Anightinlambourn having deserved break before Festival target

Ben Pauling-trained mare has been making rapid progress over fences.

Anightinlambourn is set to take a winter break with Ben Pauling keen to freshen the thriving eight-year-old up for a tilt at the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup at the Cheltenham Festival.

The mare, who is owned by The Megsons who enjoyed Festival success in 2022 when Global Citizen landed the Grand Annual, has been on a roll in the latter half of this year and heads off for a break rated just shy of 30lb higher than when scoring at Worcester in August.

Since then, she has returned to Worcester to notch a second victory, before two fine performances at Cheltenham this autumn, firstly finishing second – beaten half a length – at the Showcase meeting and then going one better in the hands of Jack Andrews last month – providing the amateur with his first win at the track.

Having shown a liking for amateur rider contests and also a thirst for good ground, Anightinlambourn will now be saved for another spin around the undulations of Prestbury Park in the spring.

“We’ve pulled the plug on her for now, said Pauling. “She’s been in training now for 16 months and hasn’t had a break since around June/July 2021.

“She’s going to have a break now and come back for the Kim Muir in March – that will be her first run back. We’ll bring her back for the better ground in the spring.

“She seems to be thriving and from nowhere really she has developed plenty of tactical speed and that is something you need in those amateur races to be able to hold a position. I keep ruling her out of improving and she keeps improving every time.”

Pauling, who is almost up to 50 winners for the season from his new base at Naunton Downs, is also contemplating his options for Southern National winner Slipway.

The seven-year-old, who ran at Fontwell in the colours made famous by 1981 Grand National Aldiniti, received a 7lb rise for that success, where he galloped on strongly and was staying all the way to the line in the stamina-sapping contest.

Trainer Ben Pauling has high hopes for both Anightinlambourn and Slipway
Trainer Ben Pauling has high hopes for both Anightinlambourn and Slipway (David Davies/PA)

The win now puts him on the cusp of earning his own date with Aintree’s famous spruce, but Pauling is unsure whether that challenge might come a touch too early for his progressive chaser.

He said: “He’s come out of the race (Fontwell) brilliantly. He’s gone up 7lb which I thought was fair.

“We’ve got a few races around Christmas time which could be potentials. We’ve not earmarked anything in particular we’ll just see how he is in the next few weeks.

Slipway, here winning at Southwell in January, could be Grand National contender one day
Slipway, here winning at Southwell in January, could be Grand National contender one day (Tim Goode/PA)

“He remains a nice horse for the future and one we wouldn’t want to be dipping too deep with too early. But he’s getting close to a mark that might get him into a National one day so we will be looking to cherry-pick a race that might suit to bolster his handicap mark and give us options.

“It all depends on how he trains the rest of the season, and he is still a young horse. It is only two years ago we were finishing mid-division in novice hurdles so let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

“He’s obviously a much better chaser than he was ever going to be a hurdler and he’s a lovely jumper. He’s a much easier horse to train these days and as long as he holds his condition and trains on as we hope he will, then all options are open.

“I haven’t had the conversation yet with his owners whether we would or we wouldn’t. Knowing them, they would certainly be on the cautious side and the pressure is never going to be to run in a National come what may.

“If everything worked out and he’s off a mark to get him in then I’m sure he would get an entry and we would see how things looked come April, but he’s a lovely progressive chaser.

“He’s not slow and has got plenty of boot so he’s probably classy enough to compete. You need a bit of class and speed so I think he’s definitely a National type for the future – whether that is this season or not I wouldn’t be able to say. But I’m not ruling anything out and not ruling anything in.”

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