Stroll for Regent's at Wincanton

Fitted with a hood and a ring bit on his second run over fences, Regent's Stroll got his chasing career back on track with a convincing victory against sole rival Jeriko Du Reponet at Wincanton on Tuesday. Much too keen on his reappearance at Newbury last month, the Walk In The Park gelding ran well in the circumstances finishing third in Graded company behind Wendigo. Runner-up in a Grade 1 novice hurdle at Aintree last spring when sporting a hood for the first time, Paul Nicholls elected to put the headgear back on and it did the trick with the six year old settling well in front. Kept wide by Harry Cobden, his jumping was good throughout and very accurate over the last three fences when his rider turned the screw. A four and a quarter lengths scorer from the second who was rated 149 over hurdles, the winning margin could have been more had Cobden wished. The fourteen times champion trainer is keen to get more experience into Regent's Stroll, who remains as big as 40/1 for the Brown Advisory Novices' Chase - his only option at the Festival. While he may be kept to the intermediate trip for the time being - the Scilly Isles Novices' Chase at Sandown (31st January) is an option - expect him to improve again once tackling three miles for the first time. A horse with a huge amount of ability and potential, he is every inch a Grade 1 staying chaser in the making and couldn't be in better hands.

While Regent's Stroll is featured in the Top 40 Prospects in OJA, the Talking Trainers section also had a productive afternoon at the West country track with three others winners, namely Hold The Serve (9/2), Swingin Safari (8/11) and Noahsgreatrainbow (5/2). The last named, in particular, warrants a special mention because Harry Derham and his team have done a superb job to win another race with the six year old. A smart bumper performer a couple of seasons ago, he was bitterly disappointing in two runs over hurdles last term - bled on both occasions. Having operated on his wind and changed a few other things, the Milan gelding scored by six lengths on his chasing debut here off a mark of 114. Following his two runs last winter, I thought it would require a miracle for him to add to his bumper win at the same track on Boxing Day 2023.