Talking Horses

GRAN DIA BIDS TO REPEL O'BRIEN'S TRIPLE THREAT

Noble Exhibit heads Aidan O’Brien’s powerful challenge for the final juvenile Group 1 of the season at Doncaster on Saturday - live on Sky Sports Racing - where victory in the William Hill Futurity Trophy Stakes (1:30) would almost certainly seal the reigning champion trainer a remarkable ninth British trainers’ title since 2001.

Ballydoyle may have the numbers in their favour going into the weekend, along with a £61,441 lead, but Andrew Balding’s stoic team aren't ready to throw in the towel just yet, with GRAN DIA bidding to boost their spirited title challenge in the £275,000 Town Moor feature.

Balding’s hopes rest solely with the Tony Bloom and Ian McAleavy-owned colt, a 380,000 guineas Book 1 purchase who is set for a steep rise into Group 1 company on only his second start after an impressive debut success this month. The Salisbury winner, currently available at 14-1, faces a formidable task stepping straight from novice company into a Group 1, but he won with plenty in hand first time out and is fancied to outrun his odds, particularly in the place market.

Balding has brought him along patiently and waited until the Lope De Vega colt was ready to make his backend debut. He expects him to be better again next year at three with a winter on his back, but he handles the ground and possesses the potential to at least hit the frame.

The Kingsclere trainer also has chances at Newbury - live on Sky Sports Racing - headed by dual juvenile winner NAKILA SUN, who reappears quickly in the £42,532 BetVictor Horris Hill Stakes (3:10) on Saturday, with connections rolling the dice just 15 days after his impressive sales-race success at York. The tough, German-bred youngster - by Arc winner Torquator Tasso - is progressing rapidly and may well be able to overcome the quick turnaround. Well-backed at York, he relished the testing ground that day to make all, travelling powerfully and going clear over two furlongs out before holding on in game fashion.

ROYAL PLAYWRIGHT was beaten a neck by Al Aasy in the Cumberland Lodge at Ascot 21 days ago, returning from a lay-off to produce a career-best effort over the longest trip he has tackled to date. The way he battled on, despite the winner hanging across him up the straight, dispelled his reputation for being a bit quirky, and he has place claims in Saturday's BetVictor St Simon Stakes (2:35) at Newbury after such a gutsy effort.

VENETIAN PRINCE, a full brother to Royal Playwright, is fancied to follow up his Italian Derby success when he returns to Italy for another ambitious international raid in the Gran Premio del Jockey Club at San Siro on Sunday.

Nearer to home, the jumps season takes a welcome share of the spotlight this week, including the Showcase Meeting at Cheltenham, which is a key target for James Owen heading into the jumps season proper, with the trainer holding a strong hand at the two-day meeting. Already responsible for 122 Flat winners in Britain this year, his Green Ridge Stables on the Hamilton Road in Newmarket is very much a yard for all seasons, with a team packed with autumn, winter and spring potential over jumps.

IDAHO FIRE is a shining example of his skills with other trainers' 'cast-offs', with the five-year-old having failed to win for his previous trainer, but Owen appears to have found the key to him following victories at Worcester in July and Uttoxeter two weeks later. Still unexposed as a stayer, he is now seeking a hat-trick on his reappearance in the Pertemps Network Handicap Hurdle (2:20) on Saturday over a slightly longer trip of 3m. Stablemate No More Bolero is also entered, giving Owen a solid second string to his bow.

Stable each-way doubles could be in play if SIXPACK sets the ball rolling a day earlier in the Grade 2 Oddschecker Novices’ Hurdle (3:00), with the six-year-old bidding to lower the colours of a few useful hurdling prospects from several top yards. Owen isn't one to tilt at windmills, and his three-time Flat winner was well in command on the run-in when winning a 2m novice hurdle at Warwick last month, shaping as though there should be plenty more to come. That form also received a boost of sorts when runner-up Tralee Girl defied a penalty at the second attempt at Hexham on Tuesday.

Progressive Flat winner CROOKED PATH has since transferred his improvement to jumps for Owen by scoring at Fontwell, and the four-year-old is another who can go well at decent odds when taking a step up in grade for the 2m 4f William Hill Epic Boosts Handicap Hurdle (1:15) at Cheltenham on Friday.

Philip Hobbs and Johnson White struck in a string of big races last season, with Sober Glory also going agonisingly close to giving the partnership their first Cheltenham Festival success in the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle. There was compensation of sorts when Kap Vert stormed to Coral Scottish Grand National glory at Ayr, while other high-profile winners included Greatwood hope Captain Hugo, who landed the Morebattle Hurdle at Kelso, and Imperial Saint, who was an emotional winner for the Richard Johnson's syndicate in the Sky Bet Peter Marsh Handicap Chase, and who reappears at his beloved Aintree on Sunday in the William Hill Old Roan Limited Handicap Chase (3:00).

The Somerset yard is always selective with their Cheltenham runners, so take note of THE HARDEST GEEZER in the Foundation Developments Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle (2:25), who rates as a live each-way play on Friday. The seven-year-old ran some big races in defeat in some of the top two-mile handicap hurdles throughout last season, most notably when his luck took a cruel turn when slipping up in the William Hill Handicap Hurdle at Newbury when last seen, but the yard is convinced there is a decent pot with his name on it given soft ground underfoot. Chasing can wait, as the first mission is to prove he can strike over smaller obstacles at the minimum trip.

The training duo also introduce a smart prospect in Sunday’s Jack Ryder 18th Birthday Maiden Hurdle (1:15) at Aintree. TITI MONTMARTRE was one of the stars from Chris Barber’s pointing team last season, having looked a raw talent in the making when winning on debut over 2m 4f at Alnwick in February. The early signs say he has a bright future ahead of him for his new connections, hopefully start off here.

Hobbs and White go mob-handed to Ffos Las on Thursday, with all of their raiders looking to have solid chances on the eight-race card, kicking off with hurdling debutant QUICKKICK in the first division of the 2m bettingsites.co.uk Instant Withdrawal Novices' Hurdle (1:26). A lot of work has been done in the yard to get the five-year-old to switch off in his races, and although still a work in progress, there were definite signs of improvement in bumpers last term, eventually landing one at Newton Abbot in April.

KILWAUGHTER had shown such promise in bumpers that he was pitched straight into Grade 2 company over hurdles last season in the Persian War at Chepstow, where he ran way below expectations. A subsequent break saw him return to his best at Newbury in February and a current mark of 125 is considered very workable ahead of his comeback in the bettingsites.co.uk Same Day Payouts Handicap Hurdle (2:36) at Ffos Las. As a result, the six-year-old is awarded the NAP vote from the stable’s four runners at the meeting.

DOCTORS HILL only won one of his nine starts over hurdles, but this big, strong chasing type has slipped to a workable mark and can improve for the switch to fences in the 2m bettingsites.co.uk Fast Withdrawal Handicap Chase (4:53), with Call Me Legend completing the raiding party by making his debut over fences in the bettingsites.co.uk Fast Paying Bookmakers Novices' Limited Handicap Chase (3:46).

However, the latter faces formidable opposition from the local yard of Rebecca Curtis, with the trainer set to saddle two of her brightest chasing prospects. BOULTYDOOLIN - the mount of Ben Jones - is fancied to land the odds from stablemate Inishcorker - ridden by Sean Bowen. The former Irish pointer won the same Chepstow maiden hurdle that Curtis landed with stable star Haiti Couleurs in 2024, having previously chased home the useful Swindon Village at Newbury in February. Curtis will likely be rubbing her hands with an assigned mark of 127, with the assessor having so little to go on after just two starts over hurdles.

Pointers for a bumper payday

SOLERETTA could make her Rules debut for Dan Skelton in Sunday’s mares' bumper at Aintree. The four-year-old arrives with unfinished business, having had a point-to-point at Castlelands at her mercy in March before crumpling on landing at the final obstacle. Small but slick, she travelled strongly and jumped neatly that day, cruising clear three out before disaster struck when making her sole mistake at the last. Soleretta's size kept her price down at the sales - a ‘snip’ at £145,000 - but the engine is there. With Grade 1 Cheltenham Festival bumper third Wait For Me in the family, she has the right pedigree to make an immediate impact in bumpers.

JET BAY, who looks a nice prospect for Mickey Bowen, is set to make his Rules debut in Thursday’s mid-meeting bumper at Ffos Las. The Jet Away gelding powered through his point debut at Curraghmore in April before putting a strong-looking field to the sword late on. Nicky Stokes also trained his half-brother Jet To Monte Carlo - a 123-rated handicap hurdle winner at Fairyhouse for Emmet Mullins - and his sibling looks cut from the same cloth. A bumper campaign beckons before he steps up in trip over hurdles.

Word from the gallops

OMBUDSMAN is reportedly bouncing after Champions Day at Ascot. The five-year-old looked in great order in a solo Limekilns spin earlier this week, having turned the tables on Calandagan from last year with a thumping three-and-three-quarter-length victory over his old adversary in the feature Champion Stakes. John and Thady Gosden are eyeing one final global raid before his retirement, with the Japan Cup on November 29th having been pencilled in as the dream swansong on the international stage, with the Breeders’ Cup Turf at Keeneland ultimately deemed as coming too soon.

Two blue-blooded newcomers also caught the eye for Clarehaven on the gallops. NATIONAL ANTHEM missed his York debut because of unsuitable ground, but he sits high up in the juvenile pecking order and could run on Southwell’s Tapeta surface on Friday.

ENTRUST has a pedigree to die for. The Juddmonte homebred is by Dubawi out of Enable, and her third foal has inherited plenty of the brilliant race mare’s ability. The colt is entered at both Doncaster on Friday, with Colin Keane booked to ride, and Southwell on Saturday.

SPIRITED GESTURE set the gallops alight last Saturday when bursting clear of an older lead horse, and the filly is fancied to prove her Rockfel running all wrong for the Gosden team in Saturday’s Listed Radley Stakes at Newbury. Nothing came to light after her Newmarket Group 2 no-show, when she was easy to back before trailing home second-last of eight runners, but she is worth another chance to build on the promise of her earlier wins at Newmarket and Newcastle, where she showed a smart turn of foot to earn a step up in class.