Rare Edition ready to step up for Longsdon

Molly Hunter
January 15, 2024 3:38 pm

Kempton winner could have spring festivals on his agenda.

Charlie Longsdon’s promising hurdler Rare Edition has a step up in trip booked after a comfortable Kempton success.

The seven-year-old had some respectable point-to-point form and won on his sole bumper start before embarking on a novice hurdling career last season.

He won his first three starts – with no rival able to get within seven lengths of him – after which he finished second in the Listed Sidney Banks before seeming to lose his way when pulled up in the Supreme and well beaten in the Top Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree.

This year he returned to action at Doncaster to make his handicap debut in a competitive race, finishing third by only three-quarters of a length when the final three hurdles were omitted due to the low sun.

At Kempton on Saturday he lined up again for handicap duty under top-weight and made light work of it when prevailing under Harry Cobden as the 11-8 favourite.

The performance has confirmed suspicions the gelding will be well suited by an extended trip, a step he is now set to take after his victory replaced a prior plan to head to Lingfield for the Winter Million fixture.

“Initially our plan was to go to Lingfield on Friday, but with the forecast we thought we’d take our chances and go to Kempton,” said Longsdon.

“He’s won round there before, he was giving a lot of weight and he won comfortably enough.

“What we definitely learned is that he needs to step up in trip. We will see what the handicapper does but he won’t be running over two miles again.

“All he was doing that day at Doncaster was staying on and that’s all he did at Kempton as well.”

Both Longsdon and Cobden are agreed the bay is a chaser in the making but before that stage of his career, he is likely to finish off the season in good quality two-and-a-half-mile hurdles.

“Harry Cobden rode him and gave us some interesting feedback, it was very much that when he’s a year older and with a step up in trip he will end up being a three-mile chaser, but it’ll be two and a half (miles) over hurdles for the rest of the season,” the trainer said.

“There’s a race at Ascot on the Reynoldstown day, a race at Kempton on the old Racing Post Chase (Coral Trophy Handicap Chase) day – there’s a two-and-a-half-mile hurdle on both of those tracks.

“I’d love to look at a Coral Cup or Martin Pipe but it strikes me that Aintree might suit him better, we’ll see.

“It’s just nice to see him back to his form after his form tailed off last season.”