses in the country because it takes time, but with the right owners you reap rewards long term.”
Betfair left Donnacha unchanged at 16-1 for Newbury’s Betfair Hurdle on February 10 and Hawke confirmed that race would come under consideration for the steadily improving six-year-old.
He added: “He’s in at Newbury (in the Betfair) and we will see what happens – we will have to have a look at it.
“Whatever he does this year, he will be a better horse next year over two and a half (miles) and probably fences, so I won’t be killing him this year.
“I think we will look after him a bit and there are thoughts of the EBF Final (at Sandown) but by then the ground might have dried out.
“Let’s go home with the programme book and see, If he had won by 15-20 lengths today and he didn’t have the Newbury entry you would be kicking yourself, but we’ll see how we go. He’s a great horse for the future.”
There were only two runners in the Unibet Edward Courage Cup Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase but Dan Skelton’s Etalon marked himself as a horse on the rise by following up his impressive Newbury return with a cosy 44-length success.
Meanwhile, Joe Tizzard’s Diamond Ri (evens favourite) opened his hurdles account at the second attempt in the Wigley Support Fund ‘National Hunt’ Maiden Hurdle.
An impressive bumper winner at the track in the spring, he bumped into Paul Nicholls’ well-regarded Insurrection at Exeter on his hurdles bow, but upped in trip he produced a professional performance in the hands of Brendan Powell.
“I think the form of his Exeter run is brilliant and he just tweaked a muscle, hence you haven’t seen him again since,” explained Tizzard.
“He’s still very raw and has a lot to learn still, but he’s getting the hang of it and he’s getting the hang of jumping at home. He’s not going to be an immediate natural because he’s a big frame of a horse, but he has a big engine and Brendan was just educating him and said once you gave him a flick, he quickened away nicely. I like him a lot.
“He’s going to make a lovely chaser and he’s just a big, raw National Hunt youngster, he’s not a speedster or anything like that but he has a lot of class.
“He’ll get all the entries and we will run again in three weeks’ time (in a novice under a penalty) and we’ll see where we are. He hasn’t got to go to Cheltenham but he’ll have the entries and sometimes you have to take your chance while you can as well.
“We’ll just try to do right by the horse, let him develop and let him tell us where he wants to end up.”
Banbridge kept on strongly to become the first Irish-trained winner of the Grade Two Coral Silviniaco Conti Chase at Kempton.
Joseph O’Brien’s eight-year-old was having his first outing for 275 days but got the better of defending champion Pic D’Orhy thanks to jumping the final fence better under JJ Slevin.
Pic D’Orhy, who coasted to a 16-length success in this contest 12 months ago, set the pace early on from Banbridge, with the other three runners in a line a few lengths back.
Notlongtillmay made a brief forward move on the turn for home, while Edwardstone and Janidil never quite got into the contest.
That left Banbridge and Pic D’Orhy to battle it out up the home straight and a late blunder by the latter proved decisive, with the 3-1 victor prevailing by a length and three-quarters.
Winning owner Ronnie Bartlett told Racing TV: “We were always looking for good ground for him and we got it today. He was maybe a wee bit rusty at times but we’re very happy – he put up a solid performance.
“He made a few mistakes but he’s been off the track for a long time, so it’s pretty exciting.
“He just seems to be very professional, he’s more mature, he’s got bigger and thicker and he’s just in a good way. He was very cool about travelling over here, he was relaxed and it was a good way to start the season.
“We’ve had him bubbling for a long time and there have been races we were going for but the ground wasn’t what we wanted, but Joseph said there is still some improvement to go and we’re happy with that.”
Banbridge was cut from 10-1 to 5-1 for the Ryanair Chase by Betfair, Coral and Paddy Power.
“We’ll wait and see what the ground is like, he’s a spring horse, so we’ll watch him accordingly, but all being well, that’s the race we’ll be going for,” added Bartlett.
There was a sad postscript to the race, as Notlongtillmay suffered a fatal fall at the last fence.
Tearful trainer Laura Morgan told ITV Racing: “It’s absolutely horrendous, he didn’t deserve that. He just took a nasty fall at the last and broke his shoulder.
“He’s been our stable star and it’s so upsetting. It will leave a massive hole in the yard every day, he was such a character as well – and little Ernie, the pony that has come with him, he will miss him.”
Grey Dawning regained the winning thread with a comfortable triumph in the Trustatrader Hampton Novices’ Chase at Warwick.
Dan Skelton’s charge had looked set for a Cheltenham victory last time out, only to make a mess of the penultimate fence, which saw him have to give best to Ginny’s Destiny.
Sent off the 5-4 favourite to make amends, Harry Skelton was happy to settle in behind the front-running Apple Away for much of the three-mile contest, with Broadway Boy the only other horse really in contention on the turn for home.
However, he began to struggle as Grey Dawning made smooth progress on the outside to grab the lead from Apple Away at the second last, despite running slightly down that fence.
He was also a bit slow to jump at the last, but Skelton’s mount kept galloping to the line to win by 14 lengths – a result which saw Betfair cut him to 10-1 from 16s for the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase.
The Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, has made good on her promise to the Sunshine Girls that she would make them monetary gifts for their performance in the Netball World Cup in South Africa and in the first-ever netball tournament held in the Central American and Caribbean Games.
The Ministry has disbursed a total of Six-Point-Seven Million Dollars ($6.7M) to the bank accounts of the team members in the sum of Three-Hundred-Thousand Dollars ($300,000.00) for each member who went to the Netball World Cup in South Africa and One-Hundred-Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00) each to those who played at the CAC Games in El Salvador.
Minister Grange said, “This honours the committed honorarium as part of the Ministry’s Athlete Assistance Programme for the Sunshine Girls’ participation at the Netball World Cup held last year in South Africa where they got the bronze medal and the Central American and Caribbean Games in El Salvador where they won gold.
Minister Grange said that the Sunshine Girls had more than earned and deserved the support that they continue to get from the Ministry and other sponsors. “They continue to make Jamaica proud as our national team members and also as in-demand international professional netball players. The eight Sunshine Girls now plying their trade in Australia currently are more than the number making up a full netball team.
“Over the years funding support from Government has gone a long way to enable the netball development programme to produce players of the quality of the eight ladies playing in Australia and making Jamaica the country with the highest number of its netballers playing professionally abroad.
“Special congratulations to these ladies: Jhanielle Fowler-Nembhard; Shamerea Sterling-Humphrey, Romelda Aiken-George, Shanice Beckford, Kadi Ann Dehaney, Shimona Nelson-Jok; Latanya Wilson and Jodi Ann Ward.”
Tricia Robinson, President of Netball Jamaica, expressed thanks on behalf of Netball Jamaica and the Sunshine Girls, saying, “Sincere gratitude for the financial gift given to our team for participation in the Netball World Cup and the CAC Games.”
Three-time defending champion Aliana McMaster and defending champion Shaun Barnes are ready to defend their Driftwood Gun Club titles on Sunday at the picturesque Murphy Hill Estate over-looking the town of Ocho Rios.
The event will begin at 9:30 am, with over 150 shooters set to contest the 17-station course.
It kicks off the first sporting clays shoot of the year for the Jamaica Skeet Club, which has a busy 2024 calendar.
Barnes, the six-time national shotgun champion, will battle the likes of four-time national champion Christian Sasso and nine-time national shotgun champion and current Jamaica Skeet Club president Ian Banks, as well as two-time Driftwood Gun Club champion Craig Simpson, the red-hot Nick Benjamin, with multiple wins under his belt in 2023, and the very consistent Ray McMaster among other outstanding shooters. They will be challenged by several sharp shooting juniors.
Meanwhile, the Ladies section will also be competitive with McMaster expected to be challenged by her mother, many-time national shotgun champion Wendy McMaster, former national shotgun champion Marguerite Harris and a number of very good lady shooters such as Renee Rickhi, Loriann Harris and others.
The shooters will compete in various classes including A to E, Juniors, Sub-Juniors, Ladies and Hunters or beginners.
Proceeds from the tournament will be used for the Driftwood Gun Club’s charities, which are dominated by educational support in the Treasure Beach area in the parish of St. Elizabeth.
Club president, Christina East is happy to have Proven on board for the fourth consecutive year as major sponsor. She credited David East who passed away in 2020 with playing a pivotal role in securing the venue (Murphy Hill) as the home of the club's annual competition.
East was considered to be a visionary club member who only wanted the best for sporting clays in Jamaica, hence the competition is held in his honour. This year marks twenty years of existence for the Driftwood Gun Club.
Paul Nicholls introduced an exciting prospect at Kempton in Kalif Du Berlais, who galloped on strongly from the front to win the Play Coral ‘Racing-Super-Series’ For Free Juvenile Hurdle by seven and a half lengths at 4-5.
Nicholls was quick to play down his chances of heading to the Cheltenham Festival, with a future chasing career his long-term target, but that didn’t stop punters from backing the French import into 12-1 with Betfair for the Triumph Hurdle.
Kalif Du Berlais had previously scored impressively on his racecourse bow at Compiegne and Nicholls told Racing TV: “We thought he was a smart horse.
“My only reservation was that he hasn’t been in this country all that long and normally they need a bit of a break to acclimatise, but because I knew we were going to have to give him a run, I just kept going straight on with him and he’s just thrived on everything.
“He’s never looked back from the minute he came in the yard and he’s a gorgeous horse – he’s a chaser, that’s what he was bought for, so we need to mind him. He won’t have too many races this year; we need to look after him and we will.
“His jumping is brilliant but he’s not a Triumph horse is he! All those types like him in the past – Clan Des Obeaux, Frodon – they always finish in the middle and end up superstar chasers, so I don’t see a point in running them in the Triumph Hurdle.
“He could come back here for the Adonis, although we’ve got a few runners for that, so it might be one more run and possibly look at Aintree. All options are open, but I don’t see him as a Triumph horse because he’s the wrong type.”
Nicholls feels Kalif Du Berlais has leapt to the top of the pecking order among his juvenile hurdlers but added: “He’s all about the future and I don’t see any point staying around over hurdles with him for too long, he might have to go chasing in the autumn as a four-year-old.”
Flegmatik secured a third course victory in the New Bet-In-Race With Coral Handicap Chase over three miles, scoring by two lengths at 7-2.
Tristan Durrell gave Dan Skelton’s charge a positive ride and his 3lb allowance came in handy as they saw off the late challenge from top-weight Chianti Classico.
Assistant trainer Bridget Andrews said: “He’s been a great horse for the owners and obviously has a love for Kempton.
“He definitely bounces off the bit better ground, although it looks a bit tacky today, but I don’t know what it is about Kempton.
“He’s a strong traveller and we’d normally hold on to him a little bit more than we did today, but it was always happening a bit slowly for him lately and he was taking a bit to get going, so we said if he does get to the front today, just press on – and Tristan gave him a great ride.
“I was pleased to see him push on when he did, the horse has sometimes pulled up a bit when in front but he never gave me that impression today and stayed on really well.”
Nicky Henderson’s Gentle Slopes survived a stewards’ inquiry to claim the Coral Get Closer To The Action Novices’ Hurdle at 4-5, having edged right on the run-in before shading Junkanoo by a nose.
Colonel Harry took full advantage of Trelawne’s wayward tendencies to continue a golden season for his jockey Gavin Sheehan in the William Hill Towton Novices’ Chase at Wetherby.
Sheehan has already won the Coral Gold Cup on Datsalrightgino, representing the same connections, the December Gold Cup on Fugitif and the dramatic King George on Hewick.
Jamie Snowden’s Colonel Harry had finished second to Le Patron in a Grade One over two miles at Sandown last time out and was racing over two and a half miles on this occasion.
This Grade Two had been previously run over three miles and while only four went to post over the new distance, all had claims.
Kim Bailey’s Trelawne attempted to make all but he continually lost ground by hanging markedly to his right and at one point was seemingly intent on heading to the car park on the home bend.
The fact he only went down by a length and three-quarters to the 5-4 favourite spoke volumes, with the winner having to fend off Trelawne’s renewed challenge on the run to the line.
“He’s done it well but Trelawne probably made it a bit easier for us,” said Sheehan.
“Our lad jumps great, he has the right attitude and he didn’t mind stepping up in trip there.
“It’s been brilliant of late, there’s no hiding that fact – I’ve had some great success and long may it continue.”
Hew Glyn Davies, of owners the GD Partnership, said: “I was delighted with that. Obviously it was a small field and the second horse is very good, we were worried about him.
“He travelled great but Gavin said he was ready for him when he opened out on the back straight and he didn’t really have to get into him.
“I think at Sandown he pecked at the first fence and lost his position, he was behind the ball the whole of the way. He got going late and, frankly, if it had been another few yards he’d have got there.
“The longer trip really helped, we’d been debating it, or Jamie had, for a while.
“I think the Scilly Isles (at Sandown) will be a possibility but Cheltenham is a question mark.
“We’ve had a great year so far with Datsalrightgino winning the Coral Gold Cup too.”
Kim Bailey lamented not fitting the runner-up Trelawne with cheekpieces.
“We tossed and turned as to whether to put cheekpieces on today, we gave him the benefit of the doubt but I wish we had,” he said.
“He did the same in his second novice hurdle at Exeter and he’s always been quirky, but he’s got a serious amount of ability.
“He’s a very talented individual, to go so close having run off the racecourse. He’s a winner without a penalty but he hasn’t picked up the prize money either! It’s a very frustrating situation.”
Mystical Power puts his unbeaten record on the line when he leads Willie Mullins’ quest for a record-extending 10th victory in Punchestown’s Sky Bet Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle.
Mullins has won this Grade Two event with some of the Closutton greats down the years, with the likes of Vautour, Douvan, Min and last year’s champion Impaire Et Passe all featuring on the roll of honour.
Now it is the regally-bred Mystical Power who has the chance to lay down a marker and put himself in the Cheltenham Festival picture in a race that has often identified prime Prestbury Park candidates.
Owned by JP McManus, the Galileo gelding is the first progeny of Champion Hurdle heroine Annie Power to hit the track and has lived up to his impeccable breeding so far, following up a Ballinrobe bumper victory with a seven-length romp on hurdles debut at Galway in the summer.
The five-year-old now returns after a 167-day break with connections keen to learn more about their exciting prospect, as he steps up markedly in class.
“Willie is very happy with him and we’re hoping for a good run,” said McManus’ racing manager Frank Berry.
“He won his novice and he’s been thrown in there, but he’s in good form and we hope for a good performance.
“He won nicely the day he won at Galway and probably the race didn’t work out that well. But he’s had a bit of a break after that and we’ll learn a bit more about him on Sunday.
“Willie has another in there as well, but ours is in good form and we’re hoping for a good run.”
Mullins has a second string to his bow in the form of Thurles winner Lombron, who is the mount of Paul Townend, while former Closutton inmate and 2022 Champion Bumper third James’s Gate will be bidding to step forward from his Leopardstown debut for new handler Martin Brassil.
Felix Desjy and Andy Dufresne gave Gordon Elliott back-to-back Moscow Flyer victories in 2019 and 2020 and the master of Cullentra House goes for win number three with the Bective Stud-owned Jigoro, who was a taking nine-length scorer in heavy ground at Navan last month.
Elliott said: “He’s in good form and it’s a good race. He’d a good performance the last day in Navan. I’m happy with him.”
Tom Mullins’ useful bumper performer Fascile Mode was a winner over track and trip earlier in the season, but now has a point to prove having disappointed in Grade One company the last twice.
The Jamaica Football Federation (JFF) Presidential Election has been delayed by at least 28 days.
The elections were scheduled for Sunday, January 14 at Rusea’s High School in Hanover.
The postponement is due to an injunction granted by the Supreme Court following an appeal made on behalf of Beach Soccer Jamaica, the Jamaica Football Referees Association and Intercol Jamaica to become registered with the Companies Office of Jamaica (COJ).
The COJ registration would allow those parties ratification to become delegates ahead of the election.
Incumbent Michael Ricketts is being challenged by JFF First-Vice President Raymond Anderson. Ricketts has been in office as President since September 2017.
While optimistic about Jamaica’s chances of making a deep run in the upcoming Concacaf Men’s Under-20 Championships, Head Coach John is cognizant that his team’s performance will be dependent on their build up to the tournament.
It is for that reason why Wall welcomed an ongoing four-day camp with local-based players, which will be followed by three friendly encounters in Trinidad and Tobago ahead of the big show in St Kitts and Nevis next month.
With the qualifiers scheduled for February 23 to March 2, Wall and his team engage Trinidad and Tobago’s Under-20 team in two games, with the other set to be against a senior team from the twin island republic.
Those games are scheduled for January 22 to February 2, and will be followed by a pre-tournament camp locally from February 14-21.
"I think it is another assessment round with the domestic players ever since March during those two sessions a month, then obviously, we stopped September, October, November and then commenced again December with a small scrimmage [practice] against Portmore United. I really appreciate that they were able to play us, and it gave me a lot of insights too," Wall said.
"So, I am very excited about this camp, which has now started. I am very excited about the talent that is in store, and I am looking forward to the next four days of action. It is a great opportunity for the players to impress ahead of the qualifiers and an opportunity to showcase their worth in a very busy calendar going into 2024," he added.
Wall explained that the camp in Trinidad and Tobago will also be used to engage overseas-based players and simulate a tournament format with games being played every other day.
“These games will basically put the staff to work as well because we will basically be playing every other day, so the recovery will be important which is why we want to use these games to mimic that scenario,” he explained.
“We also want to give a full scope to know who they (overseas-based players) are, see how they fit into the group and how they can aid us and ultimately see if they can qualify for the U-20s final squad. We would like to have a full calendar where everyone (local and overseas) is synchronized, but the biggest thing now is that Jamaica has started to export players in a bigger volume than it is right now, that’s one of my concerns,” he noted.
With Jamaica drawn in Group F alongside Bermuda, Martinique and Grenada, Wall pointed out that they have already down their homework on the opponents.
But, in the same breath, he argued that it would mean very little if they aren’t adequately prepared and ready to challenge for the coveted top spot, as only the group winners will progress to the next phase of the tournament to join the top teams –United States, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic –ranked in that order.
“Martinique had four of their U-20 players in that game against Lille which they lost 12-0; Grenada has five English-based players that is going to be a part of their squad and we basically have them covered, and Bermuda hasn’t started preparations as yet, so they are more of a dark horse. But for me it’s about controlling the controllable at this point in terms of what we can do,” Wall declared.
“My hope and aspiration (for the tournament) lie in the work that we put down and not the talent that we assess, so we have to do the work consistently because ultimately what I care about is making sure that Jamaica prevails,” he ended.
A debate will be held to discuss the implementation of affordability checks on February 26, the Petitions Committee has announced.
Participants and fans of racing signed a petition, which needed 100,000 signatures to reach this stage, after it was launched under the name of Jockey Club chief executive Nevin Truesdale.
British Horseracing Authority chief executive Julie Harrington said in a statement: “We are pleased that the important issue of affordability checks will now be subjected to proper levels of parliamentary scrutiny.
“The fact that our survey reached the required 100,000 signatures threshold in just 27 days is powerful testament to the strength of feeling shared by bettors over the proposed checks. This has today been recognised by the Petitions Committee.
“No other form of leisure activity is subjected to the kinds of restrictions being proposed by the Government and so it is right that MPs have the chance to forensically debate this issue.
“The BHA and other racing stakeholders will work with MPs on both sides of the House to ensure that the views of British racing and those who bet on the sport are properly represented within the debate.
“While we support the need to protect individuals from the risk of gambling-related harm it remains the case that millions of people enjoy betting on horseracing without suffering any ill effects.
“The BHA will therefore continue to push for changes to the Gambling Commission’s proposals on affordability checks to protect the sport’s financial future and limit the impact on racing bettors.”
Paul Nicholls’ Kabral Du Mathan looks to have a very bright future after he cruised to victory on his British debut in the Weatherbys Chatteris Fen Juvenile Hurdle.
A winner in France on his only previous start, he had to carry 8lb more than all his rivals but it mattered not a jot.
There were four other previous winners in the race and one of those, Dan Skelton’s Kartoon And Co, led them until halfway down the back straight when he suddenly came under pressure and dropped to last.
Alan King’s Whispering Royal was the next to crack but by the second last, Harry Cobden had loomed up on Kabral Du Mathan (100-30) and breezed by Latin Verse to win by a length and a half.
Charlie Davies, assistant trainer, said: “It was a very pleasing performance. He has done everything nicely in Ditcheat. When they come over from France, you don’t know what to expect and we were very nervous about having to give all of them 8lb.
“He has jumped brilliantly, done it all very professionally and I think he has done it quite cosily. Hopefully he might be one for the Fred Winter (Boodles) in March.
“I think he is more a Fred Winter horse as to be a Triumph Hurdle horse you have got to be a really good horse, and you would have to take on Burdett Road, while Sir Gino looked very smart the other day.
“I think we will go the Fred Winter route for the time being. He has got to have one more run and maybe we will run him in a decent race and see how good he is.
“You couldn’t be more pleased with how it went as he travelled and jumped brilliantly. It was a very taking debut, giving them all 8lb.”
Ben Pauling was delighted to get Tellherthename’s career back on track with a straightforward success in the Arkle Finance EBF “National Hunt” Novices’ Hurdle.
Pauling has made no secret of the regard in which he holds the £200,000 purchase but the wheels came off when upped to Grade One company at Aintree last time out.
Back down in class and following extensive tests, the five-year-old landed odds of 1-4 with the minimum of fuss under Kielan Woods.
“We are back on track. We turned a lot of stones to try to find out what happened at Aintree. We found a few little bits and bobs, but nothing that put us out for that long as you could see,” said Pauling.
“I was just keen to get his season back on track before we dwelt on it for too long. The ground there was soft enough and it is not the good to soft that they have advertised, but he has handled it very well. He is an unbelievably class horse.
“That now gives him his fourth run so he has got the option of the Betfair Hurdle, but the ground would have to be spot on for that otherwise we will go straight to the Supreme with him.
“I think he is a class horse with gears galore and I sometimes think they are best fresh. They go such a gallop in that race (Supreme) and if you are anything but absolutely ready for the day, then you might get caught flat-footed.”
Henrietta Knight enjoyed her first day back on a racecourse as a trainer, despite being out of luck with two runners at Wincanton.
Neither Zettabyte or Ballywalter troubled the judge, but Knight, who during her first spell with a licence reached the summit of her profession, was welcomed back into the racing fold with open arms.
Knight enjoyed tremendous success during her first spell with a licence, winning the Gold Cup at Cheltenham three times with Best Mate.
She was also responsible for Queen Mother Champion Chase and King George hero Edredon Bleu, the Stayers’ Hurdle with Karshi and Victor Chandler Chase (now Clarence House) with Somersby.
Having competed at the highest level of equestrianism before beginning her training career, Knight was always credited with being a great horsewoman and until recently several trainers have sent their horses to her for extensive schooling.
“It was a very good experience to be back on the racecourse,” she said.
“I got a good welcome and I was among people I like being with.
“I saw plenty of people that I hadn’t see for a fair few years, but like myself they have all got a bit older!
“It was a great atmosphere and I’ve enjoyed it.”
She went on: “The first horse (Zettabyte) showed enough to suggest that he will win races in time, but I don’t know when I might have more runners due to the weather – judging by what they are saying there might not be much racing after Wednesday.
“Hopefully we can keep it all running smoothly at home anyway.
“I had such a lovely welcome today, I really enjoyed it.”
Zettabyte, formerly with Gordon Elliott, finished ninth of 15 having travelled well for a long way, while Ballywalter was pulled up at the third-last.
Banbridge takes aim at the Coral Silviniaco Conti Chase when he makes his eagerly-awaited return in a high-class contest at Kempton on Saturday.
Joseph O’Brien’s eight-year-old is no stranger to making raiding trips to the UK and, having won at the Cheltenham Festival in 2022, registered a first Grade One in Aintree’s Manifesto Novices’ Chase at the back-end of last season.
That Liverpool victory was the last time the Ronnie Bartlett-owned chaser has been sighted, with the wet weather leading to him being kept under lock and key until now.
However, his handler is keen to get Banbridge’s campaign started ahead of key targets at the major festivals later in the season.
“He’s in good form and has prepared well for this race,” said O’Brien.
“He’s been ready to run for a little while now but just hasn’t had suitable conditions.
“We’re looking forward to getting him started and hopefully he runs a nice race in preparation for the spring festivals.”
Pic D’Orhy coasted to a 16-length success in this contest 12 months ago but faces a much sterner challenge this time around.
Paul Nicholls’ Melling Chase hero took advantage of Shishkin planting at the start on his reappearance at Ascot and the defending champion returns to the Grade Two event attempting to maintain a 100 per cent record at the Sunbury track.
“He won this by 16 lengths a year ago and has a solid chance of completing the double,” Nicholls told Betfair.
“I don’t think he was at his best when he was successful in his only race this season at Ascot, where he found the ground quicker than ideal. But he still won decisively and we fancied our chances against Shishkin before he refused to start.
“Pic D’Orhy is in good shape, working nicely and I’ve had this race in mind for him for a while.”
Alan King saddled Balder Success to victory in the 2015 running of this contest and now sends out Edwardstone looking to repeat the feat.
The Arkle winner took a step forward from his Shloer Chase return when a brave second in the Tingle Creek prior to Christmas, but with the Barbury Castle handler accepting defeat in the red-hot two-mile division, Edwardstone now has the Ryanair Chase firmly on the radar for March.
He will be partnered by his usual jockey Tom Cannon, who feels the better underfoot conditions at Kempton could inspire a return to form, as he races further than an extended two miles for the first time over fences.
He said: “I think the better the ground, the better it is for him, although he does handle any ground, with the exception of extremes.
“He hasn’t had decent ground in his two runs this season and hopefully he will appreciate that going up in trip.
“He has won well around Kempton before over fences in the Wayward Lad (Novices’ Chase) and it is a flat track, which should help him see out the trip.
“However, we won’t know if he does get the trip until he has run, and the horse will do all the talking.”
Laura Morgan is another handler with half an eye on the Ryanair Chase at the Festival, with her Notlongtillmay freshened up after finishing a gallant second to Stage Star in the Paddy Power Gold Cup, while Willie Mullins’ Janidil completes the field of five heading to post.
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