Sam Twiston-Davies: I’m Lucky to have Hitman ride

National Hunt Jockey and William Hill ambassador Sam Twiston-Davies has told William Hill and The Winners Enclosure’s new show, The Inside Track, that he’s lucky to have the ride on Hitman in the King George.

Speaking to William Hill and The Winners Enclosure’s The Inside Track, a new series in which host Kate Tracey and The Winners Enclosure’s James Mackie are joined by a special guest each week to discuss the big stories surrounding the world of horse racing in the lead up to the Cheltenham Festival, Twiston-Davies said: “I’m delighted to get the ride on Hitman in the King George. I’ve been lucky for the owners before, winning both the King George and the Punchestown Gold Cup with Clan Des Obeaux, and it’s very kind of them to carry on supporting me, so I’m very grateful for that.

“I thought he was impressive at Haydock. He jumped fantastically and that looks to be one of his biggest assets.

“Yes, he’s a young horse who’s yet to tackle this trip, but he’s really going the right way and I’m excited for it. As with any King George, we’ll ride the race that’s put in front of us. If they’re going too quick then you try and slot in a bit further back, but at the same time it’s Kempton, where you don’t want to be too far back as it’s a hard place to make up ground late on.

Asked whether he can enjoy Christmas Day with a big race looming, he added: “You always hope you never have a light weight to do on Boxing Day, and this year it looks like I’ll be able to enjoy a good bit of Christmas dinner!

“I’ll start Christmas Day early riding out and making sure all the horses are seen to, then I’ll spend some good time with the family relaxing before it’s back for a big day of racing at Kempton.”

Russell’s retirement

Twiston-Davies paid tribute to Davy Russell, following his retirement at Thurles last week, as he said: “Davy Russell was an outstanding rider, incredibly competitive, very rarely made a mistake, incredibly strong and tactically astute – he had everything.

“I remember him coming from nowhere to win races up at Perth, and as a younger jockey looking up, you’d always watch how good he was at Cheltenham. He’d decide to switch inside and take the brave route while everyone else would switch to the outside, and it was getting those split-second decisions right that made him so good.”

Stable stars update

One horse that was due to run at the International Meeting at Cheltenham, was the exciting Weveallbeencaught, and Twiston-Davies provided an update: “Weveallbeencaught could go to the Challow Hurdle at Newbury. The problem is he’s only had the one start, but we want to get a better idea of how good he is now if he’s going to be aimed at the big festivals in the spring. Yes, it means he’ll be thrown in at the deep end a bit, but we wouldn’t really learn a load if we went and ran him in an ordinary novice hurdle. We want to take on some of the better horses and find out if we can keep dreaming big.”

When asked about I Like to Move It, another horse that was due to run a few weeks ago at Cheltenham, he added: “We want to get I Like To Move It out sooner rather than later because he’s in such good form. He’s got an entry in the Christmas Hurdle, but that’s going to be incredibly difficult, and then the possibility of Haydock’s Champion Hurdle Trial, but that’s quite a bit later on in January. He’s in really good form at the moment and we want to try and run him in something that’s only round the corner, so a step up in trip in the Relkeel at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day is a possibility.”

Master Chewy and Undersupervision were both seen on the Friday at the International meeting and finished second and third in their respective races.

“Master Chewy needs one more run before hopefully having a crack at the Betfair Hurdle. His run at Cheltenham was both pleasing and frustrating, as I thought we’d win coming to the last. He’s an incredibly strong-travelling horse, his jumping is improving with each run, and he just needs another run to get that experience before going onto bigger and better things.”

“Undersupervision looked like he was going to be absolutely stuffed at one point at Cheltenham, but he stayed on really well to finish third. The dream remains the Grand National with him, but he needs to go up a bit to get in so he’ll have to win and be competitive in races if he’s to get there this season. Age is still on his side and he’ll be a lovely staying chaser for the years ahead,” Twiston-Davies said.

Finally, he provided an update on one of the yard’s older stars: “Good Boy Bobby will hopefully be back at Wetherby on Boxing Day where he won last year. Everyone seems very happy with him at home and if he can get three miles on deep ground then that will be right up his street. He’s another one who has the National as one of his long-term targets.”