KALMINI GOES ON TRIAL FOR JCB TRIUMPH HURDLE AT CHELTENHAM ON SATURDAY
Lewes trainer Sheena West is set to hand Kalmini, unbeaten in two starts over hurdles, her toughest task to date in the £30,000 Grade Two Wragge & Co Juvenile Novices' Hurdle, run over two miles and a furlong at Cheltenham on Festival Trials Day, Saturday, January 28.
Formerly in the care of Mick Channon and a winner on the Flat, Kalmini was purchased for 14,000 guineas from Darley at Tattersalls in July. The Rahy filly followed up a facile six-length victory on her hurdling debut at Huntingdon in November with a battling success in a decent novices' hurdle at Taunton earlier this month, scoring gamely by a length from Opera Mundi and her trainer is anticipating another big run on Saturday.
West revealed today: "I was delighted with her run last time - very pleased indeed. She was a bit tired after the race but she is in great form now. I'm not sure how good the others were to be honest, as the form has not been franked yet, but she could only beat what was put in front of her.
"She actually missed out the last at Taunton and needs a good gallop, so the race was not run to suit at all. A strongly run race will definitely show her in an even better light, and good ground would be perfect for her.
"Jamie Goldstein gets on really well with her - he rides her out at home - and he'll be on board again.
"I think she's got every chance in the race - you can't worry about the opposition just because they're from big stables. I honestly can't wait until the weekend. I want to show everyone how good Kalmini is.
"We had It's Wallace Jnr run in the JCB Triumph Hurdle a few years ago - he finished 17th behind Spectroscope in 2003 - but Kalmini is a different class altogether. The JCB Triumph Hurdle at The Festival will definitely be her aim after the weekend."
Other entries for the Grade Two contest include the Nicky Henderson-trained Afsoun, currently second favourite for the Triumph Hurdle, Dear Villez, who won first time for Paul Nicholls at Folkestone earlier this month, Philip Hobbs' Detroit City, and Pace Shot from the Gary Moore stable.
There are five French-trained entries; Guillaume Macaire's O De Montot, Arnaud Chaille-Chaille's Or Noir De Somoza, Overlut trained by Francois-Marie Cottin, and the Francois Doumen pair of Ouste and Kasbah Bliss, who the trainer has stated is the likelier runner providing the ground is soft enough.
The Wragge & Co Juvenile Novices' Hurdle is one of seven races at Cheltenham on Festival Trials Day. Previous winners of the contest include the likes of Hors La Loi III in 1999, subsequently twice a winner at The Festival in the 1999 Anglo Irish Bank Supreme Novices' Hurdle and the 2002 Smurfit Champion Hurdle and Jair Du Cochet in 2001, subsequently a high-class chaser whose victories included the 2004 Letheby & Christopher Chase.
Also featuring on the Festival Trials Day programme are the £80,000 Letheby & Christopher Chase, one of the leading trials for the totesport Cheltenham Gold Cup, the £110,000 Victor Chandler Chase, which is on loan from Ascot for the second and final time this year, the £60,000 Byrne Brothers Cleeve Hurdle and the £55,000 Ladbrokes Trophy Handicap Chase. All four of these races are part of the BHB's Order of Merit, with the current leader of the series, Monkerhostin, likely to take his chance in the Letheby & Christopher Chase.
The high-class seven-race card carries total prize money of £386,000 - a record for the day.
Admission prices for the meeting are Club/Tattersalls: £20; 16-24s: £12; Best Mate Enclosure: £8.
GROUND
The ground at Cheltenham is currently GOOD on both the hurdles and the chase course.
Continuing frosts are forecast for the next few nights while daytime temperatures are predicted to rise to three or four degrees. If this proves to be correct, Cheltenham is optimistic racing will go ahead.
RACE PROGRAMME
FESTIVAL TRIALS DAY,
SATURDAY, JANUARY 28, 2006
TIME RACE PRIZE MONEY DISTANCE
1.00pm Lily O'Briens Novices' Hurdle for the Gloucestershire Hussars Trophy (Grade Two) (Registered as the Classic Novices' Hurdle) £30,000 2m 4 1/2f
4.30pm Wragge & Co Juvenile Novices' Hurdle (Grade Two) (Registered as the Finesse Juvenile Novices' Hurdle) £30,000 2m 1f
* = Channel 4 Televised Races
TOTAL FOR THE DAY £386,000
ROYAL MEETING PRIZE MONEY TOPS £3.5 MILLION FOR THE FIRST TIME
Prize Money for Royal Ascot, Tuesday 20th to Saturday 24th June, has been increased by 12.5% in 2006, bringing the total on offer over the five days to £3,665,000 from £3,255,000.
Across the board increases totalling £85,000 have been made to 11 races to ensure that no race at the Royal Meeting is run for less than £55,000.
Additions to the Golden Jubilee Stakes (£350,000 from £250,000) and the King's Stand Stakes (£200,000 from £140,000) were announced in December and further highlights within the £410,000 total increase revealed today include:
* £70,000 added to the King Edward VII Stakes, now worth £200,000.
* £25,000 added to both the St James's Palace Stakes and Coronation Stakes, now both worth £250,000.
* £10,000 added to the Coventry Stakes, now worth £80,000.
* £10,000 added to the Norfolk Stakes, now worth £70,000.
* £20,000 added to the Queen Alexandra Stakes, one of the 11 races increased to ensure that the minimum value for any Royal Ascot race is £55,000.
"It is important for racing to return to the newly redeveloped Ascot with significant increases in prize money for our flagship meeting," said Douglas Erskine-Crum, Chief Executive at Ascot.
"Two of the largest increases, cumulatively an additional £160,000 to the all-aged sprints, are important as, along with the Prince of Wales's Stakes, they are the key Royal Ascot races which we are promoting around the world.
"However, it is equally important to continue to make all the races at the Royal Meeting as attractive as possible to domestic and European owners and trainers so we have added money to 11 races to ensure £55,000 is the minimum on offer across the 30 race programme as befits Europe's premier flat race meeting.
"We have also put £25,000 on both the St James's Palace Stakes and the Coronation Stakes and increased the King Edward VII Stakes by £70,000 to £200,000 with the aim of increasing its profile and appeal within what is a particularly congested category at that time of year.
"The Norfolk Stakes is up £10,000 to £70,000 to reflect its promotion to Group Two status and we have also increased the value of the Coventry Stakes by £10,000 to £80,000 so that it retains its stature as Royal Ascot's premier two-year-old race."
Royal Ascot 2006 - Order of Running & Prizemoney
Date
Race
Age
Dist
Increase from 2005
2006 Prize Money
Tues 20 June
The Coventry Stakes (Gr2)
2
6f
+10,000
80,000
The King's Stand Stakes (Gr2)
3+
5f
+60,000
200,000
The St James's Palace Stakes (G1)
3
1m
+25,000
250,000
The Queen Anne Stakes (Gr1)
4+
1m
250,000
The Ascot Stakes (H'cap)
4+
2m 4f
+5,000
55,000
The Windsor Castle Stakes (L)
2
5f
+15,000
55,000
Wed 21 June
The Jersey Stakes (Gr3)
3
7f
65,000
The Windsor Forest Stakes (Gr2)
4+
1m
130,000
The Prince of Wales's Stakes (Gr1)
4+
10f
350,000
The Royal Hunt Cup (H'cap)
3+
1m
100,000
The Queen Mary Stakes (Gr2)
2
5f
70,000
The Sandringham Stakes (L)
3
1m
+5,000
55,000
Thu 22 June
The Norfolk Stakes (Gr2)
2
5f
+10,000
70,000
The Ribblesdale Stakes (Gr2)
3
1m 4f
130,000
The Gold Cup (Gr1)
4+
2m 4f
225,000
The Britannia Stakes (H'cap)
3
1m
+5,000
55,000
The Hampton Court Stakes (L)
3
10f
+15,000
55,000
The Buckingham Palace Stakes (H'cap)
3+
7f
+5,000
55,000
Fri 23 June
The Albany Stakes (Gr3)
2
6f
60,000
The King Edward VII Stakes (Gr2)
3
1m 4f
+70,000
200,000
The Coronation Stakes (Gr1)
3
1m
+25,000
250,000
The Wolferton Stakes (L)
3+
10f
+15,000
55,000
The Queen's Vase (Gr3)
3
2m
60,000
The King George V Stakes (H'cap)
3
1m 4f
+5,000
55,000
Sat 24 June
The Chesham Stakes (L)
2
7f
+15,000
55,000
The Hardwicke Stakes (Gr2)
4+
1m 4f
140,000
The Golden Jubilee Stakes (G1)
3+
6f
+100,000
350,000
The Wokingham Stakes (H'cap)
3+
6f
80,000
The Duke of Edinburgh Stakes (H'cap)
3+
1m 4f
+5,000
55,000
The Queen Alexandra Stakes (Con)
4+
2m 6f
+20,000
55,000
Total
+410,000
3,665,000
The only change to the order of running from 2005 is that the Windsor Castle Stakes and the Chesham Stakes switch places, with the former now run on Tuesday and the latter on Saturday, so reverting to the format at Ascot in 2004.
Due to the realignment of the course and implementation of the new Stereline Stalls, there are some minor reductions in maximum field sizes: 6f (28 from 30); 7f (29 from 30); 1m Straight (30 from 32); 1m Round (28 from 30); 10f (16 from 18); 1½m (19 from 20); 2m 6f (30 from 32). The remaining safety limits remain unchanged. The Queen Alexandra Stakes, formerly 2m about 6f, is now 2m about 5f 159y and the Queen's Vase is reduced by 45y to about 2m.
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