FEATURE THE NOVEMBER MEETING
“His eight-length success did kickstart a remarkable run of winning weekends for his trainer Dan Skelton”
weekends for his trainer Dan Skelton, whose red-hot run of form would see him go on to win each of the Betfair Chase, the Ladbrokes Trophy and the Becher Chase in consecutive weekends thereafter. Joining the Shloer on centre stage on the Sunday is the Unibet Greatwood Handicap Hurdle over an extended two miles, which much like the Paddy Power, certainly isn’t for the faint-hearted. This high-class handicap was inaugurated in 1987 when it went to Celtic Shot, a horse that captured the Champion Hurdle later in the same season, a feat matched by Rooster Booster in 2003/04. Another good winner was Sizing Europe, who later excelled over fences with successes including the Queen Mother Champion Chase, and trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies couldn’t hide his delight at last year’s winner,
I Like To Move It, who defied top weight when rolling to a five-and-a- half-length success. Having trained high-class two milers The New One, Ballyandy and Old Guard in recent years, Twiston-Davies has an eye for a smart one and he wasn’t shy in revealing his Champion Hurdle aspirations after the race. He said: “It was absolutely superb off 12 stone around there. Taking the hurdles out didn’t help him but he was awesome. He [Sam Twiston-Davies] was very positive on him. He definitely would like softer ground and he stays the two miles well. He was unlucky in the Betfair. He is a proper horse. “He will follow in the hoofprints of a good horse we had called Guard Your Dreams and The New One used to frequent this race before [the International Hurdle]. That is the idea at the moment.”
Victory in the Grade Two Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton later in the campaign and an engagement in the Unibet Champion Hurdle that March for I Like To Move It would ultimately prove Twiston-Davies right, and considering that he’s still only six, it certainly seems as though The November Meeting has uncovered yet another gem.
14 Kalendar
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