And so you’re back, reformed workplace. ARC just woke up to memories of how you looked in steeplechases.
And so they trialled it with some jocks, amendments made by Charlie Rees. So that we’re good to go this Sunday, Windsor’s back with bonhomie.
Frivolity finished, let’s get on with the more serious business of finding five high-interest horses on the card, and the reasons why.
Helnwein
12.45 Fitzdares Royal Windsor Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase
Alan King, who sent out three winners on the old jumps course at Windsor in his earliest days as a trainer, is refuelling his National Hunt fire this season based on the uptick across all the meaningful metrics, with the strike rate improving to 18% (highest since 2018/19) and the run-to-form ratio of 63% the fifth-best of any British yard so far this campaign.
One of the brightest sparks at Barbury Castle, Helnwein ended last season by beating Be Aware in the valuable novice final at Sandown and made a particularly positive start over fences at Warwick when clear (in a fast time) with the fit-and-flying Telepathique, who was subsequently second at Listed level. It’s hard to fathom the handicapper raising him just 1lb for that, generous to say the least, and Helnwein has a lot more improvement in him, from the family of 1996 Champion Chaser Klairon Davis.
Tanganyika
1.55 Fitzdares Thames Handicap Chase
The last time there was jumps racing at Windsor – 16th December 2005 – Tony Blair was Prime Minister, outgoing BHB Chairman Peter Savill had announced that an increased fixture list (to 1500 meetings) was the way forward, Jordan and Peter Andre had just got married, and Venetia Williams had a winner on the card with Jolly Boy, who was completing an 18-day five-timer under Sam Thomas. At least Venetia is still going strong!
Tanganyika hardly looked a natural on his first go over fences but the lowlights were at either end of the race, early on when he was novicey and from the third-last when he was tiring, and in between he looked appropriately athletic and assured, all while ridden less aggressively than usual to compensate. Charlie Deutsch is back aboard at Windsor for what looks an easier 0-130 than Bangor was, landed by Jagwar with next-time winners in second and fourth, and Tanganyika is now returned to his best trip of 3m, in a race that looks his to dominate.
Little Soiree
2.30 Fitzdares Windsor Castle Mares’ Handicap Hurdle
Which triple Grade 1 winner was the only horse to ever run at Windsor jumps for Willie Mullins? The answer to that impossibly difficult question is Rule Supreme, who was a close third to Baracouda and Crystal D’Ainay in the relocated 2004 Long Walk. Little Soiree was odds-on when runner-up on both her two starts for Willie Mullins, and she’s still a maiden two years, two trainers and seven starts on, but there are reasons for categorising her as a lively longshot for the mares’ handicap hurdle.
Firstly, this will be her handicap debut, a far better means of expression for her, especially compared to her overmatched reappearance at Newbury in Listed company, where she travelled and jumped smoothly until inevitably outclassed from the third-last and spared a hard race thereafter. And then there’s her British debut in March, in a novice at Kempton, for which she was booked for third (to the 129-rated Wyenot) before crashing out at the last, a flash of form that makes her mark of 105 appear attractive. Finally, Chris Gordon is 27% (3/11) in December, compared to 10% for the previous two months combined, representing a stable that’s well and truly turned a corner.
Duhallow Tommy
3.05 Fitzdares Telephone Betting Handicap Chase
The hidden Hasthing, returning Reilly and abstract Zertakt make this a headache of a handicap, but all the more reason to seek solace in the solid Duhallow Tommy, who’s still looking upwards himself. Trivially, he has gone off favourite for all six starts over fences, winning the first three of them and running better still when second to the chucked-in Rath Gaul Hill at Newbury in March.
Though third best on his comeback, the pair he was up against at Fontwell – Lord Of Cheshire and Jupiter Du Gite – were both rated in the mid-120s, and therefore overqualified for this, and he measured up to them for 95% of the race. Yes, it may well be that one of the darker horses proves too hot to handle, and the market will be meaningful in that regard, but Duhallow Tommy is both a strong traveller and fluent jumper, useful assets if Windsor is the rhythm-rewarding track we think it will be.
Loverdose
3.40 Fitzdares Windsor Christmas Handicap Hurdle
Considering that the last big race on the last big day of jump racing at Windsor in 2005 was won by The Listener, in the Grade 2 novice chase for Robert Alner, there’d be a certain pertinence and parallel if his son-in-law Robert Walford managed to get on the scoreboard at the great re-opening – and he could with Loverdose.
A rapid riser, Loverdose won his first two handicaps, and it would have been three at Chepstow last month but for a momentum-halting mistake at the second-last, still defeating 15 of his 16 rivals after rallying late. He’s up a further 7lb to a mark of 98, but that needn’t stop Loverdose given the way he shaped at Chepstow, and it’s an ongoing recommendation that his half-brother was second in a Galway Hurdle and a Melbourne Cup (clue: of course, he was trained by Willie Mullins).
Watch Windsor this Sunday December 15, live on Sky Sports Racing
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