Mick Appleby has delivered a positive winter bulletin on star sprinter Big Evs, as connections prepare to map out the three-year-old campaign for the Breeders’ Cup hero.

The speedy son of Blue Point was one of the standout sprinting juveniles of the 2023 season, winning four of his six starts and ending the year with success at Santa Anita in November.

That big-race verdict had connections dreaming of what the colt could achieve this year and having strengthened up during his time off, he is now reported to be in rude health as he begins building up to peak fitness ahead of the new term.

Appleby has his eye on a May return, but suitable ground appears to be crucial with the Oakham handler hesitant to start his stable standard bearer off in testing conditions.

“He’s doing well and back in training now. He’s wintered well and grown and filled out more – he looks a bit stronger now,” said Appleby.

“I’m going to have a sit down with his owner soon and map out a campaign for him. We would probably look at getting out May time I think, it’s just working out what there is for him early season really.

“It will all depend on what the ground will be like really more than anything – we don’t want it too soft, even though he handled it at Glorious Goodwood when he won on bottomless ground.

“We will play it by ear with him and he’s getting fitter, so we’ll crack on with him and see when he’s ready.”

Appleby is also preparing high-class operators Roberto Escobarr and Annaf for international duty in Saudi Arabia next month, where both will seek valuable prizes at the Saudi Cup meeting.

A three-time winner when trained by William Haggas, Roberto Escobarr claimed the Italian St Leger on stable debut for his new handler in November and after a tune-up run at Newcastle on New Year’s Day is now hoping for a bit of luck to ensure he makes the line-up for the $2.5million Red Sea Turf Handicap.

“Roberto Escobarr ran well at Newcastle and he’s possibly going out to Saudi for the Red Sea Handicap,” added Appleby.

“He needs three to come out at the moment, so hopefully he gets in and we’ve got Annaf going out there as well for the turf sprint. He’s in the dirt race as well but he’ll run on the turf.

“There’s a bit to look forward to with two nice horses and it’ll break the winter up a bit.”

Charles Byrnes’ Blazing Khal is being aimed at a repeat William Hill Boyne Hurdle triumph as he makes another comeback after injury.

The gelding, now an eight-year-old, has always demonstrated plenty of ability but his career has been paused more than once by recurring issues.

An unbeaten novice hurdler who won two Grade Two Cheltenham contests in 2021, the horse then never fulfilled his potential in that sphere after missing the big spring festivals due to injury.

He was off the track for a total of 428 days as a result, but his comeback was a winning one when he landed the Boyne Hurdle at Navan last February in an impressive three-length success.

Blazing Khal then headed to the Stayers’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival where he finished sixth of 11 runners ahead of another enforced lay-off.

However, Byrnes has been bringing his charge back into work since summer last year and, all being well, intends to stage another comeback next month.

An entry has been made for the Stayers’ Hurdle at the Festival but Navan would have to go particularly well for that to become an option, although Aintree and the Punchestown Festival are both on the radar for later in the season.

“He’s doing OK, we haven’t had a great run with him but he’s doing well at the moment,” said Byrnes.

“We’re hoping to run him back in the Boyne Hurdle, the race he won last year, that’s the plan at the minute.

“We’ve had him in since July, he’s been stop-start but that’s how it is. We’ve no big expectations this time around; if it happens, it happens.

“He’s got an entry in the Stayers’ Hurdle but he’d have to really show himself off in the Boyne Hurdle to consider going – Aintree and Punchestown would be possibilities but with the way he is, we will take it day by day.

“It’s been different niggles with him but we’re staying positive.”

Marie’s Rock booked her return to the Cheltenham Festival in landing the SBK Warfield Mares’ Hurdle at Doncaster for Nicky Henderson.

The nine-year-old was the 6-4 favourite for the extended three-mile contest, a five-runner affair saved from Ascot that included Henderson-trained stablemates Tweed Skirt and Theatre Glory alongside Jamie Snowden’s You Wear It Well.

Marie’s Rock brought Grade One form to the table, however, and was last seen finishing second to Bob Olinger in the Relkeel Hurdle at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day.

This Grade Two was a step up in trip and under James Bowen she did not look the easiest of rides, lighting up once the red hood was removed but settling to the task when having to fend off You Wear It Well in the final stages of the race.

An eventual length-and-a-half-winner, Betfair cut Marie’s Rock from 20-1 to 12-1 to regain the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle crown she won in 2022, with Lossiemouth at the head of the market after her highly impressive Cheltenham victory on Saturday.

“We were delighted she was able to get her head back in front there, we don’t necessarily see her as an out-and-out three-miler and that’s probably not her championship distance,” said Tom Palin of syndicate owners Middleham Park Racing.

“We will keep her to the mares’ races, but she’s not ineffective at these sorts of distances and against the opposition today she was able to take advantage of that in what looked a good opportunity to get her head back in front.

“She has been running some very creditable races in defeat, she’s a tough, game mare. She carries her head a bit awkwardly, a bit in the ‘Marie’s Rock style’ but James said when You Wear It Well came to her she wasn’t going to lay down and she toughed it out.

“It takes a very good one to go past her, I thought the writing was on the wall with that performance behind Bob Olinger – he looked resurgent, the Bob Olinger of old, and I felt we lost nothing in defeat to him.

“I was delighted that she was able to confirm her place at the Cheltenham Festival, obviously life has got a little bit harder in the last 24 hours with Lossiemouth looking like the proverbial second coming!

“We’ve booked our ticket for the mares’ race anyway and we’ll head down that route.”

Embassy Gardens is expected to go on to bigger and better things after claiming an impressive victory in the Grade Three Finlay Ford At Naas Novice Chase.

Willie Mullins used this race as a stepping stone to National Hunt Chase glory at Cheltenham with Stattler a couple of years ago, while several of his other recent victors took the same route without success.

This latest winner was cut from 7-1 to 4-1 favourite with Coral for the three-mile-six-furlong test for amateur riders at Prestbury Park.

Paul Nolan’s Albert Bartlett third Sandor Clegane set the pace for most of the way and was still in front after the penultimate fence.

However, 8-13 favourite Embassy Gardens had jumped beautifully and travelled strongly throughout under Paul Townend before coming through to challenge between the last two obstacles.

Another grand leap at the last put him in front and the eight-year-old galloped on well all the way to the line to put 10 lengths between him and Sandor Clegane.

Mullins said: “That was a really good performance and what I like about this horse is that he really loves jumping. When he sees a fence, he wants to jump it and that’s a huge asset in this game.

“He jumps, he stays and does everything right. He’s learned to settle now and is much easier to ride.

“He looks a natural for staying chasing and he’ll go for one of the staying chases in Cheltenham.”

Regarding runner-up Sandor Clegane, Nolan commented: “He ran well and came up against a good horse. He’ll probably go to Cheltenham and see where that takes us.

“It probably wasn’t ideal to make the running but you couldn’t say that it cost us. He was a bit slow twice at the ditch but other than that jumped well.”

It was another good day for Mullins, who had enjoyed big-race success in England 24 hours earlier.

Lossiemouth returned to action with a stunning victory in the Unibet Hurdle at Cheltenham, where Capodanno kept on well to land the Paddy Power Cotswold Chase, both ridden by Townend.

Up at Doncaster, Ashroe Diamond did the business in the SBK Yorkshire Rose Mares’ Hurdle with Patrick Mullins on board, with stablemate Gala Marceau back in third.

“Lossiemouth has improved nicely and did it well,” reported Mullins. “We took a chance and waited with her this season and it seems to have done her good.

“I was also happy with the other mares. Ashroe Diamond has come on and Gala Marceau may have just needed it yesterday. She’ll improve away from that.

“I thought Paul was very good tactically on Capodanno yesterday.”

Zarak The Brave got back on track by claiming a straightforward victory in the Grade Three Naas Racecourse Business Club Limestone Lad Hurdle.

Paul Townend was last of the four runners aboard the 2-5 favourite approaching the turn for home but then made a forward move to track pacemaker Telmesomethinggirl entering the straight.

Two smooth jumps put the five-year-old in control and he kept on well enough to prevail by a length and a quarter.

The Simon Munir and Isaac Souede-owned gelding showed plenty of promise last season when placed behind stablemates Lossiemouth and Gala Marceau in Grade One events at Punchestown and Auteuil.

He picked up a valuable prize when landing the Galway Hurdle but was found to be all wrong after being pulled up as a long odds-on favourite for a three-runner Tipperary contest in October.

Trainer Willie Mullins said: “It’s nice to put that bad run in Tipperary behind him and we felt he’d been doing things nice at home.

“He might need a longer trip, as he’s getting settled now compared to what he used to be like. I’m very pleased to get him back on track.

“He’s only in the Champion Hurdle (at Cheltenham) and I’m not sure if he’ll go there. We might look at a few of the Graded races at Fairyhouse over Easter.

Mullins also has Impaire Et Passe for Zarak The Brave’s owners and he is set for action as part of the Closutton squad for the Dublin Racing Festival.

Mullins added: “We’ll work the horses during the week and decide then what we will do next weekend.

“Impaire Et Passe will run in the Irish Champion Hurdle along with State Man and probably Echoes In Rain.”

Ndaawi looked a nice prospect for Gordon Elliott when cruising to victory in the Download The BetVictor App Maiden Hurdle as a 10-11 market leader.

Jack Kennedy sent his mount a dozen lengths clear after a fine leap at the final flight and was able to ease down well before the finish, eventually obliging by a comfortable two and a half.

Once a Group One runner in France for Andrew Balding as a two-year-old, the son of Cracksman was cut from 14-1 to 10-1 with Betfair for the Boodles Juvenile Handicap Hurdle at Cheltenham.

Elliott beamed: “It was a good performance and he jumped well. His form was good and we knew he’d improved from the last day. He was entitled to do that. He’ll go for the Boodles at Cheltenham.”

Kings Halo made all when running out a convincing winner of the Clinton Higgins Chartered Accountants Novice Handicap Chase.

Danny Mullins set out to make the two-and-a-half-mile contest a true test of stamina on James Dullea’s 7-4 favourite and succeeded in doing that before drawing 18 lengths clear at the line.

“Our fella jumped and travelled,” said Dullea. “Danny was brilliant and got the fractions right on him. I thought he’d gone a tad quick early on, but Danny knew what he was doing.

“The drop back in trip didn’t make any difference to him and it was a good performance. He’d a lovely weight and everything suited him – ground, weight.

“He has plenty of options now with trips and he’ll get into better handicaps now.”

Gerri Colombe is set to sidestep next weekend’s Dublin Racing Festival and head straight to the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Gordon Elliott’s charge went down by just a short head in last season’s Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase before impressively securing a Grade One success at Aintree.

He kicked off the current campaign with another victory at elite level by edging out Envoi Allen in the Ladbrokes Champion Chase at Down Royal but was put in his place when a distant runner-up behind Galopin Des Champs in the Savills Chase at Leopardstown over Christmas.

A rematch with Willie Mullins’ star performer looked to be on the cards in the Paddy Power Irish Gold Cup but connections instead appear set to wait for Cheltenham.

“Gerri Colombe probably won’t run next weekend and we’ll go straight to Cheltenham with him,” said Elliott.

“He didn’t run his race at Christmas. He’s grand and can go to all the spring festivals.

“Instead of going back for another slog, we’ll go straight to Cheltenham and we have Aintree and Punchestown afterwards.”

Elliott has been rocked by the news that his horses running under the Caldwell Construction banner of owners Andrew and Gemma Brown are to be sold off next month.

That will affect his chances at the Dublin Racing Festival, as he added: “Farren Glory, Conflated and Found A Fifty will all run but we’ll have less runners than normal, as some are going to the sales.”

Fergal O’Brien’s Dysart Enos was hardly pressed when maintaining her flawless record in the Download The At The Races App Novices’ Hurdle at Doncaster.

The mare is considered a real prospect and had done nothing wrong in five starts when heading to Town Moor with three bumper wins and two hurdle victories on her CV.

The Cheltenham Festival is on the horizon for the six-year-old and the Doncaster contest proved to be the perfect preparation as she triumphed at a canter under Paddy Brennan, crossing the line seven lengths ahead as the 1-9 favourite.

“We’re very happy with her, obviously it’s very nerve-wracking when you’re 1-9 on and she had to go and win,” said O’Brien.

“She had to win or it was going to be a disaster, there’d have been a big bubble burst! But she did the job well and we were very happy.

“She did it as well as we hoped she’d do it, she’s in good form with herself and she enjoyed the whole job – that was nice to see.

“I think you’ll see her to better effect in a better race, she was just jumping a little bit up in the air today.

“Her jumping at Cheltenham (in December) was probably better, if you were going to crab her, but in a better race she’ll jump better.”

Paddy Power left the winner unchanged at 7-2 for the Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle in March, and O’Brien added: “She got the job done, Paddy was happy with her, fingers crossed it’s Cheltenham now.”

Il Est Francais is unlikely to attempt repeating his ultra-impressive Kempton heroics at the Cheltenham Festival, with the cold weather in France leading connections to firmly lean towards Plan A with their star chaser and target the Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris.

Noel George and Amanda Zetterholm’s six-year-old lit up Kempton on Boxing Day with a dazzling display in the Kauto Star Novices’ Chase and the appetite to see him take on the undulations of Prestbury Park was wetted when he was handed an entry for the Turners Novices’ Chase.

However, the French Gold Cup at an Auteuil track he has mastered many times has always been at the forefront of George and Zetterholm’s minds for this spring.

And a recent cold spell that has hit their Chantilly base has reaffirmed plans to remain on home soil this season before dreaming of further raiding missions next term.

“He’s absolutely great and after Kempton has had a couple of weeks just on the walker and in the paddock. He’s put on 20kg and is looking great,” said George.

“We had a big frost the last week, so he missed another week and I don’t think we will be coming to Cheltenham, but he’s in great form.

“It was an entry in case the Turners cut up and the timing looked right, but he missed a week with the snow and he will go for the French Gold Cup now.

“He will run in a prep race on April 6, a Grade Two – and then in May, the main Grade One.”

Robbie Llewellyn may have TV cameos in Games Of Thrones to his name but it is victory on the racecourse that is fuelling his ambition as he paves his way in the training ranks.

Many would dine out on donning the armour of a Dothraki knight in the popular TV blockbuster, but the 33-year-old has no desire to reminisce about his brief stay in the fantasy land of Westeros and has always held the desire to train racehorses.

Llewellyn’s journey to the training fraternity has seen him excel in the pointing field and assist Tim Vaughan before an epiphany during Covid finally convinced him to roll the dice and commit to taking on a trainer’s licence.

From that moment on, survival entered the equation as starting from the bottom, Llewellyn and his wife Sarah upped sticks to a flat in Wiltshire and began navigating the treacherous world of training racehorses.

It was a move the unassuming Welshman describes as a “calculated punt” and two years on the flat is now a house and his initial 24-horse barn is set to be doubled as he begins expanding his empire.

Llewellyn said: “We didn’t have a lot of money starting off so we couldn’t go out and buy the fancier-bred or expensive horses and we’ve had to work our way up from the bottom.

“Surviving is the biggest thing at the moment and there is no massive grand ambition. But if we can keep going as we are and try to increase the quality – as well as the Monday-to-Friday stuff we want to be competing on the Saturday – that would be good.

“I wouldn’t have been able to do it without my wife Sarah, we took a gamble and moved up from Wales to Wroughton. We rented a two-bedroom flat round the corner and rented a 24-box barn and had three horses, two of which we owned ourselves.

“It’s expensive to get going, and you have to cut the costs when you can to get going. But that was just over two years ago and now we have a barn of 24 full and we have just taken on another barn now which we might have licensed next season I would have thought.

“It was a bit of a punt, but a calculated punt because I guess I knew I could earn money elsewhere if it didn’t work out training wise. We’ve now got a house on the farm right next to the horses, so if it all went Pete Tong tomorrow, it wouldn’t matter because we have a house.”

Life towards the bottom end of the racing ladder is all about maximising returns on a budget, and Llewellyn is always on the search for the next value buy to add quality to his team.

He added: “We have to think about the way we do things and we can’t just turn up at the sales and pick the flashy stuff, we have got to look at things from a different angle really. We’re on the button, looking at sellers, claimers, we have to be ‘on it’ all the time.

“I’ve been lucky, I had some supportive owners before I took the licence out and I was lucky a few owners sent me horses to train to get me up and running and the business going.

“I think every single owner who had horses with us before we had a licence has had a winner with us now and that is what I’m most proud of. It’s great the people who started with us when no one knew us are beginning to have success and enjoying it as much as we are.”

Having initially done his training modules aged 18, Llewellyn tried his hand riding in the pointing field before hanging up the saddle to train ‘between the flags’ for Welshman David Brace.

That gave Llewellyn the bug and having always wanted to train, it was his time assisting Vaughan that convinced him he held the knowledge required to become his own boss.

“I kind of had a free rein for David Brace training his pointers for him and we won two owners’ championships and I always wanted to train but just didn’t know how we could do it,” he explained.

“Working two seasons as an assistant to Tim Vaughan, I realised there wasn’t such a big step to go and Covid was the first time in my life I realised what I wanted to do. If I was going to train I didn’t want to get to 50 and regret not giving it a go when I was 30.”

It is remiss to ignore the part Llewellyn’s dalliance with the big screen has played in his journey, but the trainer is keen to stress he is far from an Academy Award nominee, but simply someone with horses in the right place at the right time.

“I’m no actor and I have no interest in being in front of the camera,” he pointed out.

“I have no interest in talking about the Game Of Thrones stuff really as I don’t want to be known as the film guy and I’m not an actor.

“You’ll never see me do that again. It’s just something I was able to earn a bit of money out of – being able to ride a horse. People get excited about it, but I just needed to earn a few quid and they happened to be filming round the corner from my house and needed someone who is six foot who could ride a horse.”

However, his time working alongside leading film-industry horse supplier The Devil’s Horsemen has opened up some vital revenue streams that have not only helped make training a more viable option, but reaffirmed to Llewellyn it was the avenue he wanted to take in life.

“I now work alongside ‘The Devil’s’,” said Llewellyn. “I worked for them for two years in between leaving David Brace’s and starting at Tim’s, just as a sub-contractor I suppose.

“When I went back into racing they asked me if I could provide some horses for The Crown on Netflix, then we did Dream Horse and since then we’ve done adverts.

“It probably put my life into perspective and that’s how we made the move into training really, doing something because I wanted to do it, not just being somewhere because it was a way of making money.

“I think we have an easy life. When you are working six or seven days a week and 18 hours on a film set, working in racing is easy – coming in and doing something you enjoy every day.”

He went on: “It’s a sideline which enables us to train if I’m honest and we had 20 horses at Newbury for a Coral advert recently which really helps us keep going because with the prize-money as it is, it’s a tight game to make money in. It means the business survives and takes the pressure off.”

Now in his third season with a licence, Llewellyn has easily eclipsed last season’s tally of five and saddled 15 winners at just past the halfway stage of the campaign.

Operating at a strike-rate of over 20 per cent, the biggest victories of his career came at Ascot during the the track’s two-day pre-Christmas meeting where Titan Discovery’s triumph on the Friday was quickly supplemented a day later by the success of Top Cloud.

“The Friday was a special day and Titan Discovery is probably the nicest horse we’ve got,” said Llewellyn.

“Owner-breeders Kevin and Anne Glastonbury I’ve known since I was 14 and as soon as I came out of Tim’s, they sent me some young horses to break in and to have a nice horse for them is massive.

“When he got a mark of 104 I thought we might as well have a day out at a nicer meeting and a day out at Ascot while he was on the way up and improving. We thought he had a solid each-way chance, but you still never know when you are taking on the big boys and you always assume one will have a bit more up their sleeve.

“It was magical and to win on the Friday and then come back and win with Top Cloud on the Saturday was a different world to be honest. We paid £8,000 for him and again he was there to give the syndicate a nice day out at Ascot and for him to win made it a special two days.”

Those results have convinced the fledgling handler he is on the right track and has given him the confidence to take on the best in the game again if the opportunities arise.

“We know we can get them fit and know we can place them well, but sometimes you just avoid those type of races because you think it’s Ascot on a Saturday and we’re not good enough,” said Llewellyn.

“Realistically though, we probably are. We still have to be in the right grade, but now just because it’s Ascot on a Saturday, if it’s the right race we can’t just ignore it.

“It’s kind of opened my mind a little bit to say ‘oh come on, let’s have a go’. Training is a confidence game and you are only as good as your last winner.

“At the minute everything is flying so we’ve just got to try to earn as much money as we can and place our horses the best we can with the limited numbers we’ve got.”

Ryan Moore produced another masterclass of race riding to help Warm Heart bow out in a blaze of glory at Gulfstream Park.

Aidan O’Brien’s filly was chasing a third elite-level success in the $1million 1/ST BET Pegasus World Cup Turf Invitational and went off at 12-5.

Moore was happy to track the front-running Main Event for much of the nine-furlong contest but made a daring dive up that horse’s inside entering the home straight.

It was a move which brought back memories of his brilliant Breeders’ Cup Turf triumph on Auguste Rodin and reaped the same reward.

Warm Heart sprinted through a gap on the rail to seize a decisive advantage and then repelled the late challenge of I’m Very Busy to win by half a length.

O’Brien said: “We’re absolutely delighted. It’s incredible. Ryan obviously gave her an incredible ride and has done such an incredible job.”

Moore added: “The leader was always leaning out and he was weakening, and I knew I had plenty of horse, so no problem. I was happy to wait.

“She’s always travelling very comfortably. I didn’t want to be there too early and I didn’t want to be tipping out into the straight, so I thought I’d just wait. She’s a great filly. She’s had an incredible year. She hasn’t had a bad race.”

It was a sixth success for Warm Heart, who last year prevailed in the Ribblesdale Stakes at Royal Ascot, the Yorkshire Oaks and the Prix Vermeille.

The four-year-old is now set to embark on a second career as a broodmare, with a visit to stallion sensation Justify on the horizon.

“We’d love to have her and to be racing her, but the lads’ business is breeding these horses and she’s an absolutely incredible broodmare to be going to Justify,” said O’Brien on the Gulfstream Park website. “It’s so exciting, really.”

The $3million Pegasus World Cup was won by last year’s Preakness Stakes hero National Treasure, who edged out Senor Buscador by a neck for trainer Bob Baffert and jockey Flavien Prat.