Several of the biggest names in jump racing will be in the spotlight on Monday when Willie Mullins opens his doors to the media at an event to launch the new Dublin Racing Festival, incorporating both the Irish Champion Hurdle and its Gold Cup, on 3 and 4 February. The domestic action over the sticks, however, is understandably low-key, and the most attractive bets of the day are due to run at the twilight all-weather meeting on the Tapeta surface at Wolverhampton.
A first prize of nearly £8,000 is on offer in the extended mile handicap, and Humbert (5.40) may have been let in on a lenient mark for his first start out of maiden company.
Hugo Palmer’s four-year-old is very lightly raced, having made just two starts as a juvenile and then not appearing until December in his three-year-old season, but he showed promise in a valuable race at The Curragh in September 2016 and improved to win – after a 458-day break and a gelding operation – at Kempton last month.
The second and third horses home there have both won since, and Humbert won with something to spare in a decent time. It will be disappointing if he cannot win from an opening mark of 83.
Maratha (7.10) should also go well on the same card. Stuart Williams’s gelding has 11 runs behind him, but only three on either the all-weather surfaces of Polytrack or Tapeta and returned to winning form over this track and trip on 27 December. He seemed to appreciate the step back up to nine-and-a-half furlongs from a mile, and the form of his earlier third behind two subsequent winners suggests a 5lb rise may not be beyond him.
Frank N Fair (3.05) should improve his already excellent record at Plumpton, while Conquer Gold (2.15) is the pick of the prices on the card at Ayr.
Monday racing tips
Ayr 1.10 Grand Morning 1.45 Baby Ticker 2.15 Conquer Gold 2.50 Paddling 3.25 Sky Full Of Stars 3.55 Haul Us In
Plumpton 1.25 Lisp 2.00 Yourholidayisover 2.30 Camron De Chaillac 3.05 Frank N Fair 3.40 Brianstorm 4.10 Be Daring
Wolverhampton 4.35 Oneroa 5.10 Cricklewood Green 5.40 Humbert (nap) 6.10 Star Archer 6.40 Frontiersman 7.10 Maratha (nb) 7.40 Fareeq
Our latest trainer form table
Nicky Henderson 41% (29)
Brian Ellison 33% (15)
Malcolm Jefferson 33% (9)
Dr Richard Newland 29% (7)
Philip Hobbs 28% (18)
Emma Lavelle 27% (11)
Alan King 25% (12)
Sue Smith 21% (14)
Nicky Richards 20% (10)
Nigel Twiston-Davies 18% (40)
Nick Williams 18% (11)
Kim Bailey 17% (18)
Lucinda Russell 16% (19)
Donald McCain 15% (34)
Tom George 15% (26)
Gary Moore 14% (29)
Harry Fry 14% (14)
Neil Mulholland 13% (30)
Dan Skelton 13% (30)
Evan Williams 10% (29)
Venetia Williams 9% (22)
Oliver Sherwood 8% (12)
Colin Tizzard 7% (28)
Kerry Lee 7% (15)
David Pipe 7% (14)
Ian Williams 6% (18)
Jonjo O’Neill 5% (21)
Charlie Longsdon 5% (20)
Paul Nicholls 0% (18)
Fergal O’Brien 0% (15)
Tim Vaughan 0% (14)
Peter Bowen 0% (12)
Warren Greatrex 0% (12)
Ben Pauling 0% (6)
Rebecca Curtis 0% (4)
Chris Cook: This past fortnight has brought contrasting fortunes for the two biggest names in this table. Nicky Henderson tops it with a strike-rate better than 40% for the second week running, his 12 winners in the past fortnight including two important races on Saturday, Kempton’s Lanzarote and a Grade Two at Warwick.
Meanwhile, Paul Nicholls is still waiting for his first winner of 2018, though he has had five seconds and Unioniste lost out by just a nose in a hunter chase. This is usually the quietest time of the core season for Nicholls, who gives his horses their midwinter flu vaccinations at the start of each year; even so, he’ll be hoping for improved results before January ends.
A couple of Northern trainers have fared well from a handful of runners each, though I should note that Brian Ellison’s five winners included two on the Flat. His recent strike-rate in races over obstacles has been 22%. As I’ve said, I don’t have the time to filter out Flat runners from these numbers, but Ellison is clearly going well in any case.
Two of Malcolm Jefferson’s three recent winners came in TV races on Saturday and he has a top-class animal in Waiting Patiently. Meanwhile, Philip Hobbs looks worth following now, while powerful yards having a tougher time include those run by Colin Tizzard, Fergal O’Brien and Ben Pauling.
Each Monday through the core jumps season, we’re monitoring the relative success of 35 major jumps stables. The percentage figure is their win strike-rate for the last fortnight, while their total number of runners in that time is in brackets.
