Gavin Cromwell
Gavin Cromwell’s William Hill blog: Half A Mill Becher & Kelso weekend preview
William Hill ambassador Gavin Cromwell previews Bioluminescence’s chances in the William Hill Half A Mill Becher Chase at Aintree, The Other Mozzie’s chances up at Kelso, as well as a look ahead to the Christmas period.
We’ve got a few key runners this weekend. Unfortunately, Only By Night hasn’t been declared at either Sandown or Huntingdon. This is partly due to the ground, but mainly because we’re happy to wait a little longer with her. She’s a possible contender for the Grade 1 at Leopardstown over Christmas, and she also has the option of the John and Chich Fowler at Fairyhouse. There are a couple of mares’ races between those in January as well, so there’s no rush.
Aintree, Saturday
We run Bioluminescence in the William Hill Half A Mill Becher Chase at Aintree on Saturday (2.40pm). The Half A Mill bonus is definitely interesting to us and obviously it would be great to win it. She is very ground dependent though and come Grand National time I think she’d be unlikely to get ground soft enough for her. We’ll take it one step at a time.
It looks as though the ground is soft enough and there’s more rain to come, which will only be positive for her. She has the benefit of a run, and she came out of it well. We’re happy with her and it looks a good race for her. She’s never jumped the National fences before, but they won’t be a problem for her. We’re hopeful she can run well.
Kelso, Sunday
The Other Mozzie goes in a handicap up at Kelso (2:37pm) on Sunday. He ran a great race at Cheltenham. Coming down the hill and even turning in, I genuinely thought we had a real chance. You could see approaching the last that he was just starting to run out of gas. He simply didn’t stay the trip, but we were still very happy with the run.
You can never be confident running off a career-high mark, but he summered well and Jimmy Fyffe always loves having a runner here, so we’re hopeful he’ll give a good account of himself up at Kelso.
Jimmy’s a great fella who absolutely loves his racing, and he’s put together a nice team of horses now. Hopefully he’s going to have plenty of good days ahead.
Looking ahead to Christmas
Looking a bit further ahead, Will The Wise is entered in the December Gold Cup at Cheltenham. We’re very happy with him. Timing-wise it works well, this race gives him four weeks since the Troytown at Navan. He’s coming back in trip, but I don’t see that being an issue. He travels and jumps so well that it should really suit him.
He won nicely in Galway before the Troytown, and we felt he had the ideal profile for that race, but in hindsight he just didn’t quite stay. He’s such a slick jumper and shows plenty of pace, so a slight drop back in trip should play to his strengths.
The Passing Wife holds an entry for the Future Champions Novice Hurdle at Leopardstown over Christmas. He’s coming off a very good run in the Royal Bond at Fairyhouse, where he was only beaten a length and a quarter and finished strongly. He did jump out to his left quite a bit that day, so I think going left-handed this time will be a big help.
He lost a little ground going into the second last, and the leaders just got away from him at a crucial moment. I’m not sure he’s going to be a Grade 1 winner, but he’ll certainly run a big race wherever he goes. I also wouldn’t be afraid to step him up in trip, he has the option of the Lawlor’s of Naas in mid-January over two-and-a-half miles. We’ll see how he comes out of Christmas and plan from there.
Hello Neighbour has an entry in the three-mile Christmas Hurdle at Leopardstown. It’s always tricky to place these types of horses, he’s out of his juvenile year now and no longer a novice, so the options can be limited. He’s a Grade 1 winner, but the penalty structure in the UK is a bit more favourable for horses like him, as you only carry half the penalties for juvenile successes.
It’s traditionally a difficult stage for four-year-olds, but he’s in good form and we’re looking forward to getting him going again.
Inothewayurthinkin’s plan remains firmly the Savills Chase at Leopardstown. He’s definitely more street-wise now than he was this time last year. I know he was beaten a long way at Punchestown the last day, but it was a very tough race to get into.
He still jumped well and kept galloping all the way to the line, so we’ll take those positives – we don’t really have a choice but to take them – and hopefully we can build on that. We’re certainly hoping he’ll be competitive.
