The Nicky Henderson-trained Scots Grey is set to run in the £60,000 Sky Bet Chase (2.25pm) over three miles and half a furlong at Southwell on Saturday, January 28. For this year, the Listed event has been transferred to Southwell while its usual home, Doncaster, undergoes redevelopment. With £60,000 on offer in prize money, the Sky Bet Chase will be the richest race ever run at Southwell and indeed, Nottinghamshire.
The 11-year-old was last seen in action when finishing ninth behind Sir Oj in the Robin Cook Memorial Gold Cup at Cheltenham on December 10, and owner and syndicate manager Henry Ponsonby is expecting a big run under 11st 5lb on Saturday, providing the ground does not deteriorate.
Ponsonby revealed today: "Scots Grey has been ready to run for a while but the ground has been against him - he really needs decent ground, which is why he has only had two races this term.
"He wouldn't go on sticky ground, but I spoke to Nicky Henderson this morning and we are leaning towards running him - a final decision will be made tomorrow morning. He's also in the skybet.com Handicap Hurdle at Southwell on Saturday over two and a half miles but we're more likely to go for the Sky Bet Chase.
"The horse has just been ticking over at home and Nicky is very happy with him and says he's in great from. Although he hasn't actually won over three miles or going left-handed, I don't think that's a problem - Southwell is not a stiff three miles and he's run some great races around left-handed tracks like Cheltenham in the past.
"Providing he runs well on Saturday, we'll think about the Racing Post Chase and also the Mildmay of Flete at the Cheltenham Festival, and he'll also get a Grand National entry. Either Marcus Foley or Andrew Tinkler will probably ride him, as Mick Fitzgerald will be at Cheltenham to ride Fondmort."
The last jump fixture at Southwell was back in August 2005, and Jon Pullin, Clerk of the Course, expressed his satisfaction with the state of the ground, saying: "There's a fantastic covering of grass on the course and the going is currently good to soft.
"It is slightly better than that in the home straight and I'd expect it to stay that way for Saturday.
"We're keeping a close eye on the weather although there are no plans for an inspection at present."
Other likely starters for the Sky Bet Chase, which attracted 45 entries on Monday, include the Mark Bradstock-trained King Harald while last year's winner Colourful Life is set to take his chance again and could possibly be joined by his stablemate Ladalko.
Latest Sky Bet Prices:
Latest Sky Bet Prices:
Ladalko 6/1
King Harald 6/1
Colourful Life 7/1
Sonevafushi 7/1
Too Forward 8/1
Korelo 10/1
Lord Of Illusion 10/1
Jakari 11/1
Celtic Son 12/1
Aristoxene 12/1
Run For Paddy 14/1
Dunbrody Millar 14/1
Glacial Delight 14/1
Ballycassidy 16/1
Iris Bleu 16/1
Iris Royal 16/1
Royal Emperor 16/1
Steppes Of Gold 16/1
Europa 20/1
Campaign Trail 20/1
Distant Thunder 20/1
He's The Guvnor 20/1
Keltic Bard 20/1
Our Armageddon 20/1
Pak Jak 20/1
Scots Grey 20/1
Tyneandthyneagain 20/1
Undeniable 20/1
Limerick Boy 25/1
Classic Capers 25/1
Horus 25/1
Merchants Friend 25/1
Northern Deal 25/1
A Glass In Thyne 33/1
Be My Royal 33/1
Mixsterthetrixster 33/1
Polar Red 33/1
Shardam 33/1
The Kew Tour 33/1
Ballybough Rasher 40/1
Catch The Perk 40/1
Dancer Life 40/1
Shannon's Pride 40/1
Virgin Soldier 40/1
Major Benefit 50/1
Each Way terms: 1/4 of odds for 1st 4 places
SKY BET CHASE RECENT HISTORY
For quality and competitiveness, few staying chases can match the Sky Bet Chase, which has produced plenty of exciting finishes in recent years as well as horses who have gone on to further glory. For this year only, it has been transferred to Southwell while its usual Doncaster venue undergoes redevelopment.
Last year Colourful Life was successful for trainer Paul Nicholls, coming home seven lengths clear of Tikram while in 2004 Tyneandthyneagain was not inconvenienced by the soft ground as he prevailed by six lengths from Magical Bailiwick.
In 2003 the Martin Pipe-trained Barryscourt Lad got the better of Ryalux by a head in a tremendous finish, while the favourite Moor Lane won for trainer Ian Balding, now retired, in 2002.
Heidi III caused a shock the previous year when Gingembre was fourth. Gingembre captured the Scottish Grand National on his next run.
Novice chaser Beau, trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies, triumphed in 2000 and went on to finish second to Marlborough in the William Hill National Hunt Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival before running away with what is now the Betfred Gold Cup by a distance at Sandown.
In 1996 the Sky Bet Chase was won by Addington Boy, who proved five lengths too strong for Merry Master. Gordon Richards, Addington Boy's trainer, followed up with the Sir Robert Ogden-owned General Command the next year.
Addington Boy subsequently performed creditably in both the Grand National and the Cheltenham Gold Cup. In 1999, he finished fourth in the former and fifth in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, and the following season he again ran well at Aintree, coming fifth to Papillon.
Twiston-Davies gained the first of his two successes in the Sky Bet Chase thanks to Young Hustler in 1993. Two months later Young Hustler won the Royal & SunAlliance Chase at the Cheltenham Festival and the following year he came third to The Fellow in the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Bob Tisdall defied a massive weight of 12st 5lb to beat Sir Jest unchallenged by 15 lengths at Doncaster in 1988. The victory was all the more creditable as 21 runners went to post, more than for any renewal since the race started in 1948.
On his next run, the John Edwards-trained gelding found only The West Awake too good when runner-up in the Royal & SunAlliance Chase at Cheltenham's National Hunt Festival.
Edwards and jockey Tom Morgan achieved back-to-back successes in the Sky Bet Chase as Proverb won the 1989 running.
The mighty Michael Dickinson-trained Bregawn won Doncaster's most valuable chase in 1982, beating Megans Boy by two-and-a-half lengths when a heavily-backed favourite.
The following season Bregawn was an integral part of one of the greatest training feats ever when he was victorious in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, with the second to fifth horses also trained by Dickinson.
SKY BET CHASE - FACTS AND FIGURES
* The Sky Bet Chase was first run in 1948 and won by Cool Customer.
* Cool Customer prevailed 12st 7lb - the record weight ever carried to victory.
* Freebooter in 1950 won both the Sky Bet Chase and the Grand National in the same season. Other Grand National winners to have also won the Sky Bet Chase, but not in the same season, are E.S.B. (1957 Sky Bet Chase, 1956 Grand National) and Nicolaus Silver (1962 Sky Bet Chase, 1961 Grand National).
* The 1982 winner Bregawn went on to capture the 1983 Cheltenham Gold Cup.
* Fred Rimell is the most successful trainer of all time in the Sky Bet Chase. He won the famous contest four times - Old Morality (1949), E.S.B. (1957), Nicolaus Silver (1962) and Rough House (1975).
* Among current trainers, the most successful is Nigel Twiston-Davies who sent out Young Hustler (1993) and Beau (2000) to success.
* Tim Molony has the best all-time record among jockeys, having won three times on Arctic Gold (1951), Knock Hard (1953) and E.S.B. (1957). Stan Mellor and Tom Morgan both won the race twice, but no current jockey has triumphed more than once.
* The oldest horses to have landed the Sky Bet Chase are E.S.B. (1957) and Major Bell (1999) - both 11-year-olds.
* Six-year-olds Arctic Gold (1951), Young Hustler (1993) and Heidi III (2001) are the youngest winners.
* The largest field to go to post was 21 in 1988. The smallest was 7 in 1978. This year's race at Southwell has a safety limit of 16.
* Knock Hard (1953) is the only Irish-trained winner to date. Trained by the legendary Vincent O'Brien, he went on to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup later in the season.
* Old Morality (1949) provided the biggest shock in the race's history when coming home at 33/1.
* Bregawn (1982) was the shortest-priced winner at 11/8.
* No horse has won the Sky Bet Chase twice.
THE SKY BET CHASE
ROLL OF HONOUR (1980 - 2005)
Year Name Age/Wgt Trainer Jockey Owner SP Runners
2005 COLOURFUL LIFE 9-10-12 Paul Nicholls Joe Tizzard Andy Peake & David Jackson 9/1 12
2004 TYNEANDTHYNEAGAIN 9-10-04 Richard Guest Henry Oliver Norman Mason 7/1 11
2003 BARRYSCOURT LAD 9-10-01 Martin Pipe Rodi Greene Roseberry Racing 9/2 18
2002 MOOR LANE 10-10-04 Ian Balding Barry Fenton Bob Michaelson 4/1 Fav 12
2001 HEIDI III 6-10-02 Micky Hammond Dean Gallagher Intercity Partnership 20/1 14
2000 BEAU 7-11-00 Nigel Twiston-Davies Tom Jenks Sylvia Tainton 16/1 14
1999 MAJOR BELL 11-10-00 Alistair Whillans Adrian Maguire Middlemiss, McAllan, Hutton 20/1 19
1998 SPEAKER WEATHERILL 9-11-11 Owen Brennan Martin Brennan Lady Anne Bentinck 4/1 Fav 16
1997 GENERAL COMMAND 9-11-10 Gordon Richards Paul Carberry Robert Ogden 5/2 Fav 12
1996 ADDINGTON BOY 8-10-08 Gordon Richards Mark Dwyer Gott Foods Ltd 11/2 12
1995 Meeting Abandoned
1994 CARBISDALE 8-11-04 Mary Reveley Peter Niven Mrs M Williams 13/2 10
1993 YOUNG HUSTLER 6-10-00 Nigel Twiston-Davies David Bridgwater Gavin MacEchern 9/2 14
1992 Meeting Abandoned
1991 DALKEY SOUND 8-10-09 Mary Reveley Peter Niven G Brown 9/1 19
1990 MAN O'MAGIC 9-11-10 Kim Bailey Mark Perrett James Greig 7/2 11
1989 PROVERITY 8-11-08 John Edwards Tom Morgan Mrs P Shaw 100/30 11
1988 BOB TISDALL 9-12-05 John Edwards Tom Morgan K Al-Said 16/1 21
1987 Meeting Abandoned
1986 Meeting Abandoned
1985 Meeting Abandoned
1984 Meeting Abandoned
1983 GET OUT OF ME WAY 8-10-00 Graham Thorner Paul Barton V Kilkenny 7/2 9
1982 BREGAWN 8-11-06 Michael Dickinson John Francome M Kennelly 11/8 Fav 9
1981 TRAGUS 9-10-13 David Morley Bob Davies J Morley 6/1 10
1980 JER 9-10-00 Peter Bevan Phil Tuck G Wyse 9/2 8
RACE PROGRAMME
Southwell, Saturday, January 28, 2006
Time Race Distance Prize Money
1.20 Sky Bet Press Red To Bet On ATR HBLB Novices' Chase (5-y-o+) 2m £20,000
1.50 You're Either Vegas Or You're Not Mansion House Handicap Chase (5-y-o+) (0-140) 2m £20,000
