- JEFFERSON HOPING
TRIBULATION CAN MAKE THE LINE UP
A total of 17 entries have
been received for the £40,000 Betfair. Don't Settle For Less Rowland Meyrick
Handicap Chase (1.45pm), the highlight of the six-race programme at Wetherby on
Boxing Day, Wednesday, December 26, day one of the Welcome To Yorkshire
Christmas Meeting.
The eight-year-old has
combined running both over hurdles and fences in the past 12 months and also
raced on the Flat at York in October. He recorded a memorable double in the
spring when successful in the Pertemps Final at the Cheltenham Festival and in
a valuable handicap hurdle at the John Smith's Grand National meeting at
Aintree. Cape Tribulation's latest appearance came at Wetherby on November 3,
when he was fifth to Tidal Bay in the Grade Two John Smith's West Yorkshire
Hurdle.
Malcolm Jefferson said
today: "All being well, Cape Tribulation goes for the Betfair. Don't
Settle For Less Rowland Meyrick Handicap Chase.
"His run on the Flat
at York in October (when he was second in a two mile, two furlong handicap
under top-weight) was alright but nothing went right for him at Wetherby.
"He is in good form
now and we'll just see how things go for him. I just wish the weather would dry
up a little bit! There has been so much rain about up here."
The other entries include Helpston
and Midnight Chase, who finished second and third respectively in
the race 12 months ago. Local Bingley-based handler Sue Smith has two possible
starters in Mr Moonshine and Auroras Encore, while Fergal O'Brien
has made an entry for the progressive Alvarado, who was successful at
Wetherby in the Bobby Renton Handicap Chase on October 17.
The Betfair. Don't Settle
For Less Rowland Meyrick Handicap Chase, run over three miles and a furlong,
was first staged in 1957 and boasts an excellent roll of honour with subsequent
Cheltenham Gold Cup winners Forgive N Forget (1984) and The Thinker (1986)
among the winners.
Yahoo, who chased home
Desert Orchid in the 1989 Cheltenham Gold Cup, scored in 1987, while the Ferdy
Murphy-trained Truckers Tavern, second to Best Mate in the 2003 Cheltenham Gold
Cup, took the spoils in 2004.
An exciting six-race card
on Boxing Day gets underway at 12.35pm and also features the £10,000 Read
Donald McCain's Column On Betfair Handicap Chase (2.55pm, 25 entries) over an
extended two and a half miles.
The £16,000 Castleford
Handicap Chase (2.20pm) over two miles is the highlight on Thursday, December
27 the second and final day of the Welcome To Yorkshire Christmas Meeting.
Gates open at 10am on both days.
There will be a real
Christmas atmosphere on both days of the Welcome To Yorkshire Christmas Meeting
with mulled wine and mince pies on offer for the early birds, as well as live
music from LA Jazz Band and Endeavour Ceilidh Band.
Racegoers will also have
the opportunity to interact with reindeer on both days courtesy of Rigmore
Reindeer & Co, while, 12 months on from his 'official' retirement, Mister
McGoldrick will return to his beloved Wetherby, where he won eight races during
a glittering career, thanks to locally-based racehorse retraining centre New
Beginnings.
GOING
The going at Wetherby is
currently: HEAVY, SOFT IN PLACES
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