Nigel Twiston-Davies’ William Hill Blog: Hoping the Winners’ Enclosure is a Safe Destination

Master Chewy’s win of the Grade 2 Wayward Lad was a great result on Wednesday. We were delighted with him and we’ll see how he gets on in the coming weeks before deciding what he’ll do next.

In the meantime, we’ve got a busy day coming up with plenty of runners in various places on Saturday, and an exciting Friday with Zambella at Doncaster.

Friday, Doncaster

The only runner of the day is Zambella in the Listed Yorkshire Silver Vase (1.40pm). She’s been really good over the years and won very impressively last time so, hopefully, she can do the same again here. Venetia Williams’ Pink Legend is in the mix once again, but who has also now run plenty in a short space of time, which isn’t ideal. I think Zambella should be favourite and she should win this. It’s not a walk-over by any means, but she should have a very good chance.

As with all of our horses, we’re taking her season one step at a time, but the idea is to go back for the Mares’ Chase at Cheltenham in March.

She’s an eight-year-old now and it’s looking as if this will be her final season before she goes off to stud. She could be going to visit Doctor Dino if all goes to plan.

Saturday, Haydock

First up at Haydock is Norman Fletcher in the 1m7½f novices’ hurdle (12.50pm). Dianne Sayer’s horse, Bertie’s Ballet, looks to be the main challenger and is very unexposed over hurdles, whereas Norman Fletcher has now won both a maiden and novices’ hurdle. I hope that, for that reason, he’ll be too good for this field and we have James Turner’s seven pounds to help us along the way. He’s a half-brother to Super Six, who was runner-up in the Grade 2 Silver Trophy at Cheltenham in April, so I hope that, in time, he will go in a similar direction. We always thought he was going to be more of a type for better ground, but he won in heavy at Aintree last time, so the conditions here won’t be a problem.

Next is Fantastikas in the Last Fling handicap (1.25pm). He has been declared at both Haydock and Newbury, but will be heading to Haydock – our first preference – if the meeting goes ahead. He’s come down massively in the weights and is now on a really good mark, so surely – if he’s ever going to – he should start winning now.

Saturday, Newbury

Starting us off at Newbury is Guy in the 2m½f handicap chase (1.15pm). We don’t want the ground to get too soft for him, but at the moment he’s second favourite and we’d like to think he’ll have a good chance. He’ll like the course, and he should be more than ready for this.

Second at this meeting is Ballycamus in the 2m6½f novices’ limited handicap chase (3.35pm). It was his first time over fences last time, which he won, and he’ll enjoy going a little bit further here in nice, soft ground. I’m expecting a really good run from him. He’s against some good horses here, with Walking On Air and Golden Son in the mix, but he’s getting well over a stone from both of them and I’m hoping we’ll see further improvement from him as he’s continued to go from strength to strength.

Saturday, Taunton

Safe Destination is first at Taunton in the 2m7f novices’ handicap chase (1.35pm). He’s won two races already, so we hope he can go out and win another. The handicapper hasn’t been too hard on him, but he’s probably at his level now and the best he’ll likely do is keep his form consistent and keep winning races like these. He jumps well, so let’s hope that he’s the one they all have to beat.

Another one seeking a hat-trick is Casa No Mento in the Listed 2m½f mares’ novices’ hurdle (2.10pm). She’s been very good so far and was most impressive last time, but she does have some very good horses up against her here, such as Queen’s Gamble from Harry Derham’s yard. We’re hoping, though, that she can prove that she’s the best. According to the handicapper, she’s already the best by six pounds and this is not a handicap, so we’ll just have to wait and see how good she really is.