IT will be great to get back racing again after a hugely frustrating few weeks with the weather causing numerous call-offs, including the Borders National meeting at Kelso where we hoped to have a couple of runners. Hopefully we’ll get a few more fixtures arranged for the north to make up for what we’ve lost.
Ayr goes ahead on soft ground (at the moment) and we’ll have two heading north this morning. First up is WHELAN’S BRIDGE (1.50) who makes his comeback after getting jarred up and suffering a slight tendon injury which caused him to miss last season. This will be his first time in a handicap after three novice runs in 2022, all of which showed promise of what’s to come. His second at Newcastle was the standout of those, finishing behind a southern horse who has racked up a few wins since, so the form of that looks encouraging. I really like him and he’s got loads of potential so we’re glad to have him back.
So far he’s raced on good ground, having made his debut for us in the spring of 2022 before one outing in October last year, so we’ll have to see how he handles it softer underfoot. With Craig Nichol continuing his partnership with Dunnet Head in the same race, Brian Hughes takes over for this one. The aim today will be to get a run into him, get him racing again and hopefully have some nice targets to aim for in the months ahead.
Brian will also ride HERMANN CLERMONT (2.50) for us in the 2m4f handicap chase. We are stepping him back up in trip again after going over shorter at Kelso last time out. He ran his best race for a while over that distance in September and the signs are that the wind op we gave him at the back end of the summer is starting to have the desired effect. While he’s run mostly on better ground, his second at Perth on soft a while back hopefully suggests he’d handle it, although we'll see exactly how it is before making a definite decision on whether he takes part.
Fete Champetre was declared but with the softening ground we have decided to withdraw him. There is a race for him coming up at Musselburgh so we will likely head there instead.
The weather so far this autumn and early winter has been a nightmare, to be honest, and we just have to hope things start settling a bit soon.