Snowden has Sandown plan for You Wear It Well

Challow Hurdle runner-up found only Hermes Allen too good at Newbury.

Jamie Snowden is plotting a course to the Cheltenham Festival via the Jane Seymour Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at Sandown for his smart Challow Hurdle runner-up You Wear It Well.

Three from four and unbeaten over hurdles heading into the Newbury Grade One, the six-year-old was far from disgraced when both stepping up in both trip and grade, chasing home the ultra-impressive winner Hermes Allen for a brave silver medal.

With black type in the bag and confirmation he has both a talented and versatile mare on his hands, Snowden plans to follow the route taken successfully by Love Envoi in 2022 by running over two and a half miles at Sandown on February 16, before dropping back to the minimum distance for the Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at Prestbury Park in March.

“It was a cracking run,” said Snowden reflecting on You Wear It Well’s Challow efforts.

“She was fairly unexposed going into the race and although the winner has won quite easily, she has travelled through the race nicely and has beaten the rest of the field easily. She was only just over four lengths behind the winner and a good way clear of the third so it was a fine effort.

“I think we might consider the Grade Two Jane Seymour at Sandown next and then the Festival.

“She stayed the trip well at Newbury, yet her form before that was over two miles so she is a smart mare. She’s a talented mare, she’s not slow but she also stays. You take the impressive winner out of the Challow and she has beaten the others really nicely. She’s a good mare and has bags of talent.”

Snowden also saddled GBP 185,000 recruit Passing Well to finish fourth in the two-and-a-half-mile feature at the Berkshire track on New Year’s Eve.

Although well held, the Folly House handler was far from disappointed with the performance and will now seek to find the six-year-old a winnable opportunity for a confidence booster in calmer waters before potentially returning to Grade One action with a step up to three miles at the Festival in the spring.

“He was fourth and ran a belter, he was just outpaced at a crucial time before staying on really well in the final furlong,” continued Snowden.

“He is obviously a three-mile chaser in the making and I would say we will drop back and try to win with a penalty and then we might head up in trip and have a think about the Albert Bartlett perhaps.”

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