Kid skips Newbury

The Betchworth Kid has skipped an engagement at Newbury tomorrow with connections instead aiming for bigger prizes later this month.

Alan King’s five-year-old earned a rating of over 100 on the Flat after a fine summer campaign and made a pleasing start to his career over obstacles with a victory at Plumpton.

He was narrowly beaten into second on his latest appearance at Taunton but he is now set to step up in trip and class at either Doncaster or Cheltenham on Saturday week.

“We had looked at Newbury but it looks as though it’s going to be terrible ground and whatever runs there is going to have a hard race,” said owner Henry Ponsonby.

“We don’t want that to happen as there is a nice race at Doncaster over three miles on Saturday week we’re looking at.

“He’ll either go there or for a good novice hurdle at Cheltenham on the same day.”

As well as two exciting young hurdlers in The Betchworth Kid and General Miller, Ponsonby’s veteran performer Fleet Street is being lined up for the Cheltenham Festival, with the Kim Muir on his agenda.

“He hasn’t run since the Grand National last year but he’s in good form and will probably go for the Kim Muir,” the owner continued.

“He goes well fresh and has a good record at Cheltenham, people tend to forget he was third in a Supreme Novices’ Hurdle there behind Brave Inca and War Of Attrition.”