Tom Cannon cannot wait to be reunited with Edwardstone when he makes his seasonal reappearance in the Shloer Chase at Cheltenham on Sunday.

Alan King’s nine-year-old has shared many memorable days with the rider, none more so than their decisive Arkle victory at the Cheltenham Festival in 2022.

Last season included another Grade One success, this time in the Tingle Creek, and the bay was beaten just a head in the Clarence House in January.

There was no repeat Cheltenham Festival success as Edwardstone posted an uncharacteristic performance in the Queen Mother Champion Chase, but Cannon is happy to draw a line through that run as the duo return to the same track at the weekend.

He said: “Edwardstone has been good at home. I schooled him on Monday, and I schooled him last Monday as well. He seems very fresh and well in himself and I’m looking forward to Sunday.

“It is going to be a good race, but he doesn’t have any easy races now with the level he is at. He was meant to run in this race last season, but the ground was on the quicker side so he swerved it. He won first time out last year and he will be ready to go and do his best.

“He enjoyed it on Monday when I gave him a jump and he is a pleasure to have around and be involved with. He is a magnificent horse, not just to sit on but to look at as well.

“You get some horses that are good that might be small, but when you get on top of him it is like riding a horse into battle. He is a big strong brute of a horse that has got all the power in the right places.”

The Shloer Chase is run over a trip of two miles, Edwardstone’s usual trip, but there are discussions about stepping up in distance at a later point in the season and Cannon believes connections may find this outing helpful in making that decision.

“His pedigree suggests he will get further, and he ran further than two miles over hurdles and ran well. On his day he is a very quick two-miler which he showed in the Tingle Creek last season,” Cannon said.

“He probably wasn’t at his best after that, but we will see how we go in the race on Sunday and go from there.

“As he is getting bit older now, and with a few younger horses coming through, it might give us options if we go up further in trip.

“This is a case of testing the water with him and it is a nice place to go. I’m sure this will answer a few questions about where he will go for the rest of the season.”

Joe Tizzard is in no rush to firm up plans for Elixir De Nutz following his emotional success in the Haldon Gold Cup at Exeter last week.

Tizzard landed the the Grade Two feature three times during his riding career, striking gold aboard Lake Kariba (1998), Flagship Uberalles (1999) and Cue Card (2012), and was thrilled to get his name on the winner’s board as a trainer.

What made the victory all the more notable was the fact that Elixir De Nutz was ridden by 17-year-old Freddie Gingell, son of Tizzard’s late sister, Kim, and the Venn Farm handler admits it is almost a case of ‘job done’ for the season for the Terry Warner-owned grey.

“He’s come out of it absolutely lovely,” said Tizzard.

“We made an entry for the Tingle Creek (Sandown, December 9), that might be a step too far but we’ll just see if it cuts up.

“It was a lovely day and an emotional day with Fred riding him and Terry Warner had two of his grandchildren there as well. Exeter is obviously a local track to us and it meant a lot.

“I was conscious to get his first run into him as he always comes on for a run, it was a bit of plan and thankfully it came off.

“Life is not going to be easy for him, but that was his Gold Cup for the season and we’ll pick and choose our way round. He loves a small field.”

Laura Morgan could be set for the biggest day of her training career so far at Cheltenham on Saturday as she prepares to fire a twin assault on the Paddy Power Gold Cup.

The Waltham On The Wolds handler enjoyed her best ever season last term with a tally of 40 winners, seven of which were provided by the two horses she saddles in this weekend’s prestigious handicap.

Morgan is not expecting such a prolific campaign this term, but is hopeful she can make her presence felt on the big stage.

She said: “Last season, we had 40 winners and a lot more horses in, whereas this year we’ve only got 25 horses to run and 10 three-year-olds.

“I bought some three-year-olds with nice pedigrees that will hopefully be nice horses for next year, that’s the idea.

“We’re not going to have the season we had last year, but I’ve tried to up the quality and hopefully we can have runners on the bigger days.”

The stable’s first string on Saturday appears to be Notlongtillmay, who won his first three starts over fences last term before filling the runner-up spot behind the reopposing Stage Star in the Turners Novices’ Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in March.

The seven-year-old returned to Prestbury Park for his seasonal reappearance in a two-mile handicap chase last month – and having finished a creditable fourth under the welter burden of 12 stone, Morgan feels he is cherry-ripe for his latest big-race assignment.

“Two miles is way too short and I’d left him short enough as well – it wasn’t like he was fully tuned up for that,” she added.

“I was going to go to Wetherby for a two-and-a-half-mile race on the Friday of the Charlie Hall meeting, but obviously that was abandoned, so thank God I actually gave him a prep run before then.

“This was the aim, we’re 3lb better off with Stage Star and Stage Star isn’t going to get an easy lead like he did in the Turners – there’s going to be a lot of pace in this on Saturday.

“With The Real Whacker running, our lad goes in there with a nice racing weight (11st 4lb) and he’ll go through the (soft) ground, that wouldn’t worry me at all.”

Notlongtillmay’s stablemate Whistleinthedark also enjoyed an excellent first season over fences, climbing from a mark of 113 to his current perch of 144 with four wins from four starts.

He has not been seen in competitive action since scoring at Perth in late April, but Morgan is confident he is ready enough to do himself justice.

She said: “I had planned to give him a prep run – he was going to go to Market Rasen for the Prelude (Handicap Chase), but it was abandoned.

“I’m not too fussed about not getting a run in as he’s done a lot of work at home. We’ve got a two-mile grass gallop and he’s fairly ready without having had that run to sharpen him – he’s not far away.

“I never thought he’d be rated what he’s rated and would do what he did when he first arrived. I thought he’d be an average, fun, handicapper, but he’s been brilliant.”

Morgan is fully aware that winning one of the season’s biggest prizes is no easy task and she is just pleased to be heading to the Cotswolds with a fighting chance.

She added: “They’re all up against it, not just us, but it’s very exciting for a small yard like ours and fingers crossed they’ll both go and run well.

“They won’t let us down, anyway – these two don’t know how to!”

Top bumper mare Dysart Enos made the perfect start to her hurdling career with an easy success at Huntingdon.

The Fergal O’Brien-trained five-year-old was unbeaten throughout her bumper campaign, including a one-length defeat of Queens Gamble at Market Rasen and a nine-length victory in the Grade Two Nickel Coin at Aintree.

The latter start was the end of her season in the spring and she returned to action this time around to make her debut over obstacles in the RhinoBet Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle.

Under Paddy Brennan, the mare started as the 1-7 favourite and justified those odds when making light work of a field of 10.

The bay jumped fluently throughout the two-mile event and was able to pull away after a big leap at the last, prevailing by seven and a half lengths and finishing full of running.

“We were delighted with today, she jumped and travelled as well as we’d hoped and we were really pleased,” O’Brien said.

“It’s just lovely to get that first run over hurdles out of the way, I know she had jumped point to point fences but it’s still nice to see her jump out on the track.

“She did very well, I am delighted. I couldn’t be happier with her today.

“I think that’ll stand her in good stead, she’ll have learnt a lot today. Hopefully, in a slightly better race when she’s going in her stride, she’ll jump even better.

“She loves being a racehorse, she enjoys racing and being competitive.

“At Newbury on the 2nd of December, there’s a mares’ Listed race there, we’ll tread that path for now and see how we go.”

There were two shock results on the same card at Lingfield on Tuesday as Ask Her Out and Theyseekhimthere struck gold at 150-1 and 125-1 respectively.

Ask Her Out was making her racecourse debut in the curtain-raising Weatherbys & Birdie Calendars Open NH Flat Race for owner-trainer Richard Rowe and was given a patient ride by 3lb claimer Tabitha Worsley before taking closer order on the home turn.

The five-year-old finished strongly on the all-weather surface to get up and beat The Glen Rovers by a neck, with Rowe insisting afterwards that her performance was not a complete surprise.

“We’ve always thought a little bit of her, I half mentioned to my owners that she was for sale and I didn’t really get any takers,” he said.

“I thought I’d run her and find out whether her work at home added up on the racecourse and sure enough it did, so I was very pleased, as quite often it goes the other way.

“She’s not a flashy work-horse, but she’s a very honest filly and as long as they try, you’ve got a chance, haven’t you?

“If she’d been fourth or fifth, I’d have been very happy with that, so the fact she’s gone and won is a bonus. I’m hoping someone might buy her now – every time the phone rings, I’m getting excited!”

The Warren Greatrex-trained Theyseekhimthere was also a three-figure price for the Watch Off The Fence On attheraces.com EBF ‘National Hunt’ Novices’ Hurdle, having finished tailed off on his only previous start in a Wetherby bumper in the spring.

But with title-chasing Sean Bowen in the saddle, the five-year-old proved a completely different proposition, lunging late to deny New Order by a neck.

Greatrex said: “He’s a nice horse who had one run in a bumper. He’s very big and raw and obviously very well-bred, so we liked him.

“We’ve had to do loads of schooling with him, as he has been a bit clumsy. Today was just about seeing where we were with him, but he has shown ability, Sean gave him a lovely ride and the key is he loves that (soft) ground.”

He added: “I’m never short of words really, but I was shocked. I could see it happening from three-quarters of the way through the race, at which stage I thought he’d definitely be placed.

“Today is a very pleasing shock because if he can do that from where he is at the moment, there will be so much improvement with him going forward because he doesn’t know he’s a racehorse yet.

“His jumping will get slicker, fitness-wise he will improve and he’ll just become more of a man after today. I’m really thrilled as he was doing his best work at the end, which is always a good sign, and I would say he’s got a very bright future.”

Bowen went on to complete a quick-fire double in extraordinary circumstances in the following Weatherbys Stallion Book Novices’ Handicap Chase.

The Welsh jockey was riding 11-2 shot Dysania, trained by his father Peter Bowen and winless in 15 previous career starts.

He looked booked for minor honours at best at the top of the home straight after some slow jumps put him on the back foot, but Bowen somehow conjured up a late surge from his mount and they got up in the final stride to pip Williamdeconqueror by a short head.

The rider is now on 99 winners for the campaign, putting him 26 clear of nearest pursuer Harry Cobden on 63, with dual champion Brian Hughes in third on 61.

Brave Emperor could eventually travel even further afield in search of more Group-class glory after his conclusive victory in the Premio Vittorio Di Capua at San Siro.

The Archie Watson-trained gelding is incredibly well-travelled and has had a remarkable season, winning six times in four different countries.

He has scored three times at Group Three level, taking the Dr Busch-Memorial at Krefeld, the Prix Daphnis at Deauville and the Grosser Preis der Landeshauptstadt Dusseldorf.

He then stepped up to Group Two level in Italy at San Siro on Sunday and again did Middleham Park Racing proud when striding to a four-length win under usual pilot Luke Morris.

“You wouldn’t quite believe the season he’s had. We’ve kept on pitching him in and giving him another inch of rein and he’s just kept on giving and kept on winning,” said Tom Palin of the ownership group.

“Any task Archie seemed to throw at him, he’s just been able to respond, he is an absolute dude of a horse. We’ve sent him to Sweden, France, Germany, Italy, he doesn’t know how to run a bad race. He’s a credit to everyone around him – and more importantly to himself.

“Every time he goes racing, Luke keeps getting off and saying ‘he’s feeling faster’, he’s just improving all the time. Luke got off him this time in Italy and said ‘he’s really starting to feel like a good horse now’.

“Usually with good horses you get the impression that they’re good quite quickly, but this horse is a bit quirky in that he’s getting better as he goes along. The more we run him, the better he’s getting.”

Brave Emperor will have a break now and return to action next year with some targets in the Middle East and Hong Kong to get him started before the domestic campaign.

Palin said: “He deserves a bit of a break now, then we’ll look at a Group Two out in Qatar and we’ll see if Hong Kong might like him, that’s an invite only so we’ll see if they’re interested in having him run over there.

“Maybe we could look at the Godolphin Dirt Mile, that’s on World Cup night, then maybe something like the Lockinge. He’s got Group Two penalties now, and Group Three penalties, so he is going to have to roll some big boy dice. He’s probably going to be (rated) 113 or 114 next Tuesday, so he deserves a crack at something like that.

“He just loves it, wherever he goes he takes it in his stride and runs his race. I’ve run out of superlatives to describe him to the owners!

“He is so much fun and such a cool horse to manage because we don’t have to. Archie picks the races, I tell the owners where they’re going, they travel out there, he travels on the box and then he just seems to win! He’s a manager’s dream and an owner’s dream.”

Protektorat is in rude health as he builds up towards the defence of his Betfair Chase title, which trainer Dan Skelton describes as a “lifetime race”.

The first Grade One of the National Hunt season in the UK, Haydock’s feature event has a history of multiple winners, with Silviniaco Conti winning two, Cue Card and Bristol De Mai three apiece and the incomparable Kauto Star four.

Skelton was involved in those Kauto Star victories as Paul Nicholls’ assistant and winning with Protektorat 12 months ago gave him great satisfaction to get on the roll of honour in his own right.

Protektorat came up short in two subsequent runs, in the Cotswold Chase and the Gold Cup, and with that in mind, Skelton is leaving no stone unturned in ensuring he is at concert pitch for his reappearance.

“He’s in good form. We’ve managed to get him to our grass gallop this year, which is vitally important to him because we have to train him slightly different to the others, he’s not a horse we can train on the hill. He’s predominantly on the soft sand gallop,” said Skelton on a call organised by Jockey Club Racecourses.

“I wouldn’t say he’s completely unique, there’s a few we train the way we train him, but basically he puts way too much effort into the early part of his work, so you have to taper into it.

“If we worked him up our hill, he’d give us a terrible read as he’d do too much along the bottom and then feel the incline and not perform as well as those who are relaxed at the bottom.

“His health and his well-being is good, his fitness is right where we want it and it doesn’t hurt that there’s been plenty of rain all over the UK because that will suit him.”

Skelton has fond memories of Kauto Star’s exploits on Merseyside and feels the race is one of jumps racing’s crown jewels.

He added: “Obviously, I worked for Paul when Kauto Star was winning them. The Betfair Chase is one of the biggies of the year, up there with the King George and the Gold Cup and it was fantastic to win it last year.

“It’s one of those lifetime races and it is very hard to get a horse good enough to run in it, so when you get your chance, you’ve got to try and take it.”

Getting back to Protektorat, Skelton said: “He spends his summers with Lisa Hales (daughter of part-owner John Hales) and he does well through the summer, we then start with him in the first or second week of July.

“He’s very enthusiastic about his work – if anything, he actually gives too much and you are always trying to calm him down as he is so keen to please, which is why he’s a great horse fresh.

“Sometimes, towards the end of the season, his early exuberance, while you don’t not appreciate it, everything he puts in at the start, it has to empty somewhere. He has won a Grade One in April, though.

“A week on Saturday is the big plan. He does have a King George entry and we’ll consider all options, but the Betfair Chase is his big target pre-Christmas.

“You can’t go to the Betfair half soaked, you’ve got to be ready for it.

“I wouldn’t call it a home match for us as he’s only done it once, but he’s answered the questions before, in those conditions at that trip. By their own admission, the trainers of the likes of Shishkin and Bravemansgame are looking at the King George.

“By our own admission, our number one target is the Betfair. I’m training him for the Betfair, which is giving me confidence he’ll put up a good defence.”

While Haydock is very much the big aim, come the spring, a tilt at the Grand National has not been ruled out.

“We rode him in the Gold Cup as if he’d stay four miles and because we were so aggressive, we gave him the opportunity to weaken going to the last and that is what happened,” said Skelton.

“We half talked about a National entry last year. While it’s not headline-worthy that we’ll enter him in it, and there’s a lot of water to go under the bridge before entries are even considered, but we thought about it last year.

“By the same token, we also discussed dropping him back in trip. That is what happens when you get beat, you think of things you can do different. When you win, you just do the same thing.”

One man who has helped Skelton in the difficult discussion after a defeat is part-owner Sir Alex Ferguson.

“First and foremost, he’s a sportsman, he knows the difference between winning and losing. He copes with losing because it used to happen to him in his professional life,” explained the trainer.

“It is comforting being around people who understand how to lose and try to get better from it. I’ve asked him questions and he’s always willing to answer. He’s an intelligent man who sees things in ways normal people don’t.

“He’s a great man to have on your side because he just gets it. No one was ever under more pressure than he was, no one ever felt worse than him after a bad result or better than him after a good result, he’s been there and done it all.

“It’s a great quality to have, being able to dust yourself down and go again.

“He’s never questioned, he would only question how we are going to do it better.”

Percussion will be readied for a second tilt at Aintree’s Becher Chase following a third excellent effort over the Grand National fences on Saturday.

Laura Morgan’s charge was a widely unconsidered 40-1 shot for his first attempt over the famous obstacles in last season’s Grand Sefton, but ran a fine race to finish third.

He proved that performance was no fluke when third again in the Becher the following month and he further advertised his liking for the track when filling the runner-up spot behind Gesskille on his second appearance in the Grand Sefton last weekend.

Morgan feels the extra five furlongs of the Becher suits Percussion better than the shorter trip of the Grand Sefton and she is looking forward to seeing him head back to Merseyside on December 9.

“He ran a screamer on Saturday and I’ve put him in the Becher, as he obviously loves the place,” said the Melton Mowbray handler.

“His jumping kept him in it the other day and I do think going that bit further will help him – two-mile-five is probably his minimum.

“Hopefully going back there for the Becher should be exciting.”

The Grand National itself is a dream long-term target for connections, but Morgan is well aware he is going to need to climb considerably from his current mark of 130 to make the cut, particularly now the number of runners in the race has been reduced from 40 to 34 as part of a slew of significant changes to the race to improve safety.

Morgan said: “I don’t know if we’re going to be rated high enough (for the Grand National), he’d have to go and run a screamer in the Becher to give us a chance of sneaking in.

“We’ve got options. Last year it was a struggle getting in the Topham and it might even be worth going for the Foxhunters’, I don’t know.

“The course and those fences are what he loves, so fingers crossed.”