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Ladbroke Hurdle 2009 |
41 for The Ladbroke - Meade Hoping to Claim £150,000 Contest for Ireland 03/12/09
The Ladbroke, the feature £150,000 Listed handicap hurdle at Ascot on Saturday, December 19, has attracted an initial entry of 41.
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Former champion Irish jump trainer, Noel Meade, is responsible for three of the five Irish-trained contenders - Arch Rebel (20/1 with Ladbrokes), Silverhand (20/1) and Definate Spectacle (25/1) - and hopes to mount a strong challenge at Ascot on December 19.
Arch Rebel, a Grade Two winner over hurdles as a novice and a four-time Listed winner on the Flat, was last seen out when finishing second at Fairyhouse on November 28, while Silverhand has also scored at Listed level on the Flat and most recently ran in the Greatwood Hurdle at Cheltenham last month, when he finished 11th. Definate Spectacle was successful in a valuable handicap hurdle at Aintree back in 2005 and could revert to hurdling after a couple of recent outings over fences.
Meade, who won The Ladbroke at Leopardstown with Glencloud in 1993, revealed: “The plan at the moment is for Arch Rebel and Silverhand to run in The Ladbroke. We have also entered Definate Spectacle, but we will see what the likely ground is going to be before making any final decision regarding him.
“Arch Rebel ran well on Saturday and I was happy with him. We gave him a rest earlier in the year because he has been in training for a long time and was beginning to feel it on his joints but he is OK now.
“He won a Grade Two hurdle as a juvenile but we have been keeping him busy on the Flat. He’s probably getting towards the end of his career over jumps but you would have to think that he would have a good chance at Ascot, especially if he got reasonable ground. He’s rated 108 on the level, so he certainly has the class to run well.
“We were a bit disappointed with the way Silverhand ran in the Greatwood Hurdle, but the ground was very testing for him on that day. He is similar to Arch Rebel in so far that he is a very smart performer on the Flat, but his form over hurdles doesn’t seem to stack up in the same way, which is a bit puzzling because he seems to jump them well.
“Definate Spectacle is an old horse nowadays, but he has got himself back down in the weights and he would probably be racing off a nice weight at the moment. I would like to see good racing ground for him to take his chance, which is often the case at Ascot.
“We began his campaign with a couple of runs over fences but he didn’t take to it. He ran a sound race at Dundalk on his latest outing and seems in good order at the moment.”
The Irish-trained contingent also includes Perce Rock (20/1), trained by Tommy Stack, while the Ascot winner’s enclosure will witness exuberant celebrations if the Oliver Brady-trained Takestan (16/1) were to prevail.
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No current trainer can match the record of Nicky Henderson in The Ladbroke at Ascot, with the Lambourn handler recording three victories (Chauvinist (2002), Jack The Giant (2007) and Sentry Duty (2008)). This year Henderson could be represented by Tasheba (20/1), who finished fourth behind stable companion Caracciola in the Queen Alexandra Stakes at Royal Ascot in June, Fairyland (Ladbrokes’ 7/1 Fav), who was an impressive Listed winner at Newbury on November 28 and Know The Law (12/1), who was travelling well behind Fairyland at Newbury when unseating his rider three from home.
David Pipe landed the spoils with Acambo in 2006 and has three to choose from this year, headed by the versatile Mamlook (12/1) who finished runner-up behind Darley Sun in the Cesarewitch at Newmarket before coming second to Celestial Halo in the Grade Two Elite Hurdle at Wincanton on November 7. The other two possible starters from Pond House are Ronaldo Des Mottes (16/1) and the mare Gaspara (33/1), who enjoyed her finest hour when successful in the Fred Winter Juvenile Novices’ Handicap Hurdle at the 2007 Cheltenham Festival.
Champion trainer Paul Nicholls has yet to capture The Ladbroke but has two useful performers entered this year with the hugely promising novice Pepe Simo (10/1), who is unbeaten in three starts over hurdles including in a Listed contest at Haydock Park on November 21 and Pepite De Soleil (16/1), who finished runner-up in a Grade One contest at Chepstow last term.
Other interesting entries include Khyber Kim, who came with a tremendous late run to land the valuable Greatwood Hurdle at Cheltenham on November 15 with Harry Tricker (8/1) two lengths behind him in second. Harry Tricker is trained by Gary Moore, who has also entered the 2008 Greatwood winner Numide (14/1) and Gee Dee Nen (25/1). Alan King has made an entry for the smart novice Manyriverstocross (16/1), while Barney Curley’s shrewd yard could be represented by Zabeel Palace (8/1), who having won a lowly seller at Fontwell in September has made rapid progress to win three of his next four starts, two of which came at Ascot. Alsadaa (40/1), runner-up in 2007, could bid to go one better for trainer Laura Mongan. Get Me Out Of Here (8/1) is unbeaten in four outings, with the five-year-old’s most recent success coming at Newbury on November 26 and he presents the powerful combination of owner J P McManus and trainer Jonjo O’Neill.
The weights for The Ladbroke are announced on December 9.
Opening Prices from Ladbrokes
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7/1 Fav Fairyland
8/1 Zabeel Palace
8/1 Get Me Out Of Here
8/1 Harry Tricker
10/1 Pepe Simo
10/1 James De Vassy
12/1 Mamlook
12/1 Know The Law
14/1 Oldrik
14/1 Numide
16/1 Ronaldo Des Mottes
16/1 Mighty Moon
16/1 Zanir
16/1 Frontier Dancer
16/1 Stravinsky Dance
16/1 Takestan
16/1 Manyriverstocross
16/1 Pepite De Soleil
20/1 Dani's Girl
20/1 Silverhand
20/1 Tullamore Dew
20/1 Perce Rock
20/1 Argento Luna
20/1 Pascha Bere
20/1 Tasheba
20/1 Arch Rebel
20/1 Nampour
20/1 Spear Thistle
20/1 Overstrand
25/1 Hibiki
25/1 Treaty Flyer
25/1 Gee Dee Nen
25/1 Definate Spectacle
33/1 Stow
33/1 European Dream
33/1 Gaspara
40/1 Alsadaa
50/1 Chaninbar
50/1 Fenix
Not quoted: Khyber Kim, Blue Bajan
David Williams of Ladbrokes commented: “Nicky Henderson’s record in The Ladbroke at Ascot is second to none and having landed the spoils for the past two years, he looks to have another worthy candidate in Fairyland. She is our 7/1 market leader.
“Fairyland’s victory at Newbury on November 28 was very impressive and the mare looks well positioned to mount a strong challenge at Ascot on December 19.”
THE LADBROKE
Class 1, Listed Race, £150,000 Total Prize Fund. 2.35pm, Ascot, Saturday, December 19, 2009. For 4yo+ rated 0-150. Two miles. Penalties: after December 5, a winner of a hurdle 6lb. No penalty to increase a horse’s weight above 11st 12lb. Entries closed December 1, entries revealed December 2 (41 entries), weights revealed December 9, five-day confirmation stage December 14, final 48-hour declaration stage 10.00am, December 17. Form figures supplied by Weatherbys and are correct up to and including the racing of Monday, November 30.
Form Horse Age Owner Trainer
40501-0 ALSADAA (USA) 6 Mrs P J Sheen Laura Mongan
1060///-02 ARCH REBEL (USA) 8 Pat Garvey Noel Meade IRE
22110-2 ARGENTO LUNA 6 P K Gardner Oliver Sherwood
3004-60 BLUE BAJAN (IRE) 7 Dr John Hollowood Andrew Turnell
344020- CHANINBAR (FR) 6 John Watts Caroline Thompson John Naylor Milton Harris
5-40115 DANI'S GIRL (IRE) 6 Clive Craig Pat Phelan
0/20-040 DEFINATE SPECTACLE (IRE) 9 Mrs Pat Sloan Noel Meade
12U6-26 EUROPEAN DREAM (IRE) 6 You Trotters Richard Guest
10-0331 FAIRYLAND (GER) 6 C E Stedman & A R Blaxland Nicky Henderson
0/6102/0/- FENIX (GER) 10 P A Philipps, T S Redman & J S Redman Lucy Wadham
F5201-2 FRONTIER DANCER (IRE) 5 Jump For Fun Racing Nigel Twiston-Davies
00-0065 GASPARA (FR) 6 P McMahon David Pipe
2103-40 GEE DEE NEN 6 Chris Duggan & Brendan Gilligan Gary Moore
1111 GET ME OUT OF HERE (IRE) 5 J P McManus Jonjo O'Neill
63-P512 HARRY TRICKER 5 Richard Green Gary Moore
2245-30 HIBIKI (IRE) 5 Richard Green Philip Hobbs
104-14 JAMES DE VASSY (FR) 4 Jakeman, Barrett, Booth & Ferrand Nick Williams
0500-51 KHYBER KIM 7 Caroline Mould Nigel Twiston-Davies
51-142U KNOW THE LAW 5 Raymond Tooth & Steve Gilbey Nicky Henderson
06404-2 MAMLOOK (IRE) 5 Peter Deal & G Lowe David Pipe
13 MANYRIVERSTOCROSS (IRE) 4 Mrs M C Sweeney Alan King
5412- MIGHTY MOON 6 Aidan Ryan Richard Fahey
145-514 NAMPOUR (FR) 4 Terry Warner Philip Hobbs
4054-42 NUMIDE (FR) 6 H R Hunt Gary Moore
1130-22 OLDRIK (GER) 6 D J Jones Philip Hobbs
3240P1 OVERSTRAND (IRE) 10 Dr Richard & Laura Newland, C E Stedman Dr Richard Newland
303-023 PASCHA BERE (FR) 6 Mark Tracey Nick Gifford
210-111 PEPE SIMO (IRE) 5 Mette Campbell-Andenaes Paul Nicholls
11213-0 PEPITE DE SOLEIL (FR) 4 The Whittaker Family Paul Nicholls
011U1-0 PERCE ROCK 7 J P McManus Tommy Stack IRE
11120-0 RONALDO DES MOTTES (FR) 4 K & D Ives David Pipe
62-5060 SILVERHAND (IRE) 5 Anna Foxe Noel Meade IRE
1200-21 SPEAR THISTLE 7 Tony Hayward & Sue Head Charlie Mann
13210- STOW 4 GSM Properties Ltd Venetia Williams
11135-0 STRAVINSKY DANCE 4 Robert Waley-Cohen Nicky Henderson
046154 TAKESTAN (IRE) 6 P J Woods Oliver Brady IRE
2113-0 TASHEBA 4 Terry Benson Nicky Henderson
211134 TREATY FLYER (IRE) 8 Atlantic Racing and Ron Huggins Alison Thorpe
16210-2 TULLAMORE DEW (IRE) 7 Tullamore Dew Nick Gifford
0//-11121 ZABEEL PALACE 7 Curley Leisure Brian Curley
0/664-01 ZANIR (FR) 5 Power Panels Electrical Systems Ltd Tom George
41 Entries
5 Irish-trained
THE LADBROKE HURDLE ROLL OF HONOUR (1987-2008)
Ascot, Saturday, December 19, 2009
run at Sandown in 2005 (January 7, 2006) and in 2004 (January 8, 2005); run at Leopardstown in January up to & including 2000.
Year Winner Age/Wt Owner Trainer Jockey SP
2008 SENTRY DUTY 6-11-09 Peter Spiller Nicky Henderson Barry Geraghty 12/1
2007 JACK THE GIANT 5-11-00 Hanbury Syndicate Nicky Henderson Mick Fitzgerald 9/4F
2006 ACAMBO 5-11-09 David Johnson David Pipe Timmy Murphy 7/1
2005 DESERT AIR 7-10-09 Belinda Harvey Martin Pipe Tom Scudamore 25/1
2004 TAMARINBLEU 5-10-11 Arthur White Partnership Martin Pipe Tony McCoy 14/1
2003 THESIS 5-11-02 1961 Partnership Venetia Williams Brian Crowley 33/1
2002 CHAUVINIST 7-10-00 Bunny & Nick Roberts Nicky Henderson Norman Williamson 15/2
2001 MARBLE ARCH 5-10-11 Martin & Mary Wilson Rory Sweet Hughie Morrison Norman Williamson 7/1
2000 MANTLES PRINCE 6-9-12 R J McSharry Pat Hughes IRE Fran Berry 12/1
1999 ARCHIVE FOOTAGE 7-11-08 Michael Smurfit Dermot Weld IRE David Evans 25/1
1998 GRAPHIC EQUALISER 6-10-00 BRASK Syndicate Arthur Moore IRE Conor O’Dwyer 5/1F
1997 MASTER TRIBE 7-10-04 Jebel Ali Racing Stables Jenny Pitman Norman Williamson 18/1
1996 DANCE BEAT 5-9-12 Mrs E Queally Jessica Harrington IRE Anthony Powell 12/1
1995 ANUSHA 5-10-02 G A Hoggard Michael Hourigan IRE Shane Broderick 25/1
1994 ATONE 7-10-08 Robert Sinclair Bunny Cox IRE Kevin O’Brien 10/1
1993 GLENCLOUD 5-10-13 D Tierney Noel Meade IRE Gerry O’Neill 20/1
1992 HOW’S THE BOSS 6-10-02 Edward Farrell John Brassill IRE Jason Titley 20/1
1991 THE ILLIAD 10-10-13 Elizabeth Furlong Andy Geraghty IRE Pat McWilliams 7/1
1990 REDUNDANT PAL 7-11-05 P S O’Neill Paddy Mullins IRE Conor O’Dwyer 20/1
1989 REDUNDANT PAL 6-10-00 P S O’Neill Paddy Mullins IRE P Kavanagh 16/1
1988 ROARK 6-11-01 P Leeper Arthur Moore IRE Tom Taaffe 5/1
1987 BARNBROOK AGAIN 6-11-08 Mel Davies David Elsworth Colin Brown 5/2F
