Famous Bridge given Great Yorkshire Chase as an option

Ashley Iveson
January 22, 2024 4:57 pm

Connections keeping an eye on Doncaster for progressive staying chaser.

Ground conditions at Doncaster are likely to dictate whether Famous Bridge is rerouted to Saturday’s Great Yorkshire Chase after the weather scuppered his planned return to Haydock last weekend.

The eight-year-old, who runs in the colours of the late Trevor Hemmings, has won his last two starts over fences at the latter venue, most recently landing the Tommy Whittle Handicap Chase pre-Christmas.

He was due to bid for a hat-trick on Merseyside in Saturday’s Peter Marsh Chase, but the abandonment of Haydock’s card has forced trainer Nicky Richards back to the drawing board.

When asked whether it was the plan to run Famous Bridge in the Great Yorkshire Chase, the Greystoke handler said: “It is and it isn’t. Mick (Meagher, racing manager) said to put him in, so we confirmed him, but we’ll just be keeping an eye on the ground. If it’s windy and dry all week and it’s edging towards good ground, I’m not quite sure what we’ll be thinking.

“He’s in grand form and it’s a shame Saturday was off (at Haydock). I don’t know why they couldn’t reschedule for Sunday, but I suppose in the circumstances that wouldn’t have been very pleasant either.

“A bit of good to soft ground wouldn’t bother him. I wouldn’t like to pigeon-hole him and say he’s just a Haydock horse or anything like that. He’s won two around Wetherby, he’s won at Kelso and Ayr – this horse would go around anywhere.

“He’s just a proper National Hunt horse, a fairly big boy and a strong horse, so we’ll just keep an eye on the weather and the ground and see where we are later in the week.”

Richards – whose yard was feeling the effects of Storm Isha on Monday, being without power for large parts of the day – has also confirmed Universal Folly, who has won three times and finished second on four occasions from only eight chase starts, and the trainer feels a sound surface may bring him into the equation off a light weight.

He added: “His owner is away on holiday, he’s in Barbados, I think, and I think I woke him up this morning when I gave him a call and asked him what he thought about entering for Doncaster.

“There is also the Edinburgh Grand National at Musselburgh for him and if it’s softer ground at Doncaster, the Musselburgh race might not be as strong, so we’ll just see what the weather does.

“If it’s a windy, dry week, I know it will take a lot of winning the Great Yorkshire, but it might take a bit less winning if it’s on good ground as a lot of other trainers might be thinking like we’re thinking with Famous Bridge.

“We’ll just see how the week pans out, but he’s in grand form as well and is ready to run somewhere.”

The Richards pair are among 27 horses still in the mix for the GBP 100,000 contest, with the weights headed by Jamie Snowden’s Ga Law, who looked the likely winner when falling at the final fence 12 months ago.

Snowden could also saddle Git Maker, while ante-post favourite Victtorino is set to represent Ventia Williams following back-to-back wins at Ascot.

Other hopefuls include Anthony Honeyball’s Forward Plan and the Nicky Henderson-trained Mister Coffey, who finished first and second over the course and distance last month, and the improving Surrey Quest from Toby Lawes’ stable.

The only remaining Irish contender is the Emmet Mullins-trained Sweet Will.