Sceau Royal to seek repeat win in Game Spirit at Newbury

Sceau Royal will bid to win back-to-back renewals of the Betfair Exchange Game Spirit Chase at Newbury on Saturday.

The versatile Alan King-trained 10-year-old landed the Elite Hurdle at Wincanton in November and was a close-up third to Not So Sleepy and Epatante in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle later that month.

However, the Simon Munir and Isaac Souede-owned gelding has not been seen since finishing a distant sixth of seven to Guard Your Dreams in the International Hurdle at Cheltenham in December.

Winner of six of his 17 chases, Sceau Royal reverts to fences where he is set to face a small but select field, which could include the highly-regarded Paul Nicholls-trained youngster Hitman.

Anthony Bromley, racing manager to Munir and Souede, feels he made an error by running Sceau Royal at Cheltenham last time.

He said: “The last couple of seasons we have campaigned the horse over hurdles up to Christmas and then have gone chasing afterwards.

“The Game Spirit is a race he has finished runner-up in once (to Altior in 2020) and won last last season, and it is one of his targets for the season. It will be a small but competitive field and when all the penalties are weighed up, there is not much in it.

“He goes there in good form. He is fresh and well. We ran him back too quickly in the International Hurdle at Cheltenham. It wasn’t in the normal plan and it was my fault, I got enticed in and made a mistake there.

“The horse is none the worse for it. Alan has freshened the horse up and we look forward to Newbury on Saturday.”

Twice third in the Queen Mother Champion Chase – including when beaten three and three-quarter lengths to Put The Kettle On at Cheltenham last year – Sceau Royal could book his place in this year’s renewal on March 16, should he acquit himself well at the Berkshire track.

De Rasher Counter is all set to make his comeback from injury in the Betfair Denman Chase at Newbury on Saturday.

The Emma Lavelle-trained 10-year-old has been sidelined for 489 days with a tendon injury but is ready for a return to action at the scene of his Ladbrokes Trophy success in November 2019.

This will be a big step for De Rasher Counter in his preparation for the Randox Grand National at Aintree in April.

“He’s in really good order. It’s exciting to have him back after injury. He’s in really good shape. We’re trying to gear up for a proper crack at the National,” said Lavelle.

“It’s our first run back and he seems very much ready to go and run.”

The Marlborough handler revealed she has had some help in getting De Rasher Counter ready for action.

“We brought him back in and I wanted to do a lot of trotting with him so I sent him to Adam Wedge’s partner Lauren and she and Adam had him for six weeks trotting on the roads in Wales. They did a great job for us and just hardened his legs off and got him going,” she said.

“He came back to us and he started cantering and touch wood it’s been plain sailing since then. They did a super job for us.”

Lavelle’s other Grand National entry, Eclair Surf, could run next in the Vertem Eider Chase at Newcastle on February 26.

The eight-year-old put himself in the picture for all the main staying handicaps when winning the Classic Chase at Warwick last month.

“He’s very good. We’ve made an entry for the Eider. Timing-wise it’s perfect and we’ll see how we go,” she said.

“He’s in the National as well. We’ll just keep all our options open as far as he is concerned at this stage.”