Gavin Cromwell’s William Hill blog: Star siblings all set for Grade One tests

With Saturday’s Betfair Chase and Sunday’s John Durkan on the horizon, William Hill ambassador Gavin Cromwell gives us the lowdown on Limerick Lace and Inothewayurthinkin ahead of a big weekend for the full siblings. 

Limerick Lace, Betfair Chase (Haydock, Saturday 3.05pm)

There’s a lot of rain forecast at Haydock for Saturday which should suit nicely for Limerick Lace. It looks like starting off good-to-soft, but with the rain set to come on the day it could be soft by the time the Betfair Chase comes around which should be ideal.

Like with any horse she’ll come on for her first run of the season, but she’s in good shape and I’m happy with her at the moment. I’d say she’s as fit as we’ve ever had her for her first run. She’s worked well at home and hopefully she’ll run a nice race.

Inothewayurthinkin, John Durkan (Punchestown, Sunday 2.25pm)

The John Durkan will be Inothewayurthinkin’s first race in open company and should be a bit of a guide as to how he performs against some of the best chasers around. It looks a very good race and it’s always tough stepping up from novice company to this level anyway.

If he could just run a good race on Sunday then I’d be happy with that. As long as he runs well, jumps well, and isn’t beaten too far, I’ll be happy with that for his first run outside of novice company.

Cheltenham worth a Look for promising hurdler

Yeah Man ran a really nice race in the Troytown last Sunday, he did everything right. He got the run of the race and in the end he just wasn’t good enough in the conditions. Slower ground might have helped him and he was still going really well at the last, but he was just no match for the winner.

He holds an entry in the Becher Handicap Chase at Aintree next month so it’s certainly a possibility that he’ll go there, but we’ll have to see how he comes out of Sunday’s race first.

Another impressive performer for us on Sunday was Total Look, who won a three-year-old maiden hurdle at Navan. We might send him to Cheltenham for the December meeting because I’d like him to gain some experience around the track and over the new padded hurdles.

It would be nice for him to gain a bit of experience there, ahead of him potentially being targeted at the Festival.

Punchestown

We have a couple of runners on Saturday at Punchestown and Law Ella is one that I’m looking forward to in the 2m 5½f Handicap Chase (1.35pm). She had a lovely run at Listowel the last day as her first run back since February. She seems in good form at home so hopefully she can build on that.

She’s got some nice form in bumpers and over hurdles so she’s a talented horse, and I’m hopeful she can get back to winning ways over fences.

Ask Anything will go in the Handicap Hurdle (2.50pm). He only ran at Navan on Sunday but he made a mistake at the first fence and was pulled up shortly after. We’re reverting back to hurdles where he has a much lower mark, so hopefully he can make use of that.

He’s another who has a Becher entry but we’ll be taking things one step at a time with him – we’ll see how he runs at the weekend.

We start off on Sunday with three runners in the Risk Of Thunder Chase (11.35am). Vanillier will be having his first run over the banks but we think he’ll take to them well. He may just need this run to gain a bit of experience over the new obstacles, but we’re confident he’ll take to them. He pulled up a good way out at Cheltenham and looked as though he somewhat gave up, hopefully going over the banks will keep him a bit more interested!

We also run Fameaftertheglory, he ran at Cheltenham last week but he’s come out of it really well and he’s effective over the banks so we’ll give him a shot here.

Our third runner in the race is Stumptown, he’s very effective here and loves going over the banks. He won at the Punchestown Festival and, although he has a 10-pound penalty in this race, we’re hoping he can be competitive.

Then we have Springt De La Mare who was entered in a Novice Chase on Saturday but we’re going to try the Maiden Hurdle (12.05pm) with him instead. He will go chasing sooner rather than later but we just thought he could be up to winning a maiden hurdle first.

Union Station and If You Let Me both run in the Novice Handicap Hurdle (3.00pm). They’re both in good form at home and look as though they can both be competitive off their marks. Both of them are capable of taking their chance.

Cork

We have a fair few entered at Cork on Sunday and we start off in the Maiden Hurdle (12.20pm). One of those is La Bugiste, who has turned out to be a bit of a head-scratcher. We were very disappointed with him at Gowran Park so now it’s just a case of watching him and seeing if he can perform better, but he seems in good form at home.

Another interesting type for us in that race is Kazakh D’Arthel. He’s proven to be a little bit difficult having ran away with Keith Donoghue on the way to the start a couple of runs ago, then missing the start the last day. He’s very keen in his racing but he looks an interesting horse if we can get him to settle and do things properly. He’s another one just to watch for the moment.

Later on in the day Invictus Machin runs in the 2m5f Handicap Chase (3.15pm). He seems in good form at home and hopefully could be competitive. Dancingondaceiling will also probably go in this race, despite being entered in a Handicap Hurdle on the same day. He looks like a staying chaser in the making.