Gavin Cromwell’s William Hill blog: Christmas Racing Preview

William Hill ambassador Gavin Cromwell previews his main runners over the Christmas period, with Grade One hopes amongst a talented bunch hitting the track.

Leopardstown, Thursday

We’ve got a big number of runners hitting the track on St Stephen’s Day, and some of them might be up against it, so I thought I’d focus in on some of our better chances on the day.

Hello Neighbour is a horse I’m particularly excited about over the Christmas period. He’s two-from-two on the Flat who makes his hurdles debut here (1.10pm), and he’s a horse we really like. He jumps really well and we’re hopeful of a good run. He’s straight into a Grade Two here, so it’s obviously a big ask, but fingers crossed he can put on a great show.

One that’s bound to catch the eye in the two-mile handicap hurdle (1.45pm) is Addragoole given his form behind Windbeneathmywings. He was second to him in September, and he’s obviously gone and run away with a valuable Listed bumper at Ascot at the weekend. Our guy’s been second on all of his five starts so far, but I think he could be competitive off his mark first time in a handicap, and he’s in good form.

The Racing Post Handicap Chase (2.55pm) looks a competitive race, but I like the chances of one of ours in The King Of Prs. He ran really well on his last run on what was his first outing of the season. You’d like to think he can build on that and although there’ll be many in here with a good chance, we hope this fella will have a squeak.

Limerick, Friday

Bioluminescence is a really exciting mare who we’re looking forward to starting over fences (1.27pm). She’s a mare we trained to win a point-to-point and so we’ve always been keen to send her chasing. She jumps really well, loves soft ground and we go to Limerick hopeful of a big run.

Leopardstown, Friday

Pinot Gris went up quite a bit in the weights for his win the last day, but I like his chances in the two-mile handicap hurdle (2.20pm). There looks to be a strong field in this, but he seems in good form and hopefully he’ll be competitive.

We’ve got a pair of runners in the three-mile handicap chase (3.00pm) in Perceval Legallois and Hartur D’Arc. I’d say Perceval Legallois hasn’t had the luckiest time of things in his recent runs, and while he’s off a high enough mark, I think he could definitely have a chance if things fall his way. Hartur D’Arc obviously comes here on a quick turnaround after his unseat at Ascot at the weekend, but there really aren’t loads of other options for him, so hopefully with a clean round of jumping, he can go well.

Chepstow, Friday

The Welsh Grand National (2.50pm) is always a great race to be part of and we’ve been lucky enough to win it in the past with Raz De Maree. We run Evies Vladimir in it this year, and he might just have a squeak. He was actually running a really good race in the Porterstown on his last start when he fell three from home. He’s got a nice, light weight here and I think he could run well at a big price.

Limerick, Saturday

Will The Wise is a horse we think a lot of, and he’s on a bit of a recovery mission in the two-mile-and-five-furlong maiden hurdle. He was disappointing in the Grade Two Navan Novice Hurdle earlier this month, but we’re hoping to get him back on track. He’s in good shape at home, so fingers crossed his can put his best foot forward.

Leopardstown, Saturday

On paper, you might say that Inothewayurthinkin’s run in the John Durkan was a little disappointing. However, there were definitely positives to take from it, and especially with a view to his run in the Savills Chase (2.35pm). The step up to three miles here will really suit him and he ought to come on for that, and hopefully he can run well.

Doncaster, Sunday

We’ve got both Limerick Lace and Brides Hill entered in the Silver Vase (1.38pm), and I’d say we’ll probably run one of them, and the other in the Grade Three Mares’ Chase at Fairyhouse on New Year’s Day. Both of them are high class mares, and so we’d be hopeful of big runs wherever they go. Limerick Lace needs to bounce back from her run at Haydock, but we think she ought to, and we’re looking forward

Leopardstown, Sunday

Things haven’t quite gone to plan for Bottler’secret this year, and he was pretty disappointing the last day behind Anzadam to be honest. We’re stepping him up to two-and-a-half miles for the first time, so that will be interesting to see how he goes. But we worked him in blinkers recently, and that seemed to go well, so he’ll take his chance alongside Al Gasparo. He’s been on the go for a little while now, but he’s in good form at home, and we hope he’ll run well.