Sam Twiston-Davies’ William Hill Blog: Potters Charm targets Aintree in Cheltenham build-up 

William Hill ambassador Sam Twiston-Davies previews his rides on Boxing Day at Aintree, including Potters Charm in the Grade One William Hill Formby Novices’ Hurdle.

Aintree, Thursday 

Christmas is a nice period for us jockeys, we have a nice few days off now to chill before the busy period starting on Boxing Day where I will be at Aintree.

After much consideration, we’ve decided Potters Charm (1:05pm) will head to Merseyside for the Grade One William Hill Formby Novices’ Hurdle, rather the Challow Hurdle a few days later. The reasoning is that we looked through the Challow’s record as a prep for Cheltenham and found it isn’t particularly strong.

We believe running at Aintree over a slightly shorter trip gives us and the horse more time to build up towards Cheltenham. While it’s only a few extra days, it could make a big difference. The ground is currently good to soft, and although Potters Charm runs well on good ground, he’s even better on softer, which we’re hoping for.

This race at Aintree will sharpen him up nicely, keeping him fresh and ready to peak at Cheltenham. If he’s going to be a Cheltenham horse, we want him absolutely primed for it.

Uncle Bert (1:40pm) takes on a handicap hurdle, and we’re excited to get him back out there. It was frustrating when his last race was called off, as we felt he would’ve handled the really soft ground brilliantly. With that in mind, the more rain we get here, the better for him. He’s got a fantastic attitude and ran into a tough one last time at Aintree, where it turned into a two-horse race. The winner has since come out and won at Cheltenham, so his form holds up well. We’ve decided to take him back over hurdles now, as his jumping hasn’t been quite where we’d like it to be. He’s in great shape, and we’re hoping for a big run on Boxing Day.

I then have Gustavian (2:15pm) who runs in a handicap chase for Anthony Honeyball. He’s a horse who has got some really good form over recent seasons. He does however seem to be a horse to make the odd silly little mistakes. But if he cuts them out or doesn’t make them at the wrong time then he’s always in with a chance.

Race To Base (3:25pm) wraps up Boxing Day in the bumper. He’s an exciting prospect we picked up from the Cheltenham sales after winning his point-to-point. Since joining us, he’s settled into the routine brilliantly. He’s got a fantastic attitude and a lovely way of going, which makes him an exciting horse to follow. Owned by David Proos, who also has Broadway Boy, he’s one we’re all eagerly anticipating. It’s a big day for him, and we can’t wait to see how he performs.

While I’m up at Aintree, it’s hard not to have one eye on the action at Kempton, particularly the King George and the Christmas Hurdle. If I had the choice between riding Lossiemouth or Constitution Hill in the Christmas Hurdle, I’d lean towards Lossiemouth.

From a jockey’s perspective, Lossiemouth has had the smoother preparation, while Constitution Hill has faced his share of ups and downs. That said, Nicky Henderson is a master trainer, and you can guarantee Constitution Hill wouldn’t be heading to Kempton unless he was absolutely spot on. But Lossiemouth’s consistent lead-up gives her the edge for me.

As for the King George, this year’s renewal is one of the most competitive we’ve seen in years. It promises to be a fantastic race and one not to miss. Boxing Day racing always comes thick and fast, but we’ll be doing our best to catch all the action from the weighing room at Aintree.

Week in review

In the past week, there have some been some good pleasing runs from the horses I’ve ridden. One of which was Beauport in the Long Walk. That was a really nice run, it’s obviously fantastic that his first run back over hurdles for years. So it’s nice to see that he can translate what is some really decent form back over to hurdles. I would say that makes him quite a lively contender for the Grand National. He went through the race well and jumped brilliantly, so loads of positives all around, obviously you always want to win but at the same time the horse game himself great credit.

Moveit Like Minnie was another pleasing one at Ascot, simply to see him get round the track after running-out on the last two occasions prior to that. He behaved himself and we’ve always held him in high regard, and we feel he retains a lot of ability. He’s intelligent and it’s just about managing him. He probably should’ve won at Aintree and should’ve placed at Warwick. So I don’t know why he did what he did but that was a nice one at Ascot.