Tolworth Hurdle 2013

[Old Vic]

HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER RTF% JOCKEY OR TS RPR
2 214-13 Court Minstrel50 6 11-7 Evan Williams20 131 102 141
12 883122 Caid Du Berlais102 4 10-9 Paul Nicholls62 — — 140
1 1 Buthelezi28 5 11-7 John Ferguson Jack Quinlan — 127 137
9 1 Poet17 8 11-7 Clive Cox Dominic Elsworth — 99 136
3 23-14 Duke Of Navan50 5 11-7 Nicky Richards50 127 9 135
5 211 Golden Hoof28 5 11-7 Nicky Henderson40 135 58 135
7 12-21 Melodic Rendezvous22 7 11-7 Jeremy Scott70 Nick Scholfield 135 102 135
10 1/2 Royal Boy22 6 11-7 Nicky Henderson40 — 85 133
11 71-133 Spirit Of Shankly51 5 11-7 Charlie Longsdon43 127 109 133
8 1-11 Pendra33 5 11-7 Charlie Longsdon43 Noel Fehily 127 103 131
4 221 God´s Own36 5 11-7 Tom George57 — 85 125
6 34 Le Reve37 5 11-7 Lucy Wadham33 Leighton Aspell — 52 119
13 1-2 For Two69 4 Paul Nicholls62 — 55 117

stats ..http://www.fatjockey.com/festivals/r...rdle-Stats-147

[Lester]

Court Minstrel is likely to take his chance in the 32Red Hurdle at Sandown on Saturday.

Winner of two of his five bumper races, the six-year-old has already shown smart form in both his starts over the smaller obstacles to earn a crack at this Grade One, better known as the Tolworth Hurdle.

After landing a maiden hurdle at Cheltenham on his first run over jumps in October, he returned to Prestbury Park the following month when he was third to Dodging Bullets and River Maigue in the Grade Two Opus Energy Novices' Hurdle. The form was given a boost by those two horses at Kempton on Boxing Day, when Dodging Bullets was third in the Christmas Hurdle and River Maigue won the novice hurdle on the same card.

"Whether he wants this ground or not is open to debate, but they are giving a couple of dry days," said trainer Evan Williams.

"Providing his last piece of work goes well, then he is an intended runner in the Tolworth Hurdle on Saturday.

"It's difficult to know where to go, but I do like him and I think he's a horse that sometime in his life could win a decent contest somewhere. Although he's turned six now, he's a horse that still needs a bit of time, but I'd be keen to go to Sandown."

Williams describes Court Minstrel as a different type of horse to Deep Purple, who was second in the Tolworth five years ago.

"He's a different type of horse to Deep Purple, who was a more forward horse and had run on the Flat," said the Llancarfan handler.

"Court Minstrel is a National Hunt-bred horse and it's taken a bit of time to settle and educate him. There's more education needed before he's the finished article."

[Hoof]

John Francombe is hoping to witness some poetry in motion at Sandown on Saturday which could ultimately lead to his horse having an ambitious tilt at the Champion Hurdle.

The seven-time champion jockey and now former Channel 4 racing pundit owns Clive Cox-trained Poet.

The promising winner on his hurdling debut at Newbury last month, who secured two wins at group three level on the Flat, is due to line up in the Grade One Tolworth Hurdle.


Champion Hurdle hopes: Poet

Francome, 60, who is Cox’s landlord, has himself done the hurdles schooling on the eight-year-old, who appears a changed horse after being gelded.

Francome said: ‘He wouldn’t walk over a pole on the ground when we started him off but the more he has jumped, the better he has got.

‘I thought he really enjoyed himself at Newbury and I think he’ll be good on Saturday.


Ambitious: John Francombe

‘I bought him as a little bit of a project for me really and do the schooling. It’s something I’ve never stopped since I packed up – I still love it. It would have broken my heart letting someone else ride him.

‘He has taken the gelding well – he’s changed shape but is about the same weight. He is not easy but he is easier. There was a time when you just could not manage him. He is a bit stronger and you’d like to think he is a bit happier.’

Coral make Poet 20-1 for the novice hurdles at Cheltenham and a 66-1 to emulate Alderbrook, who landed the Champion Hurdle in 1995 as a novice.

Francome added: ‘He has been running against the likes of Cirrus Des Aigles and Workforce on the Flat, so a couple of Bumper winners aren’t going to have him off the bridle.


‘It might be that he finishes fifth on Saturday and we have to have a rethink but at the moment I’d hope he’ll run well.’

*

[Statto]

32Red Novices´ Hurdle (Tolworth Hurdle) Betting Trends

9/9 – Finished 1st or 2nd last time out
9/9 – Had won over at least 2m (hurdles) before
8/9 – Returned 5/1 or shorter in the betting
8/9 – Aged either 5 or 6 years-old
8/9 – Had raced within the last 6 weeks
7/9 – Placed favourites
7/9 - Were in the top three in the betting
7/9 – Had won between 1-2 times over hurdles before
6/9 – Won last time out
6/9 – Went onto run at that season’s Cheltenham Festival
5/9 – Irish bred
5/9 – Aged 5 years-old
4/9 – Winning favourites
4/9 – Ran at either Sandown (2) or Newbury (2) last time out
4/9 – Trained by Paul Nicholls
2/9 – Had run at Sandown before
2/9 – Trained by Jonjo O’Neill
2/9 – Trained by Nicky Henderson (won the race in 1992 too)
2/9 – Ridden by Barry Geraghty
2/9 – Ridden by Ruby Walsh
2/9 – Ridden by Timmy Murphy
1/9 – Went onto win the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle that season (Noland 2006)
The average winning SP in the last 9 runnings is 10/3
Every winner since 1988 has been aged 7 or younger
16 of the last 21 runnings have been won by a horse aged either 5 or 6 years-old

[mayo]

Onto Sandown then and the Grade One Tolworth Hurdle, which is for novices over an extended two miles. This is a fascinating contest and Nicky Henderson, who has been in great form, has two of the seven runners.

Barry Geraghty has chosen Royal Boy over Golden Hoof (Andrew Tinkler) on the basis that he will probably handle the ground better.

Royal Boy was an expensive purchase in May 2011 (150,000 Euros) having won a point-to-point in Ireland. He didn't run for Henderson until December, but it was an encouraging performance which saw him finish second to one of his rivals in this Melodic Rendezvous. I would fancy him to reverse those placings now he has a run under his belt.

Poet is another interesting runner. He is trained by Clive Cox for his landlord John Francome and won on hurdles debut at Newbury last month. He was very smart on the flat having won seven races including two at Group Three level.

He steps up from maiden company here, but shouldn't be underestimated. Pendra is another horse stepping up significantly in grade having won a bumper, maiden hurdle and a novice hurdle, his last two starts coming at Plumpton. So he comes here unbeaten and his trainer Charlie Longsdon thinks he could fare better in better company.

He's potentially smart and is another who can run well for his in-form stable. I'm going to take a chance that Poet can continue his progression over hurdles and he will enjoy conditions.

[mayo]

There's also strength in depth to the day's other Grade One contest, Sandown's Tolworth Hurdle, for which Royal Boy gets the vote.

Barry Geraghty has chosen to ride this one ahead of Nicky Henderson stablemate Golden Hoof, not just because he believes he will act best on the ground, but also because he thinks a bit of Royal Boy, who was unlucky when beaten by Melodic Rendezvous last time and is well fancied by connections to reverse the form.

[mayo]

Mots


POET, a classy performer rated 110 on the Flat, could hardly have made a more impressive start over hurdles at Newbury where he jumped superbly to beat a decent field of maidens. He looks a very useful recruit to the winter game and should remain unbeaten. Melodic Rendezvous, runner-up in the Champion Bumper at Punchestown, loved the mud when beating Royal Boy at Cheltenham and will be suited by a stamina test though the runner-up was having his first start since winning a point-to-point in March 2011 and will be expected to turn the tables. The latter's stablemate Golden Hoof has won a couple of minor races very easily and could be anything while Court Minstrel won a Cheltenham maiden before a close third in a Grade 2 there in November. The unbeaten Pendra faces his stiffest test but there's no reason why he shouldn't make further progress and only Le Reve can be ruled out of what should be an informative contest.

[Hoof]

Scott ready to let Rendezvous fulfil appointment with best

At the time, it seemed tempting to doubt the form. After all, the runners had splashed over a course that might sooner have staged a regatta than a Grade One bumper. As things have turned out, however, the last two horses still afloat in the straight at Punchestown in April have amply confirmed their calibre since switching to hurdles. This weekend, both seek a place towards the top of different novice divisions either side of the Irish Sea. Champagne Fever, the winner, steps up to two and a half miles at Naas on Sunday; while Melodic Rendezvous contests a Grade One over two miles at Sandown on Saturday.

In contrast with Champagne Fever, just one among countless elite prospects trained by Willie Mullins, Melodic Rendezvous represents a stable for now encroaching on this kind of grade only by quiet increments. But it is not as if all Jeremy Scott's eggs are in one basket. The Exmoor trainer thinks very highly of Empiracle, a dazzling winner of a Huntingdon bumper in October, while last week Kilmurvy made a stylish start over timber at Taunton. For now, even so, Melodic Rendezvous bears the standard.

Schooled in patience by a previous career as a dairy farmer, Scott was not unduly alarmed when the horse could not quite win his first hurdle race at Exeter in October. Sure enough, Melodic Rendezvous improved significantly to win in better company at Cheltenham last month. "For whatever reason, going to Exeter he wasn't in quite the same form as last year," Scott said today. "He was doing his work well enough, but wasn't exciting us the same way. By the time he went to Cheltenham, we felt he was getting back to where he had been.

"In fairness, last season he didn't run until spring, though he had been in training all winter. Funnily enough, two years ago you would have called him one of our more moderate horses. But he's a big, tall horse, and I think a lot of youngsters are unbalanced by their size. It can take a long time for them to cope with their bodies."

Just as at Exeter, Scott did not get carried away by Cheltenham. "What did we really learn?" he asked. "They crawled, and sprinted. I would say Mr Henderson must be hopeful of reversing form with the second [Royal Boy], because the penny was really dropping with him. But I suppose our horse was in a bit of a hole, in behind, and we saw he could quicken up fairly well on what was not the best of ground. On his work, I've always thought he wanted a better surface. Obviously, it was very sloppy at Punchestown, but it'll be really sticky on Saturday."

[Hoof]

John Francome, who has this week become a former broadcaster after 27 years with Channel 4 Racing, could make an immediate return to our screens as the owner of Poet, a live runner in the Tolworth at Sandown on Saturday. This classy former Flat horse has the Champion Hurdle as his target if all should go well but Francome could not be less interested in the trappings of ownership, even with such a potential star in his possession.

Anyone with just the racecard to guide them will have no idea that he has anything to do with Poet. "He's not registered in my name," Francome says, "and there would be no point because I don't have a set of colours and I've got no ambition to have a horse carry my colours. It wouldn't mean anything to me. I wouldn't get any more pleasure out of it."

The satisfaction for this former champion jump jockey derives from his ability to guide such a talented but difficult animal from one game to another. Poet, he reports, has been "unmanageable" for most of his career and would happily try to bite chunks out of those who came near him, so it is a significant achievement for Francome to have turned him into a jumping prospect after his initial refusal to do so much as walk over a pole. "He's quite an interesting horse to deal with," says Francome, sounding as though he is enjoying the understatement, "but he's been gelded and he's a lot better now. He's still not mad keen about getting his feet wet or walking through puddles but you put him into battle and it's a different matter."

Twice a Group Three winner, Poet tried to pinch the 2011 Brigadier Gerard from the front and was only run down by Workforce in the final half-furlong. His achievements were rewarded with a stud deal but it fell through and he was put up for sale. Francome, owner of the Lambourn stable where Clive Cox has trained Poet for the past three years, remembers thinking: "I'll take a chance on him."

He was plainly delighted when Poet made a winning hurdles debut on a miserable day at Newbury last month but had allowed the horse to run in the name of Cox's wife, Tina, an arrangement that will continue. Francome says that Cox now owns a half-share and trains the horse for free.Despite his 60 years, Francome has done most of the schooling on Poet, though it was Dominic Elsworth who partnered the horse in a session on Thursday morning that convinced both men to let him take his chance on Saturday.

"I just hope he runs well," Francome says. "He jumped well at Newbury and I hope he'd improve on that a bit. He's probably run more times than the rest of the field put together and he seems to like the jumping. He might run fifth, beaten 20 lengths, in which case he'll be going to Taunton a fortnight on Saturday. But if he wins, he'll go for the Champion Hurdle. Why shouldn't he? You say it's ambitious but most Flat horses, they either take to hurdles or they don't, not many ever improve."

Cheltenham Festival glory is not obviously within Poet's grasp. Bookmakers expect him to be aimed at the Supreme Novice Hurdle, for which he is a general 33-1, while only two firms quote him for the Champion Hurdle, at 50-1 and 66-1.

Success on Saturday would go a long way towards changing that, so it might be imagined that Elsworth will be feeling some pressure, riding a good horse for one of the all-time great jockeys. Francome hopes not. "I've known him for years, we play golf together. As long as he comes back in one piece, I shall be no different to him if he wins or gets tailed off."

That phlegmatic outlook extends to Channel 4Racing, which parted company with Francome last weekend; he declining to continue out of loyalty when the show's longstanding producers lost the contract. He has no opinion of Tuesday's first broadcast by the new team, having chosen instead to watch Swindon hammer Portsmouth.

"As long as it's horse racing, people will watch it and whoever's presenting it will appeal to some people and not to others. It's all in the past and it's absolutely pointless looking back.

"The only thing I'd say is that Alastair Down [presenter] and Andrew Franklin [producer] should never have been discarded. They were two people who were irreplaceable."

Francome has found a new role as president of the Injured Jockeys Fund, which he regards as little more than a change in title, since he has been involved with the charity for a long time. Whether he is also a big-time owner with a shot at the Champion Hurdle is an issue that will be clarified on Saturday afternoon.

[mayo]

Francombe



“If he jumps as well as he did at Newbury I’ll be thrilled,” said Francome. “I am completely unbiased, but I haven’t seen one – and a seven year-old at that – jump as well on their debut. Sometimes they don’t jump quite as well second time out, but I’d be surprised if he didn’t – he’s a proper man.

“He’s spent most of his life being chased along but he never came off the bridle at Newbury. It’s a good test for him at Sandown and he’ll find his level. He’ll give a good account of himself – he should be too good for this lot.”

[Sprinter]

Golden hoof my pick as back to lay

[mayo]

Melodic Rendezvous (7/2) was a taking winner of the Tolworth Hurdle at Sandown, giving jockey Nick Schofield and trainer Jeremy Scott a first Grade One victory.


Cheltenham 2012. Click here to bet.

Melodic Rendezvous: Impressive winner of the Tolworth
The seven-year-old was travelling strongly behind the pace-setting Pendra (6/1) and Royal Boy and he came through to challenge the former going to the final flight of hurdles.

The runner-up tried to rally bravely but was soon put in his place and Melodic Rendezvous ran on strongly to score by four-and-a-half lengths.

There seemed no excuses for the market leaders, Royal Boy proving very one-paced in third and Poet never landing a blow having raced wide throughout.

The winning rider said: "It's fantastic to ride a Grade One winner for Jeremy and the yard. Hopefully this horse is special and can take us all to Cheltenham. He hurdled very well and was idling in the end."

Scott added: "The owners have been patient and we have ticked away with him. He has grown in stature and it was lovely to come here today. He started to bloom when won his bumper, the penny dropped and everything came together.

"I expect he'll end up in the Supreme but he will be put in both races (Supreme and Neptune at Cheltenham). He's a deceptive horse, but he does show plenty at home.

"We've been second a few times in Grade Ones so it's nice to pick one up and Nick is a tremendous asset to us, he's very much part of the team."

Asked if the winner is the best horse he has trained, Scott said: "I think Empiracle is a very nice horse too and he goes straight to Cheltenham for the Festival (Champion Bumper). I can't choose between the two, they are both very nice horses."

Jockey Noel Fehily said of Pendra: "He wasn't disgraced at all and I think they are two very nice horses."

Henderson said of third Royal Boy: "It was only the second time on a racecourse and he didn't really jump well enough."

Sky Bet inserted the winner into their Supreme Novices' betting at 14/1, Victor Chandler and Stan James the same price from 25/1 and 20s respectively.

[mayo]

Mordins assessment: Pendra definitely going to be a notebook horse over fences

MELODIC RENDEZVOUS PROBABLY NEEDS MUD

MELODIC RENDEZVOUS (40) clocked a seriously fast time when winning the Tolworth Hurdle. He lobbed along not far off the lead, surged forward to lead at the last and then powered clear of the runner up.

The concern with Melodic Rendezvous in terms of the Cheltenham Festival is that he's a pretty big, strong sort with a long, raking stride that shows knee action. In other words he's designed for mud. So there has to be a worry that he won't handle the much faster ground he's likely to encounter at Cheltenham. Only time will tell whether this is the case, but my money is on him being a mudlark.

I loved the way that runner up PENDRA (38) kept gaining ground at the jumps. This enabled his jockey to save a bit in front for when the big challenge from the winner finally came. He responded really well when it did and took a couple of bumps from the winner as they duelled. But it made no difference to the result. He couldn't quite go with Musical Rendezvous in the closing stages.

This was the closest that Pendra's sire Old Vic has come to producing the winner of a Grade 1 hurdle. His progeny have won fourteen Grade 1 chases. It's tempting to say that Pendra has a good chance of ending his sire's losing streak of 35 in Grade 1 races over timber. But Pendra is surely going to prove better over fences next season given his sire and excellent jumping.