Gavin Cromwell
Gavin Cromwell’s William Hill blog: Feels good finding our form ahead of Christmas
William Hill ambassador Gavin Cromwell looks back at a successful weekend with winners at Cheltenham, Fairyhouse and Navan, and previews this weekend’s racing at Navan as well as a selection of Leopardstown runners over Christmas.
Tide turning in our favour ahead of Christmas
Last weekend was another positive one, with winners across three cards. Final Orders was brilliant in the Cross Country chase at Cheltenham. I was expecting him to run well and be bang there, but I was surprised by how well he won in the end. It’s nice to be surprised on the good side, because it can often be the other way!
Keith Donoghue gave him a brilliant ride and the horse has taken to the discipline really well, which is partly down to the confidence he’s gained through Keith riding him. The Race IQ shows he gained just over 28 lengths jumping, and you could add quite a bit more to that when you factor in the racing lines that Keith took. It was great to watch.
There’s no reason why he can’t follow a similar path to Stumptown now. The race on Friday wasn’t anything like the one we’ll have there in March, but it was a fair performance and even though the handicapper will put him up, he’ll still have a nice weight and should be in under 11 stone. Hopefully he’s one to look forward to in March.
We also had Cowper Hall winning well at Fairyhouse and The Lovely Man leading home a 1-2 with Evies Vladimir at Navan. Our horses definitely seem to be running quite a bit better now, with four winners and six seconds in the last week.
It’s a good feeling to have our horses finding their form heading into Christmas. We’ll be keeping our fingers crossed now for some good results in those big races at Christmas.
Thurles, Saturday
We kick off the weekend with Fiver Friday having her first run over hurdles for us (1.22pm). She ran very well in the Curragh on her first run for us. It was her first run after a long lay-off and she just got a bit tired towards the end. I’m optimistic that she can run well here over hurdles.
We have four runners across the divided two-mile William Hill Each Way Extra Challenge Series Maiden Hurdles, with Top Coeur and Galavanting George in the 1.52pm, and Luker’s Tipple and Good Option in the 2.32pm. Galavanting George only ran on Monday but he’s come out of it well and is declared here, while Top Coeur was third in a bumper on his first run and fourth at Fairyhouse the last day and ran well. Hopefully he can go well again.
Luker’s Tipple is the one with the rating and his form would suggest he’s going to be competitive in the second division. Good Option is a reserve for that race and is unlikely to get a run.
We’re up to second in the Stable standings and it’s certainly appealing with the £10k prize for the stable staff on offer. We’ve been going well in it and will be giving it our best effort from here on in.
It looks as though we’ll get nice ground at Thurles, which will suit Reiki Revolution who goes in the novice hurdle (3.05pm). The ground was just too soft for him in Navan the last day where he was pulled up. He’s come out of that fine, has been in good form at home and hopefully he can run well.
The nicer ground here is also a positive for Lennon Grove (3.40pm). She was second in a bumper here on her last start and hopefully she can go one better. She seems to be working well at home and it’d be great for her to get her head in front.
Early look at Leopardstown
Inothewayurthinkin is all set for the Savills Chase. He’s certainly more forward now than he was this time last year and he has gained a lot more experience. He’s come on for his run in the John Durkan and we’re hoping he’ll be bang there this year.
We have five entered in the 3m Listed Chase at this stage. Now Is The Hour is one that may not go. He wants proper ease in the ground and we’ll have to wait and see what it’s like, but it doesn’t look as though he’ll get his conditions. Noble Birth is one we’d like to run, but I’m not sure that he’ll get in.
Backtonormal will definitely go, as will Ballysax Hank. Will The Wise also has the option of going to Cheltenham on New Year’s Day. We’ll leave him entered in both for now and make a decision closer to the time.
Only By Night is another with multiple options. She’s entered in the 2m1f Grade 1 at Leopardstown on the 27th, but we’ve also thought about going to Fairyhouse on New Year’s Day for the Grade 3 John & Chich Fowler. I’d say we’re more likely to go for the Grade 1 with her as it stands.
We have Hello Neighbour going to the Grade 1 December Hurdle on the 29th. It’s a tough starting point for his season, but he’ll have a racecourse gallop beforehand and hopefully that all goes well.
At the moment it’s just a case of getting him out and seeing how he gets on. It’s always a difficult year for those four-year-olds who campaigned as juveniles, but it’s not impossible, as we saw with Espoir D’Allen who went on to win the Champion Hurdle as a five-year-old.
