Tweet
Symonds on Kaki weather watch ahead of Wetherby's totepool Towton Novices' Chase
Kings Palace headlines 15 entries for the £30,500 Totepool Towton Novices' Chase (3.20pm), the highlight of a seven-race card at Wetherby on Totepool Medieval Day, Saturday, January 31.
The David Pipe-trained seven-year-old is unbeaten in two starts over fences this season and is disputing favouritism with Don Poli for the Grade One RSA Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.
Tom Symonds is hoping for rain for his entry Kaki De La Pree, who was last seen out when second to another Pipe-trained horse, Gevrey Chambertin, in a three-mile novices' handicap chase at Newbury on December 17.
The eight-year-old, who was second in a Grade Two novices hurdle at Haydock last season, was third to Return Spring (Philip Hobbs) on his chasing debut at Exeter in November.
Symonds said: "We have entered Kaki De La Pree but we would want to see some rain.
"The softer the ground the better for him. We have entered because he was declared for a race at Bangor which was off and he was also declared at Chepstow, which was also off.
"He has been really good since Newbury and we were probably unlucky to bump into an in-form Gevrey Chambertin. Kaki De La Pree is a good horse and a stamina-sapping test is what he needs.
"He needed it at Exeter and we were never going to do anything quickly with him because he is not the easiest. He is quite fragile, so you can't ever do too much work with him at home and we like to leave plenty to work on. He is ready to rock and roll now."
Top Totti (Henry Daly) and Ned Stark (Alan King), who finished third and fourth respectively in the Grade Two Dipper Novices' Chase at Cheltenham on New Year's Day, are other notable entries for the Wetherby race which takes place over three miles and a furlong.
First run in 1996 and sponsored by totepool since 2006, the Towton Novices' Chase commemorates the Battle of Towton in 1461 which was a major conflict in the Wars of the Roses.
The inaugural winner Mr Mulligan progressed to take the Cheltenham Gold Cup just over a year later, while another notable winner was Wetherby specialist Ollie Magern in 2005, who went on to land the Grade Two Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby twice (2005 and 2007).
Kings Palace headlines 15 entries for the £30,500 Totepool Towton Novices' Chase (3.20pm), the highlight of a seven-race card at Wetherby on Totepool Medieval Day, Saturday, January 31.
The David Pipe-trained seven-year-old is unbeaten in two starts over fences this season and is disputing favouritism with Don Poli for the Grade One RSA Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.
Tom Symonds is hoping for rain for his entry Kaki De La Pree, who was last seen out when second to another Pipe-trained horse, Gevrey Chambertin, in a three-mile novices' handicap chase at Newbury on December 17.
The eight-year-old, who was second in a Grade Two novices hurdle at Haydock last season, was third to Return Spring (Philip Hobbs) on his chasing debut at Exeter in November.
Symonds said: "We have entered Kaki De La Pree but we would want to see some rain.
"The softer the ground the better for him. We have entered because he was declared for a race at Bangor which was off and he was also declared at Chepstow, which was also off.
"He has been really good since Newbury and we were probably unlucky to bump into an in-form Gevrey Chambertin. Kaki De La Pree is a good horse and a stamina-sapping test is what he needs.
"He needed it at Exeter and we were never going to do anything quickly with him because he is not the easiest. He is quite fragile, so you can't ever do too much work with him at home and we like to leave plenty to work on. He is ready to rock and roll now."
Top Totti (Henry Daly) and Ned Stark (Alan King), who finished third and fourth respectively in the Grade Two Dipper Novices' Chase at Cheltenham on New Year's Day, are other notable entries for the Wetherby race which takes place over three miles and a furlong.
First run in 1996 and sponsored by totepool since 2006, the Towton Novices' Chase commemorates the Battle of Towton in 1461 which was a major conflict in the Wars of the Roses.
The inaugural winner Mr Mulligan progressed to take the Cheltenham Gold Cup just over a year later, while another notable winner was Wetherby specialist Ollie Magern in 2005, who went on to land the Grade Two Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby twice (2005 and 2007).
Comment