L’Homme Presse team raring to go for long-awaited comeback

Lingfield on Sunday will be first run since unfortunate exit in 2022 King George.

Owner Andy Edwards feels the intermediate distance of Sunday’s Fleur De Lys Chase at Lingfield is perfect for the returning L’Homme Presse.

Venetia Williams’ 2022 Brown Advisory winner has not been seen since parting company with Charlie Deutsch at the final fence in that year’s King George VI Chase when booked for second.

Injury has kept him off the course for over a year, but he is one of nine entries in the GBP 165,000 contest over two miles and six furlongs on the final day of the track’s Winter Million weekend.

Edwards, who owns L’Homme Presse in partnership with Peter Pink, said: “I think they are very confident of Sunday being on.

L'Homme Presse leads Ahoy Senor over the last
L’Homme Presse leads Ahoy Senor over the last (David Davies/PA)

“He’s obviously been off a long time and it’s not as if we picked this race out months ago, we were trying to get him out before Christmas but without panic because we never thought Kempton (King George) was going to be the best place for him. So then we felt we may as well wait for this race.

“He has been given lots and lots of time and 99 per cent of them come back fine, but we’ll just have to wait and see. It’s exciting to be back after 13 months of concerns and waiting. There’s been lots of effort put in to get him back.

“I think this is the perfect comeback trip and it looks the perfect preparation race for any three-miler, I think, that intermediate distance.

“You’ve got to remember after he won the Scilly Isles a few years ago it looked as if he was going for the Turners and not the Brown Advisory, but it was me that pushed towards the three-mile race.”

Fugitif (right) is among L'Homme Presse's potential rivals
Fugitif (right) is among L’Homme Presse’s potential rivals (Nigel French/PA)

Dan Skelton’s Protektorat, December Gold Cup winner Fugitif and Sam Thomas’ Iwilldoit look like providing the main opposition, along with Gavin Cromwell’s Limerick Lace.

Cromwell has plenty of entries over the Winter Million weekend and Limerick Lace has finished second in the Troytown and won a Doncaster Listed race easily in her last two outings.

Cromwell’s Only By Night could clash with Nicky Henderson’s Pawapuri and the improving Manimole in the Weatherbys Digital Solutions Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle, while Master Chewy, First Flow and Triple Trade are among 14 in the Godstone Handicap Chase.

Saturday’s all-weather Flat card at Lingfield features the GBP 100,000 BetMGM Winter Oaks Fillies’ Handicap.

George Boughey’s progressive Storymaker, Simon and Ed Crisford’s Twirling and stablemate Oh So Grand are among 10 possibles.

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