Coral Challow Novices' Hurdle |
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| Grade 1, Newbury 15:00 £60,000 guaranteed, 4yo plus, 2m 4f 118y, Class 1  |
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Dan Skelton is eyeing a Grade One level step-up in the Challow Hurdle with The New Lion following a brilliant reappearance at Chepstow on Tuesday.
That's a very good horse! 🚨
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) October 29, 2024
The New Lion, a full brother to Kateira, canters to victory at @Chepstow_Racing for @DSkeltonRacing and @harryskelton89... pic.twitter.com/urEpkiElBO
The five-year-old, who won on his bumper debut at Market Rasen in spring, was the 10-11 favourite in division one of the Colourfence Newport Long Life Garden Railings Maiden Hurdle and excelled. After tracking market rival Belliano into the home straight, The New Lion powered clear between the final two obstacles to win by nearly five lengths.
Skelton told Sky Sports Racing, “We hoped he would be special, if I’m being honest, but they’ve got to go out there and show their suitability for hurdling. Last year it took us a while to run because he was a bit weak, but when we got him right he went well in his bumper and took off between the wings of the last. We’ve been desperate to run him on some nice ground, luckily we got some today and he could just be very, very good.”
He could step up to the highest level at Newbury on December 28. Skelton added, “We’ll give him one more run in another hurdle and then pitch him in the Challow. We’ve got a nice bunch of horses, and we’ve always felt this horse was very well up there.”
Challow Novices' Hurdle
£60,000 guaranteed, 4yo plus, 2m 4f 118y, Class 1
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