There were signs that the horses were coming into form; a winner at Fontwell on Plumpton on the first of the month, another at Fontwell on Thursday hinted of more to come. November is normally a very good month for the Barbury stable; 19 winners in 2016, 18 two years later tell of a stable relentlessly focused on big prizes as the season accelerates. Today's runners. spread between Wincanton and Aintree, both scored in good calibre races, whilst Potterman went down only by a short head to in-form Kim Bailey's El Presente in the Badger Ales Chase.
Sceau Royal, whose last run in front of a crowd was a distant final place against Politologue in the Champion Chase last March, has been enjoying a switch back to hurdles, winning the Welsh Champion Hurdle (a handicap) at Ffos Las last month before justifying favouritism handsomely in the Elite Hurdle at Wincanton this afternoon. In the 29 races he's run for the Barbury stable since he joined them from Guillaume Macaire in 2015, he's won 12, including this race 4 years ago. Since switching to chasing, his novice career was punctuated by Graded success at Sandown and Doncaster before a career in the big time matched against the likes of Altior, Defi du Seuil and Politologue. Even if he's just off the top flight, he can be relied upon for a few more big races. 
Potterman, running ioff an official mark of 142, rana fantastic race to be headed just near the post by El Presente in a gripping Badger Ales Chase. If the story was Present Man aiming for a third win in this race, others had different ideas. Although both horses look likely to be given a higher mark by the handicapper, perhaps the most interesting horse of the race was the 3 1/4l third, 4 year old Kitty's Light. There's improvement to come here and a big prize, and given his provenance, expect a run at Chepstow over Christmas.
If Alan's start to the Jumps season has reportedly been slower than normal, there may be excellent motivation behind this, illustrated in On To Victory's 1 3/4l victory under 9st in the November Handicap at Doncaster, the last hurrah of the flat turf season. Alan has won himself a reputation for targetting big flat handicaps of late; remember his Northumberland Plate success of last year.
Since he began applying himself to the Flat in 2013, the annual winner tally has increased markedly, and with it, prize money earned. Last month's British Champions Day scalp with Trueshan, on top of three winners at Royal Ascot, tell a story of a trainer comfortable with either code. And it shows in prize money won; this year's flat tally of over £500,000 is not much below last year's truncated score of £644,000. And even if the Barbury trainer is generally considered a shoe-in for the £1m prize money club each year, his greater focus on the flat is likely to generate a higher dividend. Extending that flat effort into the autumn's big prizes at the possible expense of largely low grade Jumps winners makes sound commercial sense.
In other news, sadly, the Barbury Point-to-Point season looks also to be truncated this season. Provided the current lockdown ceases on time on December 3, the International will remain on schedule bebind closed doors, but the Tedworth has opted for a sabbatical so our two fixtures are strictly mid-winter efforts.
There were signs that the horses were coming into form; a winner at Fontwell on Plumpton on the first of the month, another at Fontwell on Thursday hinted of more to come. November is normally a very good month for the Barbury stable; 19 winners in 2016, 18 two years later tell of a stable relentlessly focused on big prizes as the season accelerates. Today's runners. spread between Wincanton and Aintree, both scored in good calibre races, whilst Potterman went down only by a short head to in-form Kim Bailey's El Presente in the Badger Ales Chase.
Sceau Royal, whose last run in front of a crowd was a distant final place against Politologue in the Champion Chase last March, has been enjoying a switch back to hurdles, winning the Welsh Champion Hurdle (a handicap) at Ffos Las last month before justifying favouritism handsomely in the Elite Hurdle at Wincanton this afternoon. In the 29 races he's run for the Barbury stable since he joined them from Guillaume Macaire in 2015, he's won 12, including this race 4 years ago. Since switching to chasing, his novice career was punctuated by Graded success at Sandown and Doncaster before a career in the big time matched against the likes of Altior, Defi du Seuil and Politologue. Even if he's just off the top flight, he can be relied upon for a few more big races. Potterman, running ioff an official mark of 142, rana fantastic race to be headed just near the post by El Presente in a gripping Badger Ales Chase. If the story was Present Man aiming for a third win in this race, others had different ideas. Although both horses look likely to be given a higher mark by the handicapper, perhaps the most interesting horse of the race was the 3 1/4l third, 4 year old Kitty's Light. There's improvement to come here and a big prize, and given his provenance, expect a run at Chepstow over Christmas.
If Alan's start to the Jumps season has reportedly been slower than normal, there may be excellent motivation behind this, illustrated in On To Victory's 1 3/4l victory under 9st in the November Handicap at Doncaster, the last hurrah of the flat turf season. Alan has won himself a reputation for targetting big flat handicaps of late; remember his Northumberland Plate success of last year.
Since he began applying himself to the Flat in 2013, the annual winner tally has increased markedly, and with it, prize money earned. Last month's British Champions Day scalp with Trueshan, on top of three winners at Royal Ascot, tell a story of a trainer comfortable with either code. And it shows in prize money won; this year's flat tally of over £500,000 is not much below last year's truncated score of £644,000. And even if the Barbury trainer is generally considered a shoe-in for the £1m prize money club each year, his greater focus on the flat is likely to generate a higher dividend. Extending that flat effort into the autumn's big prizes at the possible expense of largely low grade Jumps winners makes sound commercial sense.
In other news, sadly, the Barbury Point-to-Point season looks also to be truncated this season. Provided the current lockdown ceases on time on December 3, the International will remain on schedule bebind closed doors, but the Tedworth has opted for a sabbatical so our two fixtures are strictly mid-winter efforts.
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