Ross Millar: Monday tips and Saturday review

It is not often that a weekend of jumps action plays the role of ‘after party’ to a Friday evening all-weather card, but this weekend it certainly did.

I won’t dwell on Constitution Hill too long other than to say what a genuine delight it was to see such a wonderful horse enjoy himself and, in doing so, give so much enjoyment to racing fans, many of who may have been new to our sport. 

Where he goes next is up for debate and I’ll refrain from adding my thoughts to the mix as I think it’s plain for all to see how much he means to trainer Nicky Henderson and owner Michael Buckley. We can rest easy knowing they will consider everything when deciding where next for this generational talent.

Kempton and its well training course, in defiance of the recent heavy rain, delivered a nice racing surface and were rewarded with some good field sizes.

The first of their three graded races, the Ladbrokes Adonis Juvenile Hurdle went the way of the Jane Williams-trained filly La Luna Artista, who ran out a wide margin winner from the Harry Derham-trained One Horse Town. However, the race changed complexion with the sadly fatal fall of favourite Precious Man at the second last hurdle. The race was in the mix though and it was by no means a foregone conclusion that he would have battled passed her up the home straight. 

In the next race, the Ladbrokes Pendil Novices’ Chase, the short-priced favourite Jax Junior made easy work of landing a first graded victory. Lucy Wadham's charge is a young chaser to keep onside; his one poor run over fences came at Ascot in a Grade Two over Christmas, but he did bleed from the nose on that occasion and subsequently underwent wind-surgery.

On this evidence, those problems are behind him as he jumped and travelled like the class horse of the race. All three chase wins have come on right-handed tracks, but a novice hurdle win at Cheltenham last April suggests he’ll have no trouble going the other way round.

His only entry at Cheltenham is in the Arkle, and that might be a stretch too far and come too soon, but he could be interesting at Aintree, especially if dropped back into handicap company. The presence of 130-rated Jasmine Bliss just eight lengths behind means his mark of 146 can’t be adjusted too much, and he could be one to follow into the spring. 

The final Grade Two, the Ladbrokes Dovecote Novices’ Hurdle looked a competitive race on paper, though possibly lacking real star quality. In the end, it went the way of previous course and distance winner Klub De Reve.

He quickened up best to overhaul long-time leader Kocktail Bleu before the final flight and was not hard pressed to maintain a winning distance of three lengths. The runner-up deserves plenty of credit as he was turning out just eight days after a gruelling race at Kelso where he also finished in this berth. I’ll be interested to see what damage is done to his mark of 122 on Tuesday, as he could be interesting in a strongly run handicap over this trip on nice ground.

Back in third was the well-supported favourite Mustang Du Breuil who was forced to make up plenty of ground on the home-turn and shaped as if a stiffer test of stamina would suit, he’s well worth adding to your Racing TV Tracker.

The feature handicap of the day, the Ladbrokes Trophy, saw Lookaway thrive at his first try over three miles. He got to the lead early in the home straight and, despite being consistently challenged by runner-up The Doyen Chief and third-placed Kdeux Saint Fray, he found plenty of reserves and was a deserving winner.

Trainer Neil King suggested that the Bet365 Chase at the end of the season is under strong consideration. That will require more from him, but he showed guts and stamina here so it’s entirely possible a greater stamina test will bring about that further improvement.

The horse to take out of the race was the novice Kdeux Saint Fray, who gave jockey Sam Twiston-Davies a tough time when continually shifting left at his fences. Back on a left-handed track, he’s one to follow and will stay further than this trip.

On Monday, the Racing TV cameras are at Ayr and I have two selections:

Champion Jockey Sean Bowen continues to set a relentless pace in his quest for winners, on Friday landing his 200th victory of the season. He travels to Ayr for a good book of rides.

Zamek is yet to get his head in front for Olly Murphy but has run some sound races in defeat, including behind Dovecote winner Klub De Reve.

He stayed on well at Lingfield last time, so this step up in trip coupled with the first time tongue tie following wind-surgery means he’s open to plenty of progression.

I think it’s notable that the shrewd Olly Murphy sends Jaccours to make his handicap debut in a chase, following on from a maiden hurdle win last time.

He needed every yard of the two-mile trip at Ffos Las and clearly appreciated the slow ground. Over fences, he’ll find the tempo over this trip more to his liking and could be a well-handicapped horse. I expect Bowen to ride a quick-fire double.