RACING NEWS DIGEST:DESSIE HUGHES is confident good ground will see Schindlers Hunt give a good account of himself in the William Hill King George VI Chase at Kempton.
The nine-year-old ran a number of creditable races in defeat last season, finishing third in the Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham before filling the runner-up spot at both Aintree and Punchestown.
Second to subsequent Hatton’s Grace winner Oscar Dan Dan on his return to action at Thurles in October, he went on to finish fourth in the Amlin 1965 Chase at Ascot and Hughes is expecting better when he steps back up in trip on St Stephen’s Day.
“The plan at the moment is for Schindlers to go to Kempton on Boxing Day for the King George and I think he’ll run a nice race if the ground is good,” said Hughes.
“Hopefully they’ll get nice ground there as they normally do and it will certainly be better than what we have here anyway.
“I was probably a little bit disappointed after his run at Ascot but Paddy Flood wasn’t disappointed and said he just wants further.
“Two miles and three furlongs round there on the inside track is a bit quick for him and there should be a bit of improvement to come.”
Meanwhile, Philip Fenton is in no rush to make any future plans for Dunguib after his awesome display in the Bar One Racing Royal Bond Novice Hurdle at Fairyhouse.
Last season’s Champion Bumper winner has made a seamless transition to obstacles and, after two relatively low-key successes over timber, he routed Grade One opposition by seven lengths on Wednesday.
“He’s been out in the field for the first half of the morning and seems in good shape, so I’m delighted,” said Fenton. “He ate up well last night which is always good when they’ve had a race on heavy ground – you never know how much it has taken out of them.
“The ground might not have looked all that testing but it really was tiring ground, so we’ll just have to see how he is in a week or so before we decide where we’ll go with him.
“We’ll have a chat about whether we’ll run at Christmas or not and then make a plan.”
Paddy Power were so impressed by his effortless display that they installed him as 4 to 1 favourite for the Champion Hurdle, with a run, but Fenton’s current plan is to stick to the novice route.
“At the moment we are going to stick to novice races, but I would imagine he’ll have an entry in the Champion Hurdle,” the Co Tipperary handler continued. “If we did go down that route we might look at the Irish Champion Hurdle beforehand, but all the options are open and we just want to make sure we make the right decision.”
Brian O’Connell has ridden Dunguib on each of his eight racecourse starts and, worryingly for the opposition, feels the son of Presenting will be even better when encountering a quicker surface.
“The pacemaker in the race (Deise Dan) helped me as it was a good gallop and a true-run race, so it worked out in our favour,” the jockey said. “Going that bit better gallop meant he jumped much better and I was delighted with him.
“It’s hard to say how much more is to come but he travels so well in a race and just seems to pick up very easily.
“He’s done everything well so far against novices, but the Champion Hurdle is a different ball game. I’ll leave that up to Philip and the owners.
“Personally I think he’ll be better on better ground, but he has so much class he seems to handle heavy.”
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MONEY TRIX could set himself up for a crack at the Lexus Chase with a good performance in the Eric Scarth Memorial Champion Chase at Kelso.
The lightly-raced 10-year-old relishes testing conditions and trainer Nicky Richards sees Sunday’s event as an ideal stepping-stone to the Leopardstown feature.
“He goes to Kelso and it’s all about building his confidence for the Lexus or whatever he goes for next,” said Richards. “He hasn’t had a lot of racing, especially over fences. Every bit of experience he gets will benefit him in the long run. It looks like we are going to have a wet spell so that should be in his favour.”
