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Alex Hammond: French fancy!
- Updated: December 15, 2016
Sky Sports News presenter Alex Hammond unveils a French fancy for Saturday’s Ascot feature in her latest blog.
If you owned The New One, would you now be dreaming about winning the Champion Hurdle, the World Hurdle or going fences after Saturday’s victory over My Tent Or Yours?
Nigel Twiston-Davies’ assistant trainer Carl Llewellyn said after the win that he would like to step him up to three miles next and let the result dictate where they go after that. He said he would be keen to give him a chance in the World Hurdle and as he knows the horse as well as anyone, I won’t argue with that.
Of course, plenty would depend on what happens in Saturday’s Long Walk Hurdle, but more of that to follow shortly.
It’s also worth bearing in mind that he has had his chance to shine in the Champion Hurdle and that hasn’t happened for him, so I feel there is little to lose by trying him over further especially if the staying division does continue to appear pretty open.
The form of the Caspian Caviar Gold Cup tends to work out well for the rest of the season. Did any of this year’s runners take your eye with regard to future prospects?
The winner Frodon is just a four-year-old, so you would have to say his best days should still be to come. This French import has been a revelation since going over fences which always looked like it would be his game. I’d imagine he should be capable of improving out of handicaps in time and Paul Nicholls should have a few options at the spring festivals with this horse, who looks like a strong stayer and jumps wonderfully for one so young.
There was high-class racing in Ireland at the weekend. Did you learn anything from the victories of Douvan or Djakadam or did something else on the cards go into your notebook?
The Willie Mullins fightback begins! Did we ever doubt him? Four winners at Punchestown and two at Cork and it was business as usual for the Closutton maestro. Back in your box Gordon!
I don’t think we learned a great deal that we didn’t already know, or suspect, about Djakadam or Douvan, but it was good to see them both in great heart. If you have an each-way antepost voucher tucked away on Djakadam for the Gold Cup, you can rightly feel a warm fuzzy glow as we head towards Christmas.
As for Douvan, his first start out of novice company was sublime and it’s hard to imagine him being beaten …
