Paul Townend column: views on my rides on Saturday and Sunday

Betway ambassador Paul Townend discusses his six rides at Navan this weekend, kicking off with The Irish Avatar in the Maiden Hurdle on Saturday, live on Racing TV.

Bet £10 get £40 in Free Bets with Betway

New customers only. Place a min £10 pre-event bet at min odds of 2.0. £40 worth of Free Bet Tokens awarded on bet settlement. 4 x £10 each with betting restrictions. 7 day expiry. Debit Card deposits only (exclusions apply). Bet The Responsible Way Full Terms apply. 18+ GambleAware 

Read Review

Terms & Conditions

Claim Offer

We’re looking forward to getting more of the good horses out this weekend, but I suppose the horse that got everybody excited last week was Love Me Tender. He was very impressive at Naas on Sunday, on what was a big step up in grade for him, but the only aspect that would temper my enthusiasm a little was his jumping. He’s clearly got a huge engine, but he is going to have to tidy his jumping up when he takes on the very best novices throughout the winter and into the spring. That’s something we can work on at home, though, whereas you can’t really work on their engines, and he definitely has that.

I head to Navan this weekend for a busy few days, and although this is a meeting that I know Gordon Elliott likes to target and always does well at, we’ll be looking forward to locking horns with him with a few of our nice horses.

I start off on Saturday with The Irish Avatar in the Maiden Hurdle (11:52), and he was an extremely impressive winner of a bumper here back in January, so hopefully he’ll enjoy going back to Navan, albeit that win came on heavy ground. The forecast quicker ground is a little bit of a concern, and I’d want him to settle down a bit because he was disappointing at Cheltenham last season when getting a bit worked up and racing keenly. He was much better at Punchestown in the Grade 1 on his final start, though, and he’s a horse that retains plenty of potential.

It’s no secret that occasionally a few of our horses will improve for the run, but this lad seems fairly straight, so although I’m sure he’ll step forward for it, he should be able to do himself justice.

Gigginstown have a strong hand in this, because I suspect Charismatic Kid will take some beating, but as I say, our lad is ready for the track, so hopefully we can put it up to Gordon’s horse.

It’s then on to City Of Cork in the Grade 3 Novice (13:35), and anytime Joseph O’Brien calls you up, it’s a good sign, so he’s one I’m looking forward to. Obviously not a horse I’ve ridden before, but he beat me last time when I was on one of Willie’s, and I thought the hood really worked wonders for him that day.

This is a much stiffer test for him in a much better race, but if he behaves himself like he did the last day, he goes there with a real chance because he looks like the type of horse that should have plenty more improvement to come.

Once again, Gordon might be the thorn in our side because Thinkitdontjinxit was impressive at Galway on the last day, and no doubt the team there will have him cherry-ripe for this. Like riding for Willie, though, you’d never rule one of Joseph’s out, so hopefully City Of Cork will run a big race.

It’s then a good renewal of the Fortria (14:43), and I’m intrigued to see how Blood Destiny gets on coming back in trip here. The positives are that he’s race fit after keeping busy over the summer, and after racing freely over two and a half miles of late, coming back to two miles should suit him.

He’s going to have to put his best foot forward, though, because you wouldn’t expect Solness and Majborough to hang around, so it will be no easy task for him if they both turn up here.

Solness has had that run on the flat, so he could be the one to beat, but Majborough is Majborough, and we all know the ability he has when he puts it all together. He obviously ended his campaign on a bit of a sour note, but he was frighteningly good in the early part of the season, so it will be fascinating to see how he goes this year. Found A Fifty is a horse you’d never rule out either, so it’s a good race if they all take their chance, but hopefully Blood Destiny can put his fitness edge to good use.

The Fortria is followed by a good Beginners Chase (15:18), and I’ll be hoping fences will really be the making of Saint Baco this year. He disappointed me a fraction last year because I thought he was going to have a really good season, but things just didn’t pan out for him in the end. He was travelling really well at Cheltenham before coming down in the Turners, though, so the ability is there, and hopefully he’ll fulfil his potential going chasing.

This will be a tall order, though, because I still think Mighty Park is very special, and I’m pretty envious that he’s one of JP’s and I probably won’t get to ride him. I haven’t schooled him myself at home, but I’ve been down and watched him, and he looks very good over a fence, so I suspect we’ll be seeing him in all of those good novice chases throughout the season.

It’s a cruel game, jump racing, because when they have one bad race, they can be forgotten about, but we certainly haven’t forgotten about Mighty Park. Chasing will be his game from what I’ve seen, and I think he could be one of the horses people will be getting very excited about this season.

A quieter day on Sunday with just the two rides, but La Valserine is a mare I’m looking forward to seeing out on the track in the Mares Maiden Hurdle (12:10). She won on heavy ground at Fontainebleau a few years ago, and although she’s been off the track since, her work at home has been pretty good. She’ll obviously encounter very different underfoot conditions here, but she’s definitely a smart recruit for us.

Martin Hassett’s mare looks one to keep an eye on after winning two bumpers and by no means disgracing herself in the big one at Cheltenham, so she looks the big danger. I like our mare, though, but I would expect her to improve on whatever she does Sunday after so long off the track.

I’ll then be back in the royal silks on Reaching High in the Monksfield Novice Hurdle (13:15), and he’s a horse that will really enjoy the forecast good ground this weekend. He bounced back from defeat at Killarney with a bloodless victory at Listowel last month, but he’ll have to improve again in this better company, I suspect.

He was a good horse on the flat, Reaching High, but he seems to have taken to hurdling well because he always feels like he’s looking for the next jump when you’re on him. You never know how these nice recruits from the flat are going to adapt, but he does seem to enjoy the job.

A nice big track like Navan should suit him too, so it would be nice to get another victory under his belt because he probably won’t be one for the depths of winter as he prefers a bit of nice ground.

With Nolimit is another horse of Gordon’s I’d have huge respect for, because he turned the tables on the Mourne Rambler in the Grade 1 bumper at Punchestown. I’d imagine he’ll be one of the top novice hurdlers this season, so while I really like Reaching High, I’d imagine Gordon’s horse is the one we’re all going to have to beat.

Bet £10 get £40 in Free Bets with Betway

New customers only. Place a min £10 pre-event bet at min odds of 2.0. £40 worth of Free Bet Tokens awarded on bet settlement. 4 x £10 each with betting restrictions. 7 day expiry. Debit Card deposits only (exclusions apply). Bet The Responsible Way Full Terms apply. 18+ GambleAware 

Read Review

Terms & Conditions

Claim Offer

The November Meeting at Cheltenham - watch every race for FREE on Racing TV!

Start your FREE one-month trial and watch all the build-up, interviews and every race from The November Meeting at Cheltenham this week for FREE!

Racing TV encourages responsible gambling - to find out more click here to head to our dedicated website page.