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John Smith's Hurdle |
Restless Dickin Aims Harry at Wetherby for John Smith's Hurdle
27/10/11
Restless Harry is set to start his campaign at Wetherby on bet365 Charlie Hall Chase Day, Saturday, October 29, in the £32,000 John Smith’s Hurdle (2.50pm), over three miles and a furlong.
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The high-class gelding also holds an entry in the wetherbyracing.co.uk Novices’ Chase (4.30pm) at the West Yorkshire track on the same afternoon.
Trainer Robin Dickin had hoped to start his charge in the novice chase but prolonged dry weather at his Stratford-on-Avon yard has meant a change of plan for the talented seven-year-old, who was a little over six lengths third to Big Buck’s in last season’s Grade One Long Walk Hurdle and third to Grands Crus in the Grade Two Cleeve Hurdle at Cheltenham in January.
Dickin revealed today: “The plan is to go to Wetherby and he is far more likely to go for the John Smith’s Hurdle - it’s probably 99 per cent that he will go for the hurdle. He is working beautifully and is in a wonderful place - just where I want him to be.
“My original plan was that he wouldn’t run over hurdles again, that he would go chasing, end of story. But we have had such dry weather here at Stratford-on-Avon that I haven’t been able to school him on turf at all. I feel that he has had far from the ideal preparation for chasing and I think preparing horses to go chasing is something that we are five-star at.
“Surely, it will rain at some time - it has to rain between now and Christmas. I am desperate for rain so that we can school him on the turf here over our fences, so that he is well prepared before he has his first run chasing.
“He is a very good jumper but if anything went wrong running against lesser horses in a novice chase, because I hadn’t been able to do the type of schooling I normally do, I’d never forgive myself, so I’ve decided to have a change of plan and let him have another run over hurdles.”
A fantastic entry of 14 high-class hurdlers for the John Smith’s Hurdle means that Restless Harry faces a competitive challenge first time out this term but Dickin is unperturbed.
He continued: “Restless Harry can get into the single figures in terms of how many lengths he can finish behind Big Buck’s and there aren’t many in the country that can do that.
“He is well ready to run. Yes, it is a very high level and it is very competitive, but I would think there are plenty that are afraid of him. He is not short of pace and he does stay. He is as fit as I can get him at home - the run might bring him along a little bit but not massively. He is there to do his best and he will love the trip and track.
“My one slight concern is the distance he has to travel to go there but he has got a lot more grown up about travelling so I’m assuming it won’t be a problem - in the past he has been a bad traveller.
“I was nervous last year about how straight he would be for his first run but he has had a very similar preparation to that and he went on and finished third in the Silver Hurdle at Chepstow. He got left at the start that day as well.”
Entered in opposition are the Gordon Elliott-trained Grade Three Coral Cup winner Carlito Brigante, the high-class George Charlton-trained Knockara Beau, top-class chaser What A Friend, trained by Paul Nicholls, and the Philip Hobbs-trained Fair Along who is seeking a hat-trick of John Smith’s Hurdle wins.
The feature event of the two-day meeting is the £100,000 Grade Two bet365 Charlie Hall Chase, which has attracted a fantastic 14-strong entry that includes such star chasers as Time For Rupert, Nacarat, Diamond Harry and Midnight Chase.
Also on Saturday’s fantastic card is the £17,000 Listed bet365 Mares’ Hurdle (2.15pm) over an extended two miles, which has 12 entries headed by the Nicky Henderson-trained A Media Luz. The day kicks off with the bet365 Novices’ Chase (1.40pm, 11 entries).
The six-race card on Friday, October 28, features a pair of important Listed contests, the £20,000 bet365 Handicap Chase (3.20pm, 18 entries) over an extended two and a half miles and the £15,000 Weatherbys Bank Wensleydale Juvenile Hurdle (3.55pm, 19 entries) over an extended two miles.
The day’s action also includes the bet365.com Handicap Hurdle (2.45pm, 25 entries) over an extended two miles.
GOING
The going at Wetherby is currently GOOD (watering).
Wetherby’s Chief Executive and Clerk of the Course, Jonjo Sanderson, reported: “We had 7.5 millimetres of rain in total on Tuesday and there is a chance of further showers on Wednesday night into Thursday morning, which might put down a further 6 millimetres.
“We’re just finishing off a watering cycle today, after which the whole course will have had 10 millimetres irrigation, with the home bend and part of the home straight having an additional 10 millimetres.
“We’ll assess how much rain has fallen overnight before deciding on any further watering for Thursday. The ground is exactly where I want it to be and it is just a question of maintaining it now.
“Tickets sales are going extremely well, with Saturday’s advance sales almost 25 per cent up on 2010, however there will still be tickets available on both days of the bet365 Charlie Hall Meeting for people who walk up on the day.”
