2021/22 Jumps Profile - Fable

6 y bm Coastal Path – Toscane es Fleurs (Martin)

Martin has a share in this mare who made her debut at Oldcastle in a 3m mares maiden point in September last year, winning by 12l from Cloneyhurke Maid. She moved across the water to Seven Barrows and reappeared at Wincanton in February this year, in a 2m 5f mares novice hurdle, beaten a neck by Rose of Arcadia, then won at Huntingdon 3 weeks later taking a 2m 4f mares maiden hurdle by 1 ¼ l from Juniper, and followed up at Haydock in March, in a 3m mares novice hurdle beating Mrs Barnes (received 3lb) 8 ½ l. 

Nicky Henderson told the punter  “She’s a fascinating mare. She came over in the Spring and I have to say I thought she was the slowest horse I’ve ever seen! I could watch her start galloping, go for breakfast and come back to watch her finish. Anyway, we gave her a run first time out and she was second. I was really pleased and then she won twice, really nicely.

"She’s not badly handicapped, so I’d be interested to see how much further she could go over hurdles and see if she is at least a Listed mare. To get her some black type would be a priority, but she could jump fences tomorrow. I’d quite like to give her one run over hurdles anyway, just to see if she belongs in that category because she might just be quite high (in the handicap). If so, we’ll just go chasing."

I am sure Martin will enjoy this season with this mare.

Trainer N.Henderson

2021/22 Jumps Profile - Eklat De Rire

7 y bg Saddex – Rochdale (Bob, Peej)

An interesting pick he is lightly raced for a 7 year old, but has a high success rate when he has run. He made his debut at Dromahane in November 2019, in a 3m5 year old  geldings maiden point, beating Carrig Copper ½ l. Moving to Henry De Bromhead, he made his rules debut in February 2020, finishing 2nd in a 2m 4f maiden hurdle, 1 ¾ l behind Foxy Jacks, then in March at Thurles, won a 2m 7f maiden hurdle by 6l from All About Joe. 

He Reappeared in December last year at Punchestown, winning a 3m 1f beginners chase by 3 ½ l from School Boy Hours, then, after a long absence, won at Naas in January this year, taking a 3m 1f grade 3 novice chase by 1 ¾ l from Escaria Ten. He then ran in the 3m  grade 1  Brown Advisory novice chase at Cheltenham, still when in contention when unseating 3 out Monkfish won the race. He reappeared recently at Wexford, winning a 2m 7f listed chase by 4 ½ l from Conflated, and looks sure to win more staying chases, especially if conditions are testing.

Trainer H. De Bromhead.

2021/22 Jumps Profile - Eric Bloodaxe

6y bl g Saint Des Saints  (Neil)

Interesting pick, he has some smart form to his name, notably his debut at Fairyhouse in December 2019, where he beat Ferney Hollow 2 ½ l in a 2m bumper. He then followed up at Leopardstown at the end of December beating Wide Receiver (received 4 lb), 2 ½ l. In February last year he then disappointed at Leopardstown in a 2m bumper, finishing 7th, beaten 20 ¼ l behind Appreciate It, but was reported lame afterwards. Following an absence of 452 days he reappeared in a 2m grade 1 bumper at Leopardstown in April this year, finishing 4th beaten 13 ½ l behind Kilcruit. He will presumably go hurdling and should win novice events if re-finding the form of his first 2 starts.

Trainer J P O’Brien

2021/22 Jumps Profile - Chantry House

7 y br g Yeats – The Last Bank (Cliff, Peej, Steve)

This horse made a big impression on the editor last season, and I was not overly impressed with last year’s Gold Cup, so I am hoping this one can step up and take the Gold Cup this year.  He made his debut at Stowlin in April 2018, in a 4 year old 3m point, and was leading Monkfish when unseating his rider 3 out. Reappearing in December at Tattersalls Farm, he won a 4 year maiden 3m point by ¾ l from Envol Pierjiand moved to Nicky Henderson after that. His English debut was at Warwick in March 2019, where he won a 2m bumper by 3 ½ l from Edwardstone, then after a break, reappeared at Cheltenham in December, winning a 2m 1f novice hurdle by 1 ¾ l from Stolen Silver, then followed up at Newbury in February 2020, winning a 2m novice hurdle by 4 ½ l from Manvers House (received 6lb). He then went Cheltenham and finished 3rd in the 2m Supreme novice hurdle, beaten 11 ¼  l behind stablemate Shiskin.

He reappeared at Ascot last November winning a 2m 3f novice chase by 26 l from Up The Straight, then at December at Cheltenham was third in a 2m 4f novice chase, beaten 13 ¾ l behind stablemate Fusil Raffles (gave 3lb. He then went to Wetherby in February this year, winning a 2m 5f novice chase by 3 ¼ l from Coconut Splash (received 6lb), then at Cheltenham in March, won the 2m 4f Grade 1 Marsh novice chase by 3l from Fusil Raffles. He finished the season at Aintree, winning the 3m 1f grade 1 Mildmay novice chase by 32 l from Shan Blue, and will hopefully be among the best 3m chasers this season.

He reappeared at Sandown recently, winning a 3m listed chase by 27 l from The Big Breakaway, (received 6lb).

Trainer N.Henderson

2021/22 Jumps Profile - Capodanno

5 y ch g Manduro – Day Gets Up (Cod)

Gelding who made his debut at Compiegne in November 2019, he was 2l 2nd in a 2m 1f 3year old conditions hurdle, behind Fire Dancer. He then moved to Willie Mullins and reappeared at Clonmel last December, finishing 3rd in a 2m 3f maiden hurdle beaten 3 ½ l by Pepite De Belle. In January this year at Clonmel he won a 2m maiden hurdle by 7l from Dunboyne (gave 2lb), then was 3rd in a 2m 4f rated hurdle at Thurles in February, beaten 8l by Velvet Elvis (received 5lb). He was then 4th in a novice handicap hurdle at Fairyhouse, beaten 2l by stablemate Lady Brefnni (received 1 1lb), and finished the season at Punchestown, winning a 3m grade B handicap hurdle by 12l from Capilano Bridge (received 4lb). 

Willie Mullins told The Punter “He was impressive he’s a fine big horse, a chaser in the making He’s one I will be looking forward to over fences, he should be a force in staying novice chases."

Trainer W.Mullins

2021/22 Jumps Profile - Call Of The Wild

4y bg Fame and Glory- Glory Days (Peej)

One of the dark hoses, could be anything brigade, he made his debut at Huntingdon in May this year, winning a 2m bumper by 8 ½ l from Urban Grit,(received 3lb), then reappeared recently at Stratford in a 2m novice hurdle, finishing 2nd, beaten ½ l by Onemorefortheroad (gave 11lb). Alan King told the Punter “He is a horse I have always liked, he has plenty of speed and is an exciting prospect."

Trainer A. King

2021/22 Jumps Profile - Buzz

7 y gr g Motivator – Tiysha (Peej)

Versatile performer on flat and over hurdles, he is also a very decent sort at both codes. Nicky Henderson told The Punter, "It was the Stafford family’s idea, in the middle of the summer when the horse was out in the field, to run in the Cesarewitch. I thought it was crazy. First of all, he wants soft ground, and you won’t get that at Newmarket. Second, how am I going to get him ready? I would need to give him a prep run. I thought it was a pretty crackers idea.

"He came in on July 12, which was 12 weeks before the race. He had one racecourse gallop on one weekend when it rained. We took him to Newbury for a gallop on his own, and he had a nice time which helped him a lot. We had a very clean run, having to be pretty hard on him. He was having to gallop twice a week to get there.

"The improvement throughout last season was dramatic and the important bit was that he proved his stamina at Aintree. So now it’s a question of how far he can go. We may try him straight over 3m since he now has a run under his belt. He could be anything, particularly when the ground is soft."

His best efforts Last Season were as follows, he won at Ascot in November taking a 2m handicap hurdle by 7l from Rosie and Millie (received 7lb), then in December over same course and distance was 2nd in a grade 3 limited handicap hurdle, beaten 1 ¾ l behind Not So Sleepy (received 6lb). He was 5th at Newbury in the Tote Gold Trophy handicap hurdle over 2m , finish-ng 5 ¾ l behind Soaring Glory (received 14lb), and finished at Aintree with a 2nd behind Abracadabras beaten 1 ¼ l in the 2m 4f grade 1 Aintree hurdle. Stepping up in trip , if he gets 3m, as it looks as though he will , he could be a player in the stayers in March

Trainer N.Henderson