Horse Racing: Musselburgh's big jumps day could see treble for Henderson

TOP Lambourn trainer Nicky Henderson is a rare visitor to Musselburgh but can land a treble when he sends half a dozen raiders to the biggest jumps day of the year tomorrow.

Prize money of over 100,000 and the prospect of racing on good, fresh ground has drawn some top runners for the major stables in the South of England and Ireland.

Henderson's stable jockey Barry Geraghty will be in action and the combination should get punters off to a good start with Candy Creek in the opening Scottish Racing Novices Hurdle (1.30pm). The six-year-old mare won two of her three races in bumpers in Ireland before changing hands for 200,000 guineas last spring and she romped home on her hurdling debut at Kempton in November.

At Newbury just before Christmas, she could finish only second when odds-on favourite but she may well have bumped into a more-than-useful winner there and will appreciate the better underfoot conditions tomorrow.

Better ground will also be hugely in the favour of The Polomoch, who can extend his unbeaten sequence over fences in the John Smith's No Nonsense Novices Chase (3.00pm).

Henderson has always had a high opinion of the gelding, who began his career with an easy bumper win at Ludlow and took three of his first four hurdle races. He ended his career over timber with a victory at the Scottish National meeting at Ayr last spring and has won both his races so far over fences at Fakenham and Leicester. He faces a much sterner test here, but jumps well and has a big future.

Owen Glendower can round off a good day for Henderson and Geraghty team by taking the concluding Racing UK National Hunt Flat Race (4.30pm).

The gelding is a half-brother to Dave's Dream, who has won six times for the stable, including the valuable Imperial Cup at Sandown last spring. So it was no surprise that the five-year-old was sent off favourite on his debut in a bumper at Southwell early in December but, although he travelled nicely and stayed on well, his inexperience showed and he was runner-up to a previous course winner. He had no trouble going one better at Taunton four weeks later, though, romping home by a wide margin.

The 30,000 John Smith's Scottish Triumph Hurdle (2.30pm) may well produce the best race of the day with several top juveniles bidding to clinch a place at next month's Cheltenham festival.

The line-up includes gelding Carlito Brigante – one of the favourites for the Triumph Hurdle itself at the festival – who makes the trip across the Irish Sea from Gordon Elliott's yard. He cost 400,000gns as a yearling but, after a chequered career on the level in which he managed to win just once, he was sold for just 17,500gns last autumn. He opened his account over hurdles in good style here in November though after which he was sold on for 40,000gns.

For the four-year-old followed up by beating some of the best young hurdlers in Ireland in a Grade Two event at the Leopardstown Christmas meeting. He is chasing a hat-trick, but faces stiff opposition from Baccalaureate – who won a major event at 100-1 at Cheltenham last week – and Ascendent. The latter's three wins on the level for Sir Mark Prescott included one here in September before being sold for 160,000gns and he made a successful debut over hurdles for Howard Johnson on this course recently.

Joe Rowntree's Musselburgh selections: 1.30 Candy Creek; 2.30 Carlito Brigante; 3.00 The Polomoch; 4.30 Owen Glendower.