Two-and-a-half times around the saucer to win the cup – that’s the latest challenge facing a tough and versatile Ryedale horse who, in mid-March, ran the race of his life to finish third in the Champion Hurdle.

Countrywide Flame has no obstacles to conquer this week when he will be winging around the saucer-like Roodee racecourse in a bid to clinch the richly-endowed Chester Cup.

It is to be hoped that Norton trainer John Quinn likes cheese. Should Countrywide Flame pick up the lion’s share of the £120,000 on offer in the Stan James-sponsored showpiece, he will also earn each of his connections – trainer, owner and jockey – a 50lb Cheshire cheese.

Barely seven furlongs in circumference, the unique Chester racecourse is a demanding track. But it surely holds no fears for Countrywide Flame, who won on the Roodee last August on his first run back after a summer break. Since then, he’s finished a narrowly-beaten runner-up in the Cesarewitch Handicap at Newmarket, won a Grade 1 race – the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle – and finished third in the Champion Hurdle won by the peerless Hurricane Fly.

Michael O’Connell, who won a valuable handicap at Hamilton last Sunday on Quinn’s progressive stayer O Ma Lad, knows Countrywide Flame well and is looking forward to a good race in Wednesday’s showpiece event, which takes place over two miles and two-and-a-half furlongs.

Stablemate Kiama Bay, no mean performer in his own right, and also a previous course winner, is also in the line-up.

All eyes, though, will be on Countrywide Flame, who is the ante-post favourite. Quinn reports his tough-as-teak gelding to be in great shape for his staying test. It would be some achievement if this most versatile of horses could come out on top.

 

Richard Fahey, whose Address Unknown and Ingleby Spirit will be taking on Countrywide Flame and company in the Chester Cup, also numbers the exciting Gabrial among his team of Chester runners at the three-day meeting.

The trainer, who is delaying making any firm plans for Garswood, following his seventh-placed effort in last Saturday’s Qipco 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket, will saddle Gabrial in the Group 3 Huxley Stakes on Thursday.

The four-year-old, who crossed swords with the mighty Frankel on one occasion last season – he finished just under ten lengths behind his great rival in the Sussex Stakes at Goodwood in August – was an impressive winner of a Listed race at Doncaster on his reappearance. That was his first outing since he’d undergone a gelding operation, which Fahey feels has been the making of him.

“He’s always been a good horse, but he was a bit of a playboy last year,” he explained. “But since he’s been gelded, his whole demeanour and attitude has improved. He’s a different horse now.”

Gabrial is owned by Dr Marwan Koukash, who has a huge squad of horses with a team of trainers across the country. Based in the North-West, he likes nothing better than having runners at Chester. Indeed, with all his trainers under instructions to direct as many as they can of his horses at this week’s meeting, the Koukash silks are likely to carried into action some 30 times over the three days.

Fahey is in no rush to run Garswood again quickly after his Classic efforts last weekend when the impressive Free Handicap winner never really got into the thick of the action after a tardy start, but was staying on strongly at the finish to be beaten just over nine lengths.

“He got knocked into at the start and it just didn’t happen for him,” said Fahey. “As there is nothing for these horses before Royal Ascot (next month), we will sit back and wait and make a decision nearer the time about his target there.”

 

• It’s more than a year since Westow trainer Paul Midgley lost his best horse, Internationaldebut, who fell foul of a heart attack while doing routine morning exercise.

Last week at Newmarket, Midgley made an expensive purchase to fill the void left by Internationaldebut when paying 80,000 guineas for Line Of Reason at the Guineas Sale.

The three-year-old was knocked down to Andrew Taylor, former owner of Internationaldebut. “We were looking for a horse to try and replace him,” explained Midgley after suggesting the search was now over.

Previously trained in Newmarket by David Simcock, Line Of Reason was the winner of two of his three runs on the all-weather and was beaten only a neck at Doncaster last month on his turf debut. “He was the nicest horse in the sale,” added Midgley. “We’ll crack on with him now and hope he gives Andrew plenty of fun.”

Midgley was on the mark at Redcar last week with stable favourite Haajes, who, under a fine ride from Shirley Teasdale, gained his 12th win in a career which has spanned 91 starts and which has also yielded 17 placed efforts.

Langton trainer Nigel Tinkler was also active among the bigger spenders at Newmarket. He was interested in the two-year-old breeze-up horses and paid 50,000gns for an un-named son of Iffraaj, the sire responsible for Ryedale’s top juvenile of 2010, Wootton Bassett.

 

• Ollie Pears’ high hopes for Hit The Lights at Pontefract last week wilted when the highly-strung gelding got himself into something of a pre-race stew, but the Norton trainer was a relieved man after seeing the progressive three-year-old make all the running to record a 15-2 success.

“He sweated up quite badly coming over to the course from the racecourse stables and I thought his chance had gone when I was saddling him up,” said Pears. “As it turned out, he overcame it well and did what I thought he was capable of doing.”

Pears, who had previously placed Hit The Lights to win at Catterick, has always had a high opinion of the horse, who has, on occasions, proved his own worst enemy through his headstrong tendencies.

“He is getting better and is starting to grow-up now,” said Pears. “He didn’t win by very far the other day, so the handicapper can’t be too hard on him. I would hope he’d continue to progress and win more races.”

The Pontefract meeting proved a useful one for the Ryedale fraternity. Peniaphobia, trained by Richard Fahey and ridden by Tony Hamilton, made a 17-2 winning debut in the opening juvenile maiden, while the programme concluded with a Mick Easterby-trained winner in the shape of Special Mix, given a good ride by stable apprentice Matthew Hopkins to record a narrow 10-1 success. Easterby also scored with Hoofalong at Doncaster on Saturday evening.

 

• David O’Meara, going great guns this season, reached a notable milestone last Saturday at Thirsk when Bedloe’s Island, under a dynamic ride from David Nolan, clinched a last-gasp win in the sprint handicap.

The victory provided O’Meara with his 200th winner and came on exactly the same day, one year on, as Powerful Presence supplying him with his 100th success. Securing a century of winners in a calendar year is some going by any standards.

The Nawton trainer had saddled a treble at Redcar earlier in the week, courtesy of slick juvenile Innocently, Mont Ras and The Codger, all ridden by Danny Tudhope, who was also on the mark on the stable’s Gandalak at Musselburgh on Friday.

Tudhope went directly to Hong Kong after riding in Scotland to team up with O’Meara’s stable-star Penitent, who was out of luck in the Champions Mile at Sha Tin. He finished seventh.

Tudhope was back in action on home-soil at Beverley on Monday, recording a double on O’Meara’s Toto Skyllachy and Classic Punch, a newcomer to the Tim Etherington yard, who dead-heated with Saint Thomas in the ten furlong handicap.

 

• Beckermet, the last horse purchased by the late David Chapman before he died, paid tribute to his former trainer by scoring at Redcar last week two years to the day after the sudden death of his Stillington handler.

Beckermet, who now carries the colours of Marion Chapman, David’s widow, is trained by his granddaughter Ruth Carr and was ridden to victory by Norton jockey Jimmy Sullivan.

 

Tim Easterby last week gave notice that his string is striking top form.

The Great Habton trainer scored with easy winner Surround Sound at Redcar and followed up at Thirsk on Saturday with a double, thanks to Lilac Lace and Off Art. It promises to be the start of another lucrative campaign for Easterby’s powerful team.

Among the jockeys, Norton-based Tom Eaves is riding at the top of his form. Despite receiving a kick on the leg at Musselburgh last Friday, he carried on regardless and rode a double on Cara’s Request and the Alan Brown-trained Jebel Tara. And, the following evening at Doncaster, Eaves pulled up a 25-1 win aboard the Michael Dods-trained Rocktherunway.

 

• Former jump jockey Anthony Ross, who now runs a thriving livery yard at Great Habton, had more interest than most in last Sunday’s Qipco 1,000 Guineas.

Winning Express, whom Ross had bought for a mere 5,500 euros as a yearling in Ireland before selling her on for £16,000 at last year’s Doncaster Breeze-Up Sales, ran in the first fillies’ Classic of the season and belied her 33-1 odds by finishing a hugely creditable fourth, beaten only two lengths by the winner, Sky Lantern.

Ross can take great satisfaction out of the performance of Winning Express, a high-ranking juvenile last year when she finished second in the Cheveley Park Stakes, who is now trained by Ed McMahon.

The Jersey Stakes at Royal Ascot next month is being considered as the next major target for Winning Express, who, having caught only Ross’s eye at the yearling sales, is nowadays hardly going unnoticed.