Lee backing Nemean Lion to roar over longer distance

PA Sport Reporters
January 12, 2024 1:19 pm

Welsh Champion Hurdle hero should enjoy Lanzarote trip at Kempton.

Kerry Lee is relishing the chance to step Nemean Lion up in trip in Kempton’s Coral Lanzarote Handicap Hurdle.

The seven-year-old has been a consistent performer for the Bell House handler and, following an encouraging novice campaign, won the Welsh Champion Hurdle on his reappearance before running with credit in the Greatwood.

However, having shown staying prowess on the Flat and also finding the scoresheet over an extended two-and-a-quarter miles at Kelso during his novice season, Lee has decided now is the time to try Nemean Lion’s hand over further.

She said: “It’s very exciting and as a Flat horse back in the day, he was a winner over staying trips and he was second in the Group Two Prix Chaudenay on heavy ground over two miles at Longchamp. On that basis, you have to assume he will get a trip.

Nemean Lion stays straight and true to win the DragonBet Welsh Champion Hurdle at @FfosLasRC for @beaubai and Richard Patrick… pic.twitter.com/wfdY07qwBr
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) October 15, 2023

“Possibly his best run to date was in a Grade Two at Kelso last spring, where he did all his best work at the end of the race and that was over two-and-a-quarter miles. This is only another couple of furlongs and there is no reason to doubt he will stay.

“He’s only just turned seven and I think Golden Horn horses are a little bit slower to mature than some, so he might just be coming into his prime.”

A quick look against Nemean Lion’s name will show entries for both the Champion Hurdle and the Stayers’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.

However, those lofty ambitions are firmly on the back burner for the time being, with Lee appreciating her stable star faces yet another stern challenge in the Kempton feature.

She added: “He’s got some crazy Cheltenham Festival entries in the Champion Hurdle and the Stayers’ Hurdle just in case things go exceptionally well, but I think you have to treat this kind of race with the respect it deserves and there are a lot of good horses in here.

“You’ve got a Betfair Hurdle winner (Aucunrisque) in there and Sonigino, who won well at Aintree before Christmas, not to mention Nicky Henderson’s runners – and it’s a very hot race.

“But Nemean Lion is a great horse and, off 140, we’re actually pleased not to be carrying top-weight for once. He’s a great horse to have and a lot of fun. He’s in rude health and has been ready to run for three weeks or so now and we’ve hung on to him until we got the ground we want for him.”

Nicky Henderson has won the Lanzarote four times in the past and saddles progressive pair Impose Toi and King Alexander in search of victory number five.

Impose Toi winning at Cheltenham in November (David Davies/PA)

The former was only a neck away from registering a hat-trick when mistakes at the final two flights of hurdles ultimately stopped him reeling in stablemate Luccia, but now has the chance to gain some compensation and is the big-race favourite with the sponsors.

“He ran a cracker at Ascot and just missed the last two a little bit,” said Frank Berry, racing manager to owner JP McManus.

“He was probably a little bit unlucky, but this is a nice race for him and Nicky is very happy with him. We’ll learn a bit more about him and we’re looking forward to it and hoping for the best.”

Champion trainer Paul Nicholls is also double-handed, with Ditcheat number one Harry Cobden electing to ride impressive Aintree scorer Sonigino and Bryony Frost taking the reins aboard Irish Hill.

Sonigino winning at Aintree (Richard Sellers/PA)

“The Lanzarote has been the plan for Sonigino from the moment he bolted in at Aintree early last month,” Nicholls told Betfair when assessing the seven-year-old’s chances.

“He has progressed nicely this season and was well suited by stepping back up in trip at Aintree, where he looked like the winner a long way from home.

“The key to his improvement is that he is settling better in his races with experience. He was raised 6lb after Aintree and will not find things easy under top weight.”

It has been some time since Up For Parol has found the scoresheet, but Jamie Snowden’s eight-year-old made the podium in this race 12 months ago after being sixth in 2022 and now tries to make it third time lucky off an ever-decreasing mark.

Jamie Snowden hopes to see Up For Parol make it third time lucky in the Lanzarote (Mike Egerton/PA)

Snowden said: “He’s run in this race the last two years and was only beaten eight lengths off a mark of 133 a couple of years ago and was third in it last year off 129, and he comes in it here off 126.

“We would have appreciated a little bit softer ground perhaps but he’s in good order and fingers crossed he can run a decent race.”

Joe Anderson hit the headlines with his miraculous recovery at Plumpton recently and now rekindles what has previously been a successful partnership with Neil Mulholland’s Mothill.

The six-year-old struck at Uttoxeter in the hands of Anderson in the spring and, after a pair of outings on the Flat, was ridden by Jonjo O’Neill Jr when hosing up at Sedgefield on Boxing Day.

“I would say that he has got a good old chance,” said Anderson. “It is a super competitive race, and he will have to step up again, but he is a progressive young horse that has the right sort of profile for a race like this, as he is a strong traveller that stays very well.

“He went up five pounds for his last win, but my claim takes care of that, and he did it nicely up at Sedgefield.

“He got the job done at Uttoxeter and then he was good at Sedgefield the other day. He hasn’t really raced in a big field, but this race should suit him and he is a horse going the right way.”