Pauling could be doing Handstands with Newcastle victory

Ashley Iveson
January 5, 2024 1:57 pm

Promising five-year-old is held in high regard.

Ben Pauling is confident Handstands will make the long journey to the north east worthwhile when he puts his unbeaten record on the line at Newcastle on Saturday.

A winner on his Irish point-to-point debut in October, the five-year-old subsequently went under the hammer at the Tattersalls Cheltenham Sale the following month and was knocked down for GBP 135,000.

It did not take him long to make a successful debut under rules for for his new connections and it was impossible to be anything but impressed by the way he readily shook off his rivals at Hereford.

A penalty means he must give 7lb away in the Quinnbet Best Odds Guaranteed Novices’ Hurdle, but Pauling expects him to prove up to the task when he embarks on the near 500-mile round trip from his Gloucestershire yard as the trainer’s sole runner on the card.

He said: “He’s a lovely horse with plenty of ability and he’ll handle the ground. I think he’s quite versatile and I think he’s got a bright future.

“Hopefully it’s a good opportunity for him to get another win under his belt and a bit more experience and we could possibly look at qualifying him for the EBF Final or something like that. He might be better than that, I’m not sure, but I think he’s a nice horse with a bright future ahead of him.

“He’s very much a chaser, but hopefully he’ll be competitive in a few nicer races over hurdles later in the season.”

Handstands will be a hot favourite for the second of four races at Newcastle that will now take place in front of the ITV cameras following the abandonment of racing at Sandown.

The first is the QuinnBet Acca Bonus Novices’ Hurdle, in which Martin Todhunter’s recent Carlisle winner Forged Well meets Lucinda Russell’s Bangor runner-up Two Auld Pals.

Local trainer Rebecca Menzies is no stranger to success at Gosforth Park and she will be hoping previous course winner Attention All can get his season up and running in the Quinnbet Acca Bonus Handicap Chase, having failed to trouble the judge in two previous outings this term.

Mark Walford has a couple of chances in the concluding quinnbet.com Handicap Hurdle, with top-weight Tommy Johnson and stablemate Amber Gold both declared.

Walford said: “We’ve been happy with Tommy Johnson’s first few runs. He was second at Carlisle and then we ran him back too soon when he was pulled up at Hexham.

“He’s been progressing nicely and I was quite happy with his run at Catterick last time (finished fifth). I don’t think Catterick would quite be his track, but Newcastle should suit him well and he’s in good form, so we’re expecting a decent run.

“It’s Amber Gold’s first run of the season and she hasn’t run for a long time. She’s been going well at home, but we’d expect her to probably come on a bit for the run.”