Ladbrokes Trophy: The magnificent seven

Paul Nicholls on Black Corton:

“The Ladbrokes Trophy has always been Black Corton's aim. He was second in the Charlie Hall the other day and Elegant Escape, who is favourite, only just beat him here last year in the novice chase. I thought he put up a career best in the Charlie Hall – he would have got 11 lb off the winner if it was a handicap.

“It was a really good run and he has come on since then. He hasn’t had the runs he had last year, we’ve kept him fresh, so I can’t wait to run him. I actually think he’s a very big price.”

Black Corton caps Bryony Frost's amazing year with a Grade One winner in the 32Red Kauto Star Novices' Chase at Kempton

Results ▶️ https://t.co/7iJOPsvjqx pic.twitter.com/5eBKfzvl2I

— Racing UK (@racing_uk) December 26, 2017

Richard Hobson on Allysson Monterg:

“Allysson Monterg has got a lovely weight on his back and he’s progressing all the time. He won the Phil Nelson Cup at Perth last time going away and James (Bowen, jockey) said ‘the further he goes, the better he is’. The Labrokes Trophy, being the strongly run race that it is, should suit him down to the ground, as long as he is able to use the easy, free action that he’s got.

“He’s had niggly problems over the years, but he’s by Network and from an AQPS family that seem to get better with age anyway. Hopefully, he’s one of them and he’ll just keep progressing.”

Anthony Honeyball on Ms Parfois and Regal Encore:

“Ms Parfois only hacked round today, she’s a big, heavy-topped mare and it was lovely good ground out there. Aidan (Coleman, jockey) didn’t let her stride on too much, it was just for the day out really and the main work should already be in the bank.

“She gets quite revved in the prelims and a bit jig-joggy at home, but in her work she’s a pleasure. You can drop your hands on her and she’ll go as fast or as slow as you want her to. Jumping-wise, in her schooling and everything, she jumps brilliantly, touch wood.

“She did surprise me a bit last season, I thought she’d do very, very well as a chaser and be very much at the top of the tree amongst the novice mares. But she won the listed race at Warwick against the geldings and every time we ran her, the ground kept coming in her favour, we knew we’d have soft or heavy and the races were cutting up. It just all panned out beautifully for her.”

The way Ms Parfois jumped the last 😍 pic.twitter.com/hawzU9O5aa

— ITV Racing (@itvracing) January 13, 2018

“I think Regal Encore's third in this race (Ladbrokes Trophy) last year was probably the best run of his life, to finish third off 150. Quite rightly it was all about the first two that day, but he was best of the rest and lumped more weight than most of them. It just shows what a high calibre horse he is when it all comes together. He’s won those very valuable races at Ascot and he’s been a lovely horse for us over the years.”

Tom Lacey on Thomas Patrick:

“Thomas Patrick is a big, scopey horse. He didn’t necessarily need to do that today, but he’s the sort of horse who we thought would love the day out and a quiet canter around like that. In an ideal world, we’d want a bit more rain. If it was good-to-soft all over, we’d probably let him take his chance, but if there’s any good in it, we’d probably wait for other opportunities.

“He never stopped improving last season, had a good summer and has come back a lot sharper. I think Richard (Johnson, jockey) felt that at Sandown. He knew his job better, even though he’s had plenty of racing for a six-year-old and ran in plenty of point-to-points. He’s definitely taken a step forward from last year.

“When he came to the yard, I thought ‘oh my lord what have we got here, this thing should be hunting!’, and Aidan Coleman schooled him for us one morning and said ‘bloody hell, this thing has been jumping walls or gates or something’. Hence why took him back over hurdles and put him in two-mile hurdle races, just to try and sharpen him up. He just kept stepping up. He was progressive throughout last season and I think he continues to progress.

“I think Sandown was a career best with Elegant Escape and the other two, even if Mr Henderson’s horse (Terrefort) didn’t run his race. That was no fault of Thomas Patrick’s and I thought he led them a merry dance before just getting pipped on the line.”

What a finish to the 188Bet Future Stars Intermediate Chase!

Elegant Escape gets up close home to beat Thomas Patrick and completes a double for Colin Tizzard and Tom O'Brien.👏 pic.twitter.com/F3aGtutERx

— Sandown Park (@Sandownpark) November 11, 2018

Willie Mullins on Kemboy and Pairofbrowneyes:

“Kemboy looks the one for me. He has a lot of weight and we picked up a 4 lb penalty (for winning the Clonmel Oil Chase), but we had good reason to do it. He’s fit and well and he’ll go on the ground, so we’re very happy to let him take his chance. I suppose he was entitled to win that race last time. I wasn’t sure if he’d be fit enough on the day but he surprised me, which means he’s probably still improving.

“It’s been very dry over here and it’s probably very dry as well with you. I think it will probably be a bit fast for Al Boum Photo, Up For Review and Isleofhopendreams. I’ll probably leave Invitation Only at home, too, but we’ll leave Total Recall in for the time being. Pairofbrowneyes and Rathvinden we could also bring over. Pairofbrowneyes won’t get in at the moment, but I’m sure a few will drop out and let him in.”