Summer jumping returns to Stratford Racecourse
AFTER a short break, summer jumping returned to Great Britain last week and Stratford gets back into the swing on Thursday with an eight-race card that kicks off at 1.30pm, writes David Hucker.
Thursday’s card will be quickly followed by next Tuesday’s evening meeting, the last of the 2018 season, leaving just five more afternoon fixtures to complete the year.
One of these is Super Saturday on 8th September, which will see Stratford become the first British racecourse to trial LED advertising displays on its fences following last week’s announcement by the British Horseracing Authority.
Unlike football stadia where the images change during the match, the screens, which will be battery powered, will be static during races and when the runners head to the start.
The displays will replace existing advertising boards on the landing side of fences, so will not affect the horses nor the viewing experience for those watching the racing. Harry Skelton, who went into the short summer break topping the jockeys’ championship table, wasted no time in getting back to winning ways when his first ride Holryale scored at Worcester.
His following 12 mounts failed to hit the target, however, meaning that he travelled to Tuesday’s evening meeting at Newton Abbot still on the 76-winner mark.
By contrast, reigning champion Richard Johnson has been in sparkling form, winning on seven of his 20 rides over the same period, including a five-timer at Perth on Saturday, enabling him to close the gap on Skelton to 20.
Skelton ended up with just one ride at the Devon track on Stratford winner Red Tornado, who finished fourth in the evening’s feature race, and the best that Johnson could manage was a second from his three mounts.
So, the situation stayed the same and the two will continue to battle it out over the coming weeks as the season moves into a new phase with the end of the summer jumping programme.
Johnson has been booked to ride Go Another One, a winner of a maiden hurdle at Perth at the end of July, for Irish trainer John McConnell in the third race on the card, the £10,000 Walls & Ceilings International Ltd Novices' Hurdle over two and three-quarter miles.
On official ratings, it’s High Jinks who comes out on top, but Tim Easterby’s 10-year-old only ran on Saturday when finishing runner-up to Olly Murphy’s Angel Of Harlem at Market Rasen and tends to have his races more spaced out than in his younger days when he earned a top Flat rating of 113.
Dan Skelton’s I’m Always Trying also has an entry at Fontwell Park where he won last month, but would be difficult to fancy on the form of his last start when down the field behind Kiwayu at Uttoxeter.
One who looks to be going the right way is Donald McCain’s Sonic, a winner last time out, and he could be the danger to Go Another One.
There is another £10,000 prize fund for the ruk.com Handicap Chase in which Alastair Ralph has entered Old Pride, another who would be making a quick reappearance having finished runner-up at Southwell on Sunday, and Drumhart, who was joint-favourite when finishing sixth behind Opechee on his latest run here.
Feature race on the card is the £14,000 Sheppard Family Handicap Chase over two-and-a-three-quarter miles, which has attracted 16 entries, including three from the Over Norton stable of Charlie Longsdon.
Midnight Shot would be looking for his first win for 11 months, but is slowly coming down the weights, and six-time chase winner Bestwork returned to form at Worcester, but has been raised to a career-high handicap mark of 126.
Longsdon’s third entry Aunty Ann recorded her second chase win at Uttoxeter with regular rider Jordan Nailor and could be capable of following up here.
Royal Village, involved in a controversial dead-heat at Market Rasen, is also entered in the earlier Northern Racing College Novices’ Chase where he would find 139-rated El Terremoto a formidable opponent, and another to catch the eye is Oliver Sherwood’s Plumpton winner The Fresh Prince, who has not been over-burdened with a 5lb rise in the weights.
