Denise “Sneezy” Foster will saddle her first runner since taking over the licence at Cullentra House Stables in County Meath from Gordon Elliott at Clonmel on Tuesday, when Areutheoneiwant is expected to set off as second-favourite for the mares’ bumper which closes the card at 5.30pm GMT.
Foster formally assumes responsibility for Elliott’s stable on the first day of what is expected to be a six-month suspension of his licence, after it emerged 10 days ago that the trainer posed for a photograph while sitting on a dead horse on his gallops in 2019.
She also takes the reins just seven days before the Cheltenham Festival, and is top-priced at 16-1 to finish the four-day meeting as its leading trainer despite several leading contenders – including Envoi Allen, Ballyadam and Sir Gerhard – having switched stables amid the recent controversy.
Galvin, the 9-2 second-favourite for the National Hunt Chase on 16 March, was the latest runner with a big chance at the meeting to move elsewhere on Monday. Ronnie Bartlett has switched the seven-year-old to Ian Ferguson, who trained Bartlett’s outstanding chaser Simonsig in his point-to-pointing days before he switched to Nicky Henderson to start his career under Rules.
Despite the losses, the strength of Foster’s hand for the Festival is evident from the fact that Cullentra House currently holds 106 entries at next week’s meeting. That is 22 more than Henderson, who is the leading British trainer at this year’s Festival in terms of entries, and 18 more than Paul Nicholls (58) and Dan Skelton (30) put together.
Fontwell Park
12.30 Valleres
1.00 Episode
1.30 Mount Windsor
2.00 Finnegan's Garden
2.32 Truckers Pass
3.02 Rose Of Aghaboe
3.32 The Wire Flyer
Lingfield
1.15 Ladywood
1.45 Caribeno
2.20 Western Symphony
2.50 Mercurist
3.20 Silver Dust (nb)
3.55 Diligent Harry (nap)
4.30 Aleatoric
5.00 Hotalena
Catterick Bridge
2.10 Flanagans Field
2.40 Sashenka
3.10 Smiths Cross
3.40 Ballymoy
4.15 Aheadfullofdreams
4.50 Cousin Pascal
5.25 Fruit N Nut
Kempton Park
4.10 Colorando
4.45 Silent Witness
5.15 Tellmeyourstory
5.45 Dancing King
6.15 Omany Amber
6.45 Khatm
7.15 Dusty Damsel
7.45 Viola Park
8.15 Mostallim
Willie Mullins, inevitably, remains long odds-on to finish the week as the top trainer – at a top price of 2-9 – having added Sir Gerhard to an already exceptional squad of horses when Cheveley Park Stud removed eight horses from Elliott’s yard last week.
Henry de Bromhead, who received three outstanding recruits to his team including Envoi Allen, odds-on favourite for the Marsh Novice Chase, is a 7-1 chance, while Henderson is the shortest price among the home team at 10-1. Nicholls and Skelton, meanwhile, are both 33-1 shots.
