Alex Hammond: Vroum Vroum!

Alex Hammond has three wishes for the New Year and tips Vroum Vroum Mag and Thistlecrack for big-race glory this Christmas.

Long Walk winner Unowhatimeanharry is seemingly carrying all before him in the Stayers’ Hurdle division, as we’ve seen from the likes of Big Buck’s and Thistlecrack in recent seasons. Is he the real deal?

Well he’s not in their class yet but he’s certainly going the right way. Barry Geraghty’s immediate reaction was that the horse keeps a bit for himself and isn’t the type to wear his heart on his sleeve, so there could be more to come still.

Obviously conditions were grim at Ascot last Saturday and we didn’t get a great view of the race, but he beat a decent yardstick in Lil Rockerfeller. I wouldn’t be jumping to back him antepost for the Stayers’ Hurdle just yet though as there are so many things that could happen and we have to wait and see what direction some of the smart Irish hurdlers are going to take.

One thing is for sure, Harry Fry deserves plenty of credit to improve the horse like he has and if he does end up winning at Cheltenham in March he can be rightly proud of his achievement.

There were farcical scenes at Ascot and Haydock on Saturday with fog making it almost impossible to decipher exactly what went on – did you spot anything through the gloom that could be worth following in the New Year?

Well, like everyone else I didn’t see much, but a result that pleased me with an eye to the future was the win of Buveur D’Air in Haydock’s novice chase. Nicky Henderson’s smart novice hurdler was making his debut over fences and whilst he wasn’t flashy, it was a great starting point and there will be improvement to come. He’s now a 12/1 shot for the Arkle with Sky Bet behind stablemate Altior, who is 6/4 favourite.

Cue Card is now odds-against for the King George after it was confirmed he’ll be taken on by stablemate Thistlecrack – how do you envisage the great race panning out on Boxing Day?

What a race in propect! The race may be short in numbers with just seven entries, but in all honesty it’s about the Colin Tizzard duo.

It’s unfortunate that Coneygree doesn’t run as that would have added some spice to the contest, but it won’t detract from the race with the two stablemates going head to head. I didn’t really see the need for Thistlecrack to take on Cue Card at this point in the season, but it’s obviously an owner’s prerogative and with the pair in different ownership I can see why they are taking each other on.

Cue Card looks as good as ever at the age of 10 and did little wrong at Haydock. But I can’t help thinking we could see something special from Thistlecrack, despite his inexperience. He’s an absolute monster and he has improved with each start over fences. Horses like him …

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