As I’m not riding, I’m going to head home to see my family in Ireland and spend a couple of days in my hometown Cork. We will have a pretty standard Christmas, but I will be tucking into a bit of turkey with all the trimmings on Christmas Day.
I have taken a look at a few of the big races which I’d have liked to have been riding in. I will start with the Grade 1 Kauto Star Novices’ Chase, which is a race to sit back and enjoy. We have two high-class and potential superstars of the future going head-to-head in Bravemansgame and Ahoy Senor. Bravemansgame has been exceptional this season, and I love how well he jumps and attacks his fences. Ahoy Senor produced an unbelievable performance last time out at Newbury and got in to a great rhythm. Kempton is a quick track, so their jumping will need to be spot on, but we could have potential Gold Cup horses to watch here.
The Christmas Hurdle is up next and this will be the hardest race to watch, as I would have loved to have been on Epatante again. She is such a talented and very special mare to me and I felt like she was somewhere near to her best at Newcastle last time out. I think she has a brilliant chance of winning this race for a second time and I will be cheering her on at home in Ireland.
The race of the day has got to be the King George VI Chase, and I’m really looking forward to watching Minella Indo. He wears the cheekpieces and I think they will bring out more improvement in him; he is going to be very hard to beat in my opinion.
The Welsh Grand National on the following day looks a brilliant renewal and it’s another race I wish I was riding in. Last year’s winner Secret Reprieve is back again, but I think he will find it a lot tougher this year and he is without a prep run. We all know Evan Williams is a fantastic trainer, so I’m sure he will have him spot on. The Big Dog is the one I like; he will stay all day and he is trained by a great man in Peter Fahey. The class horse in the race is without doubt Native River, so this race has just about a bit of everything and is going to be a fascinating race to watch.
I hope you all have a great Christmas, and I’ll see you when I’m back riding on 28th December. Good Luck and Stay Safe, Aidan