Busy time ahead as racing return to Warwick
AFTER a short break, racing returns to Warwick next week as the momentum builds towards a packed winter programme, starting with Stan Mellor Chase Day on Tuesday (5th), followed by the Warwick Winter Festival which sees action on consecutive days two weeks later, writes David Hucker.
Tuesday’s card is headlined by the Stan Mellor Memorial Novices’ Steeplechase, now in its fifth year. The race is named after jockey and trainer Stan Mellor, who was the first to ride 1,000 career winners over jumps when the grey Ouzo won at Nottingham on 18 December 1971. It wasn’t all plain sailing for Mellor, however, as he was believed to have had 750 falls to go with his winners during a glittering career.
Last year’s contest went to Iroko, who was set to follow the previous year’s victor Stage Star and triumph in the Turners Novices Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, but he could finish no nearer than fifth behind the Dan Skelton-trained Grey Dawning.
During the afternoon, there will be presentations to the winners of the 27th Richard Davis Awards, hosted by JETS, a charity set up in 1995 to help current and former professional jockeys plan and achieve a secure future. Since its inception, the charity has helped more than 800 current and former jockeys with career advice, grants and training in new skills to gain employment after race-riding.
The awards were established in memory of the late Richard Davis who had started planning for his future before his fatal race fall in 1996 and cover three categories; The Jockey Club Achievement Award, the Injured Jockeys Fund Progress Award and The British Horseracing Authority Development Award.
The winners will be presented with their trophies as part of a special day dedicated to the awards featuring films about the winners and the running of the JETS Richard Davis Awards Handicap Chase, won last year by 7/1 shot Pepe Le Moko.
With the clocks having gone back last weekend, there will be earlier start times for racing from now on and Tuesday’s seven-race card gets underway at 12:40pm with the Trustatrader trustatrader.com Juvenile Maiden Hurdle.
