Harris backing Scriptwriter to produce winning performance

Triumph Hurdle contender primed for Cheltenham test.

Milton Harris insists Scriptwriter has blossomed and hopes the evidence will be there for all to see in the JCB Triumph Trial Juvenile Hurdle, the first of a nine-race bumper card at Cheltenham on Saturday.

A Group Three performer for Aidan O’Brien on the Flat, Harris shrewdly purchased the Churchill gelding and he has won on all three starts for the Warminster handler.

A winner over a similar trip on the Old Course in November, he returns to Prestbury Park’s New Course on the back of a win in a decent all-weather Flat handicap at Wolverhampton last month.

Scriptwriter takes on seven rivals who include Chepstow’s Grade Two Finale Juvenile Hurdle hero, the Joseph O’Brien-trained Comfort Zone, and Gary Moore’s runaway Newbury winner Jupiter Du Gite, in a warm renewal of the two-mile-one-furlong contest.

Yet Harris is brimming with confidence after overseeing his latest sharpener.

He said: “Scriptwriter went to Kempton on Tuesday and did a little piece of work over a mile.

“He is in a very good place and obviously we had that little run at Wolverhampton, which was good.

“He is a good horse and he seems to have blossomed. He wouldn’t want extreme soft ground, but I don’t think we are going to get that.

“While the race will be a little bit better than it might have been because everywhere else has been off, I’m very happy with him. He’s definitely improved since his first two hurdle runs, so we’re looking forward to it.”

Henri The Second seeks more Grade Two glory
Henri The Second seeks more Grade Two glory (Steven Paston/PA)

Elsewhere on a cracking card, Henri The Second bids to supplement his Winter Novices’ Hurdle success at Sandown with a second Grade Two win in the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle.

Harry Cobden’s mount, who was runner-up to Chianti Classico on his seasonal bow at Chepstow, will concede weight to all 10 rivals in the extended two-and-a-half-mile contest, which is a slight concern to Paul Nicholls.

The champion trainer said: “He has got a 5lb penalty for winning the Grade Two at Sandown Park before Christmas and that won’t make life easy against good horses.

“He is obviously a nice horse and he has already won a good race this season. He is in good shape and he will stay up that Cheltenham hill, but he has got a big task with the penalty.

“He ran very well last time, however we thought he would go well on his first run but he was a bit green. He is still learning and there is plenty of improvement to come from him yet.

“He wasn’t quite ready for the Leamington at Warwick as he had a hard race at Sandown, so he needed that little bit of extra time, but we have got him back where we want him now.”

Can You Call (right) has impressed the handicapper
Can You Call (right) has impressed the handicapper (Zac Goodwin/PA)

Can You Call, hiked 13lb since winning a heavy-ground Uttoxeter handicap hurdle last time, is one of the challengers.

His trainer, Evan Williams, hopes the eight-year-old can justify his 131 official rating.

He said: “The handicapper obviously thinks we should be in a race like that, taking on those kind of horses, so let’s give it a go.

“I never question the handicapper. He knows, he’s the professional, he’s the man. We just go where the handicapper says we should go. If he says we are up to that class, and says ‘get in there and get your share of 50 grand’, then that’s what we’ll try to do.

“It is a good race, as it should be, but two thirds of the field can’t beat us according to the man at the BHA, so we’re looking forward to picking up the money.”

The Glenfarclas Cross Country Handicap Chase comprises 15 runners, headed by last season’s Festival winner Delta Work and 2021 Grand National winner Minella Times.

The 2021 Becher Chase winner Snow Leopardess has her first try over the unique course, which is a test that Back On The Lash has already mastered.

Martin Keighley’s representative won over the same course and three-and-a-quarter-mile distance at last season’s November meeting and the Condicote handler expects a bold show again.

He said: “He’s in great form and hopefully it will go ahead, because he loves it round there. It looks a hot race again, but he’d have a decent chance.”

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