Pauling undeterred by Handstands’ Haydock defeat

Ben Pauling is keeping the faith in Handstands after he was beaten into fourth place in the Betfair Chase at Haydock on Saturday.

After seeing his charge suffer narrow defeat at the hands of leading Coral Gold Cup contender Resplendent Grey on his Carlisle reappearance, the Naunton handler headed for Merseyside with high expectations – and his confidence was further buoyed by the success of another stable star in The Jukebox Man earlier on the card.

After travelling well for a long way, Handstands weakened in the home straight and passed the post last of the four finishers in the Grade One feature, but Pauling is taking the positives out of his overall performance.

He said: “I was genuinely delighted when he winged the last fence down the back and then Ben (Jones) said after turning for home he slightly lugged left up the straight and wasn’t himself as normally everything he does is about finishing well.

“We’ll have a look and see if anything comes to light. He was a little bit sore after the race in his back but he trotted up nicely on Sunday morning.

“He made one mistake, Ben asked him up and he went in short when there wasn’t a stride and half bust one (a fence) and I wonder whether he’s tweaked something, but I thought it was a very promising run for a long way.

“He travelled and jumped in that company very nicely indeed, he didn’t look under any stress and strain at all and I must admit halfway down the back I thought he’d be winning it.

“He’s a brave horse and dug in and I’m not disappointed at all. Ben said he didn’t quite feel himself in the straight, but he’s only six and he’s got two or three years of his absolute best to come in that grade.”

Pauling is confident there is more to come from Handstands, whether that is over three miles or over a shorter distance.

“You could argue he didn’t stay. I’ve always thought he stays very well but if you wanted to drop him back to two-and-a-half I’m not going to complain. I’ve always had him down as a proper stayer but he did travel and jump very well for a long way, so maybe he is a two-and-a-half-miler,” the trainer added.

“We’ve got the option of the Cotswold Chase (at Cheltenham) or the Fleur De Lys (at Lingfield) for his next race. The Cotswold Chase would obviously be a proper staying test and the Fleur De Lys you’d have to think he’d go very well in. The Fleur De Lys is worth a lot of money and I’m certainly not ruling that out. “