Warwick Races set for another bumper crowd
Born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Klein has spent most of his working life in Australia and New Zealand, but returned to his native county to take over at Warwick last November.
Feature race on the card is the third, the £10,000 TurfTV Handicap Hurdle over a trip of three and a quarter miles, which has attracted a strong entry, with the weights headed by Herbert Park and The Boss’s Dream.
Wroughton trainer Neil King is having a good season with 23 winners, but The Boss’s Dream has been his only scorer in January. He was all out to win a novices’ hurdle at Southwell and could find it tough to confirm the form with Weststreet, who finished third that day, but will be receiving 10lb in weight here.
The meeting kicks off at 1.50pm with the racinguk.com Juvenile Hurdle for which there are 14 entries headed by Fixe Le Kap. After showing promise in three outings at Auteuil in France, he made a winning British debut for trainer Nicky Henderson at Newbury. The runner-up hasn’t run since, so it is difficult to evaluate the form, and he would have to concede weight to his rivals this time.
Over Norton trainer Charlie Longsdon has entered Magic Dancer, who put in some sticky jumps on the way to being beaten 12 lengths in a small field at Musselburgh. He will have to improve to feature in the finish here and of more interest are Three Colours Red, winner of two races on the Flat in Ireland, and For Goodness Sake, runner-up on his hurdling debut over the course last month, who both hail from the stable of Warren Greatrex.
Next up is the rewards4racing.com Handicap Chase over three miles and a furlong, in which course winner Paddy The Oscar could atone for his fall at Taunton last time out.
There are some promising horses entered in the British Stallion Studs EBF Mares’ “National Hunt” Novices’ Hurdle, with Tara Flow, a winner of three of her five races, topping the ratings.
However, she was declared to run at Leicester on Tuesday, so her trainer Venetia Williams looks to be targeting her other entry Buttercup at this race. Yet to win after eight starts in her native France, it will be interesting to see how Buttercup fares on her debut in this country.
Williams had two more winners at the weekend, taking her seasonal score to 38, and her horses seem to handle testing conditions, which will be the case this afternoon.
It might be better, however, to side with a horse with proven form and Surtee Du Berlais, who ran well in a Listed race at Taunton, would have every chance back at this level.
The hunter chase season got underway at Taunton earlier this month and there is a good entry for the Willoughby De Broke Open Hunters’ Chase (for the Willoughby De Broke Trophy), with the veteran Mendip Express looking to have a good chance for Somerset trainer Philip Hobbs, currently lying second in the championship table.
With 21 entries, the concluding TurfTV Intermediate Open National Hunt Flat Race could take some working out, with five not having run before in any kind of race. Eight have form in point-to-points, with five being successful, including Tara Well from the Great Alne stable of Robin Dickin.
Peter Bowen, Nicky Henderson and Evan Williams all have two entries to choose from, but it is Shambougg who is taken to step up on his Rules debut and give Hobbs a training double.
