Williams hoping for speedy Harry recovery
The hugely talented but fragile gelding has had a stop-start opening to the campaign, missing an intended run in the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby before finishing fourth in the Betfair Chase at Haydock.
He was due to renew rivalries with Kauto Star and Long Run in the King George VI Chase at Kempton on St Stephen’s Day, but once again had to be withdrawn on the morning of the race.
The Cheltenham Gold Cup remains the primary objective for the eight-year-old, but Williams is hoping to take in another trip to Prestbury Park along the way.
“I’m hopeful we can get him back for the Argento Chase at the end of January,” said Williams.
“It was disappointing to miss the King George and people don’t realise how fragile these horses are.
“If we can get him to the Argento Chase, we’ll see what happens there, but at the moment the plan is for him to run there and then go for the Gold Cup.”
Williams is targeting a couple of trips to Ascot for his Peterborough Chase winner Gauvain, starting off with the Victor Chandler Chase on January 21.
“I’m very pleased with him and the plan is for him to run in the Victor Chandler Chase at Ascot next month,” the trainer added.
“He’s coming back in trip for that and he’ll then probably go back up in distance for the Ascot Chase in February. He ran in both of those races last season, so we’ll follow the same path and then review where we are after that.”
Meanwhile Wishfull Thinking is in line for a tilt at the Victor Chandler Chase at Ascot next month following his much improved performance at Kempton on Tuesday.
The eight-year-old was one of last season’s leading novice chasers for Philip Hobbs, but had been bitterly disappointing in both the Paddy Power Gold Cup and the Tingle Creek having set a scorching pace in both contests.
Richard Johnson adopted more conservative tactics in the Desert Orchid Chase and it yielded a big improvement, with Wishfull Thinking going down narrowly to the talented Finian’s Rainbow.
“I was pleased with him and he’ll probably go for the Victor Chandler Chase at Ascot next,” said Hobbs.
“The different tactics seemed to help him, so we’ll probably do the same thing next time.”
Another Hobbs inmate who performed with credit over the Festive period was Captain Chris, a distant third behind the incredible Kauto Star and Long Run in the King George.
He too could be in line for a trip to Ascot, with the Betfair Ascot Chase on February 18 under consideration. “We haven’t made any definite plans for him, but he might go to Ascot as well for the big the two-mile-five-furlong race,” the trainer added.
