A field of seven has been declared for the £50,000, Grade 2, Unibet Presian War Novices Hurdle on Friday, the feature race on the card, as jump racing returns with two high class days of racing at Chepstow on Friday and Saturday.
John McConnell will be hoping his Irish raider, Intense Approach, can complete a hattrick of wins on Friday, having racked up two wide margin victories in August and September. The five-year-old, rousted the field at Downpatrick, beating the Willie Mullins trained Stormbreaker by 15 lengths before following up that victory at Kelso with another wide margin victory when a short price 1-3 favourite. No Irish based trainer has ever won the Unibet Persian War Novices Hurdle.
Fergal O’Brien will be hoping Ryan’s Rocket can provide him with a third win in the race; the Gloucestershire based handler won the race in 2017 with Poetic Rhythm and, most recently, with Accidental Rebel in 2022. Ryan Rocket, owned by the Noel Fehily Racing syndicate, won consecutive races towards the end of last season at Taunton and Kempton.
Five-year-old Juventus de Brion has also been declared. The lightly raced gelding has had just the two career starts to date, at Exeter and Ascot, finishing third on both occasions, and bids to give trainer Dan Skelton his first win in the race.
Flying Fortune, trained by Peter and Michael Bowen, heads into the race in flying form, having won three consecutive races over the summer, once at Market Rasen and twice at Worcester.
Ella Pickard finished fourth in 2020’s renewal with stable star Getaround and she will be hoping to improve on that this year with Bullets Hill.
A field of 11 will go to post in the Unibet Veterans’ Handicap Chase at 15:50, including last year’s winner Good Boy Bobby. Trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies and ridden by his son, Sam, Good Boy Bobby won a thrilling renewal in 2023, beating Aye Right by a neck. This year’s main threat comes from the Peter and Michael Bowen trained Francky Du Berlais and Copperhead, trained by Joe Tizzard.
The Welsh Jump Jockeys Derby, run in aid of cancer charity LATCH, is back this year having raised an incredible £15,517 in 2023. The full card gets underway at 1:35pm and draws to a close with the finale at 5:30pm.
