TIZZARD TARGETS BETFAIR. DON'T SETTLE FOR LESS ROWLAND MEYRICK HANDICAP CHASE ON BOXING DAY AT WETHERBY

Hey Big Spender is on course to make his seasonal reappearance in the £40,000 Betfair. Don't Settle For Less Rowland Meyrick Handicap Chase (1.45pm) on Wednesday, December 26, the first day of Wetherby's Welcome To Yorkshire Christmas Meeting.

 

Colin Tizzard's nine-year-old was last seen shouldering top-weight to victory in the Grade Three Classic Chase at Warwick in January when conceding upwards of 13lb to his 12 rivals. He also captured the Listed Rehearsal Chase at Newcastle under a welter burden in November, 2011.

Tizzard said: "We are looking at the Betfair. Don't Settle For Less Rowland Meyrick Handicap Chase at Wetherby for Hey Big Spender.

"He did some fast work yesterday morning and Wetherby should be his first race. He picked up a small injury in February and he came back in a bit later than the others.

"He was getting better and better last season and his win at Warwick was probably a career best performance."

Another likely participant in the Betfair. Don't Settle For Less Rowland Meyrick Handicap Chase is Middleham Park Racing's Junior. The versatile nine-year-old, trained by David Pipe, has annexed notable prizes in both spheres and stayed on strongly to win the Rehearsal Chase at Newcastle on December 1.

The prestigious Grade Three contest, 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. Local handler Malcolm Jefferson captured last year's renewal with 33/1 chance According To Pete.

An exciting six-race card on day one of the Welcome To Yorkshire Christmas Meeting gets underway at 12.35pm and also features the £10,000 Read Donald McCain's Column On Betfair Handicap Chase (2.55pm) 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, 2012, the second and final day of the Welcome To Yorkshire Christmas Meeting. Gates open at 10am on both days.

It 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 the 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, with locally-based racehorse retraining centre New Beginnings.