The turf
Ten to follow
Robin Oakley
I had, however, taken the precaution of including in my luggage Timeform's splen- did new Chasers and Hurdlers 1999/2000 to aid compilation of my Ten to Follow for the jumps season that is just getting into full swing (Portway Press, £64, available from Timeform in Halifax). Here I had better issue a health warning: close atten- tion to this column can seriously damage your wealth. Luck has not been with us of late. I checked back on my last five recom- mendations to discover that Murrendi, Masadamas and Nooshman (in the Cam- bridgeshire) all finished second, beaten half a length, three quarters of a length and one and three quarters respectively at 8—L 8-1 and 11-2. Respectable each-ways, but no more. The other two were Vision of Night, who finished down the field in the Stanley Leisure Sprint at Haydock running on heavy ground which does not suit him, and Mark Prescott's Littlefeather who was made 3-1 favourite at Doncaster and who finished nowhere after being twice ham- pered in a rough race which earned Richard Quinn a suspension. But good excuses don't help the bank balance. Any- way, now for the winter game and I begin with three of Nicky Henderson's horses. Timeform, like me, had noted the com- ment this always realistic trainer made after the five-year-old had finished third in the Champion Hurdle this year.
He declared: 'I know where next year's Arlde Trophy winner is. That's him stand- ing there.' It was a bold prediction about a horse yet to jump a fence but the tall Blue Royal has the stamp of a chaser about him and since Nicky has won the Arkle with Remittance Man, Travado and Tiutchev he certainly knows what it takes. Blue Royal should be well worth watching in two-mile chases this season. The other Henderson selection is Tiutchev himself. Once trained by David Nicholson and sixth in a Champi- on Hurdle he was unbeaten over fences when he lined up for the Arkle. He stormed away up the hill from the useful Cenkos and he looks a good hope for the Henderson team at the Cheltenham Festi- val next year. My third candidate from Seven Barrows is Dusk Duel. He may have disappointed at Cheltenham this year in the Supreme Novices Hurdle but he looked impressive when beating Crocadee at Ascot in January. He is just the sort with whom Nicky might run up a sequence in novice chases this season.
Another Lambourn horse who might do that is Oliver Sherwood's Hopeful. After he won at Ascot in February Tarnya Sher- wood, the trainer's wife, was really enthusi- astic, saying that he was a cracking staying chaser in the making. He is one of those horses who always pulls out a little extra when asked, and the worse the going, she said, the better he is. Another for the novice chases.
After the scintillating way in which he won the Whitbread Gold Cup Nigel Twiston-Davies's Beau cannot be left off any list. Nobody has ever won that race by a distance (30 lengths plus) and the front- running Beau, who improved steadily through the season, did it as a novice. At this stage there is nothing I would contem- plate backing to beat him in the Grand National. Either as a staying hurdler or if he goes over fences, Henry Daly's hefty Behrajan, third in the Stayers Hurdle at the Festival and an impressive winner at Chel- tenham earlier in the season, looks capable of picking up some good prizes. Richard Phillips will be looking for a big winner to help him make a mark in his first season after taking over at Jackdaw's Castle, and one who might pop up for him at a decent price is Noble Lord, a sound jumper who ran a cracking race to finish second in this year's Scottish Grand National.
Alan King, who had to move out of Jack- The scales aren't metric you're under arrest!' daw's Castle despite his long association with Nicholson and a fine start on his own account, should do well at the top level with Toto Toscato, an impressive novice chaser last season. There has to be a horse from the consistent Venetia Williams and I will take a chance with Zahari as we are short on hurdlers so far. Finally it will be fascinating to see what Mark Pitman, who has the magnificent Monsignor to run over fences this season, can do over the smaller obstacles with Ashley Park, who was fourth in the Champion Hurdle in his only run last season. Let us hope we see a lot more of the Sadler's Wells gelding this time. And whatever else you do with the Pitman hors- es do not miss his bumpers entries. Few have a better record in these National Hunt flat races.
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