Newstead star hopes Cape Tribulation to jump to it once more

Wetherby’s Bet365 Charlie Hall Chase is the target for Cape Tribulation, the stable star of Malcolm Jefferson’s Newstead yard after his success last season in the Grade 2 Argento Chase at Cheltenham and his fifth-placed effort in the Gold Cup in March.

“It was always the intention to start him off in the Charlie Hall and then work away from there,” says Jefferson, who is pleased with the condition of the nine-year-old as he kicks off his new campaign.

“He’s never an impressive worker at home, but he looks well, is eating well and is where I want him to be for his first race.”

It certainly promises to be a tough first race. Wetherby’s showpiece Grade 2 contest has attracted a high-quality entry which includes Long Run, winner of the 2011 Gold Cup, plus a host of top novices from last season.

Jefferson knows all too well there are no easy targets with a horse like Cape Tribulation whose credentials embrace 10 career wins from 35 starts and prize money earnings of more than £238,000 for owner David Abell.

“He’s rated 160, so you are limited where you can go with him,” explained the Norton trainer.

“I’m going to give him an entry in the Hennessy Gold Cup and hope that something has got more weight than him, and I suppose we’d be looking to take him back to Cheltenham for the Argento, which he won last year.”

Jefferson’s Wetherby hopes will not be confined to Cape Tribulation.

Twenty-four hours earlier he is aiming to take the wraps off one of his exciting new recruits, Oscar Rock, who is set to make his hurdling bow at the A1 course.

Previously trained by Harry Fry in Dorset, Oscar Rock won two of his three starts in bumpers last season, which included an impressive win in Listed company at Newbury.

“He’s a lovely horse, who has done everything we’ve asked of him,” says Jefferson. “We schooled him over hurdles recently and he was very good.”

Wetherby will be very much the focus of Jefferson’s attention this weekend. Oscar Rock and Cape Tribulation could make it a meeting to remember for the Ryedale ace.

Cockney Sparrow, a winner on Grand National day at Aintree in April, returns to the jumping scene at Wetherby on Saturday.

The OLBG.com Hurdle is the Listed-race target of the John Quinn-trained four-year-old, who confirmed her well-being when scoring on the Flat at Ayr last month.

“She’s in good form,” reports Quinn. “The plan is to start her off at Wetherby and then give her an entry in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle.

“She’ll get a mares’ allowance in that race, there might not be many runners, and, as she’s rated 141, she’s perfectly entitled to be in there.”

Quinn did, of course, win last year’s Fighting Fifth at Newcastle with Countrywide Flame, who, unfortunately, is sidelined this season after suffering a stress fracture.

The Highfield trainer feels Cockney Sparrow is a stronger and more mature individual than she was when she won three of her five hurdles’ starts last season.

“There’s a good programme for mares in the new year and there will be some nice races for her to go for. I’m looking forward to her,” said Quinn, who is attending this week’s Horses-In-Training Sales at Newmarket in search of more potential hurdlers to add to his jumping team.

Tim Easterby introduced a potentially smart hurdler to the jumping scene on Sunday at Aintree where Hawk High ran out a wide-margin winner in the famous colours of local owner Trevor Hemmings.

Partnered by Danny Cook, the three-year-old, a useful handicapper on the Flat, transferred that ability to his new discipline and, after giving a solid display of jumping, ran right away from his rivals after the final flight to win by nine lengths.

Hawk High completed a good two days for Easterby, who also scored on the Flat with Lilac Lace at Newbury on Saturday. Duran Fentiman was in the saddle and was recording his second winner from just six rides at the Berkshire track in the last five seasons – a strike rate of 33 per cent.

Less than two weeks to go before the Flat turf season draws to a close and crack Ryedale rider Jason Hart remains in pole position to be champion apprentice.

Bidding to follow in the footsteps of Amy Ryan, another North Yorkshire rider who memorably won last year’s title, Hart, who is attached to Declan Carroll’s Sledmere yard, is dearly hoping he can hang on to the lead to the bitter end.

“It would be great to be champion, but whatever happens I have had a great season,” said Hart, who hails from Hawick and who started his racing career with Mark Johnston.

Although he is pushing towards a half-century of winners for the season, Hart said: “I got off to a pretty slow start. It wasn’t until the middle of April at Ripon that I rode my first winner, but since then they have come thick and fast.”

Hart, who spent a month last winter on a work-riding stint in the US, feels he benefited greatly from the experience. “I was at Santa Anita and I really enjoyed it, riding against the clock, which took a bit of getting used to, and just doing things a little differently.”

Hart, who rode 18 winners last year, had not set any firm targets for this season.

“I just hoped I’d be able to build on last year, make more contacts and ride more winners,” said the teenager, who has established particularly good connections with trainers Tim Walford and Eric Alston. Indeed, he has ridden a startling seven winners from just 11 mounts for Sheriff Hutton-based Walford this season at a strike-rate of 64 per cent.

“Mr Walford and Mr Alston have been great to me and have given me some good opportunities,” said Hart, who is also full of praise for the continuing support of his boss, Carroll, and his agent, Alan Harrison.

“Alan has done a very good job getting me outside rides this year,” he added.

Every winner counts now and Hart will be doing his utmost to keep ahead of his rivals and add his name to a prestigious roll of honour.

Kristin Stubbs will always have fond memories of Bogsnog, who provided her with her first success as a trainer at Newcastle in April.

Last week, she had further cause to sing his praises after he added another victory to her opening season tally with a slender win at Wolverhampton.

The gelding prevailed by a short head to give Stubbs a more-than-satisfactory 11th winner since she took over the licence from her mother, Linda, earlier this year.

Bogsnog was given a fine ride by Jake Butterfield, who has struck up a particularly good record for the Stubbs yard. This season he has had 27 rides for the stable and has won on six of them.

Butterfield, who is attached to the Ollie Pears stable, followed up 24 hours later when scoring for his boss at Wolverhampton on Powerful Pierre to take his tally for the season to 18, compared with seven for the whole of last term.

Pears, incidentally, is running his smart juvenile No Leaf Clover at Maisons Laffitte next Tuesday in a Group 2 race. It will be Pears’ first runner in France.

Samantha Bell gained a milestone success on her first-ever mount at Newbury.

Hi There, trained by her boss, Richard Fahey, carried Bell to a decisive Saturday triumph to boost her seasonal tally to 20 winners and, consequently, to reduce her riding allowance to 5lb.

Previously attached to the Kevin Prendergast stable on the Curragh, Bell has now matched the 10 winners she rode in Ireland in her first season with Fahey.

Saturday was yet another good day for the Musley Bank trainer.

He also scored with Roachdale House, ridden by Ryan Moore, at Doncaster, as pictured above by photographer Alec Russell, and the Tony Hamilton-ridden Maiden Approach at Wolverhampton.

Two other young riders from Ryedale are also going well.

Craig Gallagher, who is attached to the Brian Ellison yard, won on his boss’s Capellanus at Southwell last week to take his tally to seven winners from 19 rides for the trainer.

Meanwhile, Luke Leadbitter, who hails from the Declan Carroll establishment, was seen to good effect on the William Jarvis-trained winner Hefner at Doncaster at the weekend when he stylishly beat apprentices representing several other European countries.