Into Wain proves worth at Wetherby

Steve Gollings believes Into Wain is destined for greater things after he claimed the Novices’ Hurdle in style at Wetherby yesterday.

The recent Kelso winner was allowed to go off at 7-4 due to the presence of the David Pipe-trained odds-on shot Ashbrittle, but Into Wain and Brian Hughes eased clear for a two-length verdict.

Gollings said: “I know he cost a lot of money [92,000 guineas], but I’ve always thought the world of this horse. He pulled muscles on his first run at Market Rasen but he came right and he couldn’t have won any easier at Kelso.

“Brian has ridden a lot of good horses and he thinks this fellow is right up there. He won’t be going to Cheltenham. He could go back to Kelso for a good novice hurdle there and then maybe he’ll go to Aintree.”

Recent Ayr winner Knockando defied a hike in the weights by following up in the Handicap Hurdle. Lucinda Russell’s 13-2 chance had gone up 11lb for bolting up on the west coast but proved well up to the task when scoring by three-and-a-half lengths from Mission Complete.

Winning jockey Peter Buchanan said: “He’s still quite raw and immature, and has a big frame to fill, but he’s nice and I look forward to seeing him jump fences.

“He was looking around at the finish, but he’s done it well.”

Cucumber Run went some way to upholding family honour by claiming the Novices’ Chase. Nicky Henderson’s seven-year-old is a half-brother to Saturday’s Victor Chandler Chase winner Somersby and while he looks unlikely to reach the same heights as his sibling, connections learnt plenty from that notable weekend triumph.

The application of cheekpieces helped Somersby grab Grade One glory for the first time and having jumped with little fluency on his first couple of starts, Henderson decided to use the same headgear to aid Cucumber Run. The 6-4 favourite was ridden positively by David Bass and the jockey was aggressive at many of the obstacles.

Main market rival Mac Aeda tracked Cucumber Run into the straight and, for a moment, looked to be travelling the better of the pair. But his effort proved to be short lived and Cucumber Run kept up the pace to collect by 13 lengths.

Part-owner David Minton said: “He’s a half-brother to Somersby and as he won at Ascot on Saturday in cheekpieces, we decided to use them today, and it has obviously helped. He needs to go left-handed and is not the boldest of jumpers, but David kicked him into each fence to make his mind up.”

Permit holder Dave Roberts has Cheltenham Festival aspirations for Scoglio after he landed the TurfTV.co.uk Juvenile Maiden Hurdle – and he may have his prep race at Musselburgh.

The 11-1 chance had finished fifth on his debut in this sphere at Cheltenham and found this task much easier, beating Blue Destination by six lengths.

“We did expect that as we think he’s quite useful,” admitted Roberts. “We did not send him to Cheltenham first time out for no reason and he just missed a couple of hurdles that day, which shuffled him back a bit. He’s done it well today and the plan is to go to either Musselburgh for the Scottish Triumph Hurdle (5 February) or to Haydock for the Victor Ludorum (February 18). We’ll wait for him to get a handicap mark and then we might look at the Fred Winter at Cheltenham.”

Decent hurdler Hopeful Start (5-4 favourite) made the most of his significantly lower mark over fences in the wetherbyracing.co.uk Handicap Chase. Winning rider Richie McLernon said: “It’s tacky old ground so we didn’t go mad, but he’s done it well. It’s nice he’s got that first win over fences.”

Meanwhhile, a murky Triumph Hurdle picture could become a lot clearer after Saturday’s JCB Triumph Hurdle Trial at Cheltenham.

Grumeti, Sadler’s Risk, Baby Mix, Hinterland and Hollow Tree figure prominently in the ante-post betting for the Festival heat, and are all engaged this weekend.

The Alan King-trained Grumeti looked set to stretch his unbeaten record over hurdles at Newbury last week before falling at the second-last. Sadler’s Risk, now with Philip Hobbs, was a very easy winner on his hurdling debut at Kempton. Baby Mix, a French import for Tom George, last month oozed class when beating the previously unbeaten Hinterland, who could reoppose on better terms on Saturday.

Hinterland’s trainer Paul Nicholls could also run Pearl Swan, a winner on his debut last week. Donald McCain’s Hollow Tree is already a Grade One winner, having taken the Finale Juvenile Hurdle at Chepstow. Finale runner-up Countrywide Flame is also entered in the race, registered as the Finesse Juvenile Hurdle.

Brilliant Barca, Colebrooke, Fulgora, Tango De Juilley, High Samana, Jackies Solitaire and Ninfea complete the 14-strong list at the six-day stage.