Martin Keighley hosted a stable visit for the media before The
Open, run over three days this weekend at Cheltenham, at his 35-horse yard at
Luckley near Condicote, Gloucestershire, this morning (Tuesday, November 12).
It was
an almost perfect autumn morning, with the sun shining, as stable star Champion
Court did his final piece of work before taking part in the feature
£160,000 Paddy Power Gold Cup on Saturday, November 16.
Champion
Court has been strongly backed today with the sponsor Paddy Power; into 15/2
from 10/1.
Keighley
commented: "Champion Court is a different horse compared to the end of
last season and he loves it around Cheltenham.
"You
need a horse that jumps and travels well and he does that. You look at his
record there, even going back to novice hurdles, and it is very good.
"He
has only finished out of the frame once there and that was when he struck into
himself and picked up an injury.
"We
have been targeting the Paddy Power Gold Cup because we still believe he is on
a fair mark. You look at his run in the King George, he had Grade One horses
beat off level weights turning in, but he didn't get home in the ground.
"He
went up two pounds for beating Menorah in April, but I still don't think he was
back to his best then, so we think he will be competitive.
"It
is great to have runner in the Paddy Power Gold Cup with a good chance. This is
what it is all about and these are the races you want to be competing in. The
ground, trip and track will all be in Champion Court's favour, and I think he
goes there with an outstanding chance."
Martin
Keighley was born on June 12, 1974 and trains near Condicote, Gloucestershire.
He conditions his horses using the same gallops that the late David Nicholson
had at the start of his training career. He worked for Nicholson straight from
school and became a work and schooling rider as well as a Jump jockey.
His
first winner under Rules as a permit holder was on February 13, 2003 when
Bosuns Mate won a Sandown hunter chase under the guidance of Keighley's wife
Belinda. The pair had met as teenagers when working for Nicholson. Their paths
crossed again at Cheltenham Racecourse years later where Martin worked as part
of the groundstaff team and Belinda was PA to the commercial manager Peter
McNeile.
Keighley
took out a full licence in the 2006/07 season and had his first winner as a
fully-fledged trainer when Prince Dundee landed a selling handicap hurdle on
January 8, 2007 at Taunton. He enjoyed his best-ever season, both in terms of
prize money and number of winners trained, in 2011/12 when he sent out 34
winners and collected total prize money of £271,330. There were 30 successes
last season.
His
best horse so far has been Champion Court, winner of the Grade Two Dipper
Novices' Chase at Cheltenham in January, 2012 and Grade Two Silver Trophy at
the same course in April, 2013. Champion Court finished second in both the
Jewson Novices' Chase at the Cheltenham Festival and the Mildmay Novices' Chase
at Aintree the following month.
Martin
and Belinda have two children, five-year-old Freddie and three-year-old Harry.
Ian
Popham
Ian
Popham, stable jockey to Martin Keighley, rode Champion Court in work this
morning.
He said
afterwards: "Champion Court is in good form and I am hoping for a big run
on Saturday. He is as fit as we can get him at home and goes well fresh.
"Last
season, he had a very hard race in the King George and that seemed to have a
negative effect on him for the rest of the season, so he did well to win on his
final start.
"He
just wasn't showing that same sparkle, but he has obviously had a nice summer
break and has come back really fresh and well.
"He
has a good record at Cheltenham, but it is going to be a very good race. There
are the likes of Dynaste and some interesting horses at the bottom of the
weights but, when Champion Court is at his best, he is a class act."
The son
of a Taunton beef farmer, Ian Popham was born on December 28, 1989 and came up
through the point-to-point ranks, riding as an amateur before turning
professional in 2006. He rode his first winner as an amateur at Newbury in
March, 2007 on Philip Hobbs' Pyleigh Lady and his first success as a
professional came in August, 2009, when he steered the Paul Nicholls-trained
Predateur to victory at Exeter.
Popham
was initially attached to the Nicholls yard and won the 2009/2010 Betfair
Conditional Jockeys' Training Series. When he was with Nicholls, he rode the
likes of Le Duc, Predateur and Poquelin to victory and landed the biggest
success of his career to date when winning on the last-named in the 2010
renewal of the December Gold Cup at Cheltenham's International meeting.
Popham's
career was certainly in the ascendancy heading into the 2011/12 season as he
had just been appointed as stable jockey for trainer Martin Keighley but the
rider was badly injured in October, 2011 when he broke his pelvis in six places
at Caroline Keevil's yard.
After
five operations, he spent a month at Oaksey House (the Injured Jockeys Fund's
rehabilitation centre in Lambourn) and by March, 2012 he was riding out again
and made his racing comeback in July, 2012. However, injury was to strike again
in October, 2012 at Plumpton where Popham again broke his pelvis after a horse
reared over on top of him at the start of a bumper. One of the pins that had
been inserted after his first injury was bent 10 degrees but Popham's pelvis
was again fractured - this time in four places. He again spent time at Oaksey
House but the injury did not require surgery and he was back winning races in
January, 2013.
Popham
has ridden 13 winners so far this season (as of 11/11/13), with six provided by
Martin Keighley, and is well placed to pass his previous best tally of 21, set
in the 2010/2011 campaign.
Any
Currency (IRE)
10 b g
Moscow Society (IRE) - Native Bavard (IRE) (Be My Native (USA))
Form: 6222248/3211354/32/3P4783/614U490-P5
Owner: Cash is
King
Breeder: Gerald
Mitchell
Martin
Keighley said: "Any Currency will probably go for the cross-country race
(on the first day - Friday, November 15).
"He
took to the course really well when he ran at The Festival and schooled well
again there last week. We took him there just to get his eye in and he should
run a good race."
*Talented
staying-chaser with entries at The Open in the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase
on Friday and the Grade Three Murphy Group Handicap Chase on Saturday, in which
he was fourth last year and second in 2010.
*Fifth
on his latest start in a Wincanton handicap chase over just shy of three and a
half miles on October 27 - a race he won 12 months earlier.
*Last
of 17 finishers in the John Smith's Grand National at Aintree in April, having
previously come home ninth on his first outing over Cheltenham's cross country
course in the Glenfarclas Cross Country Handicap Chase at The Festival in
March.
*Winner
of handicap chases at Sandown Park, Wincanton and Ascot. Third to Tidal Bay in
the Grade Three bet365 Gold Cup Chase at Sandown Park in April, 2012, and
fourth in the National Hunt Chase at The Festival in 2010.
Race
Record: Starts: 31; Wins: 3; 2nd: 6; 3rd: 5; Win & Place prize money:
£79,816
Champion
Court (IRE)
8 b g
Court Cave (IRE) - Mooneys Hill (IRE) (Supreme Leader)
Form: 12194/U123122/24251-
Owner: M
Boothright
Breeder: Larry
O'Connor
See
above for the comments of trainer Martin Keighley and stable jockey Ian
Popham.
*Set to
run in the Grade Three Paddy Power Gold Cup on Saturday, November 16, following
a racecourse gallop at Wincanton on October 27.
*Three-time
winner at Cheltenham (from nine starts at the course), all in Grade Two
company. Successful on his latest start in the Macmillan Cancer Support Silver
Trophy Limited Handicap Chase over two miles and five furlongs at The April
Meeting on April 17, beating Menorah by three-quarters of a length.
*Also
victorious in the Cheltenham Pony Club Raceday Novices' Chase on New Year's
Day, 2012, and the Neptune Investment Management Novices' Hurdle at The Open in
2010.
*Ran
well in some of the season's top chases last season, coming home fifth in the
Grade One Ryanair Chase at The Festival and fourth after racing prominently in
the Grade One King George VI Chase at Kempton Park.
*Enjoyed
a productive novice chase campaign in 2011/2012, finishing second in both the
Grade Two Mildmay Novices' Chase at Aintree's Grand National meeting and the
Grade Two Jewson Novices' Chase at The Festival.
*Fourth
behind future Betfred Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Bobsworth in the Grade One
Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle at The Festival in 2011.
Race
Record: Starts: 17; Wins: 5; 2nd: 6; 3rd: 1; Win & Place prize money:
£144,661
Court
In Session (IRE)
8 b g
Court Cave (IRE) - Dangerous Dolly (IRE) (Jurado (USA))
Form: 2P114780/1243P7-86P403
Owner: The
Figjam Partnership
Breeder: Niall
Kelly
*Entered
in the Mallard Pawnbrokers And Family Jewellers Conditional Jockeys' Handicap
Hurdle over two miles and five furlongs on Sunday.
*Six
starts so far this season, most recently when finishing third in a two-mile
handicap hurdle at Warwick on November 6.
*Not
disgraced in the Grade Three Vincent O'Brien County Hurdle at The Festival in
2012, beaten 25 lengths in total.
*Fourth
to Al Ferof in the Grade Two Racing Post Arkle Trophy Trial Novices' Chase at
The Open in November, 2011, having captured a maiden hurdle at The Showcase a
month earlier.
Race
Record: Starts: 20; Wins: 3; 2nd: 2; 3rd: 2; Win & Place prize money:
£19,474
Creepy
(IRE)
5 b g
Westerner - Prowler (IRE) (Old Vic)
Form:
144F22-12
Owner: M
Boothright, T Hanlon, S Harman
Trainer:
Gareth Metcalfe
Martin
Keighley said: "Creepy will go to Cheltenham for the two mile, five
furlong Grade Two novices' hurdle (Neptune Investment Management Novices'
Hurdle - Saturday, November 16).
"He
was second at Cheltenham last time behind a good one of David Pipe's, but ran
with the choke out and you cannot afford to do that over three miles.
"The
drop back in trip should help him settle and he is another who runs well around
Cheltenham."
*Holds
entries in the David Johnson Memorial Intermediate Handicap Hurdle on Friday
and the Grade Two Neptune Investment Management Novices' Hurdle on Saturday, in
which he was fourth last year.
*Runner-up,
beaten 18 lengths by Kings Palace, in the Jools Holland Here On 9th November
Novices' Hurdle at The Showcase on October 19.
*Comfortably
won a two and a half-mile maiden hurdle at Chepstow on October 1.
*Showed
a decent level of form over hurdles previously without winning, finishing
second in a handicap hurdle at Cheltenham's April meeting and going down by a
neck in a Ffos Las maiden hurdle in March.
* Won a
Fontwell bumper in October, 2012.
Race
Record: Starts: 8; Wins: 2; 2nd: 3; 3rd: -; Win & Place prize money:
£11,487
Flementime
(IRE)
5 ch m
Flemensfirth (USA) - Funny Times (Silver Patriarch (IRE))
Form: 16/
Owner: Figjam
II
Breeder: R
McCarthy
Martin
Keighley said: "I am very excited about running Flementime in the mares'
bumper. She missed the whole of last season, but she was only four and the time
she has had off has done her the world of good.
"Her
last run was in the mares' bumper at Aintree in April last year and she ran
well to finish sixth.
"She
is a good mare and has done all her work with Champion Court. He is such a good
workhorse and she has been working as well as him so that tells you that she is
well above average."
*Set to
make her first start for 19 months in the Listed U-kash Mares' Standard Open
National Hunt Flat Race on Saturday. Galloped with Champion Court at Wincanton
on October 27.
*Sixth
of 20 in a Listed mares' bumper at Aintree's Grand National meeting in April,
2012, having made a winning debut in a Plumpton bumper in January of the same
year.
Race
Record: Starts: 2; Wins: 1; 2nd: -; 3rd: -; Win & Place prize money: £1,772
Georgian
King
10 b g
Overbury (IRE) - Roslin (Roscoe Blake)
Form: 1/33631/2F1U3145/643/PU4/47/
Owner: Roger
Allsop
Breeder: Yvonne
Allsop
*Lightly-raced
10-year-old could make his debut for Martin Keighley and have his first start
for two years in the Mallard Pawnbrokers And Family Jewellers Conditional
Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle Race over two miles and five furlongs on Sunday.
*Seventh
on latest start, when trained by Suzy Smith, in extended three-mile handicap
hurdle at Kempton Park in November, 2011.
*Successful
three times over hurdles for Alan King, including a six-length success in a
competitive Doncaster handicap hurdle in February, 2009.
Race
Record: Starts: 22; Wins: 4; 2nd: 1; 3rd: 5; Win & Place prize money:
£26,439
Havingotascoobydo
(IRE)
8 b g
Witness Box (USA) - In Blue (IRE) (Executive Perk)
Form: 1431215/1F123F2/03P-P6
Owner: D
Bishop, C Bowkley, M Parker, D Wilson
Breeder: Daniel
Kenneally
*Set to
line up in the Paddy Power Handicap Chase over two miles on Friday, in which he
was runner-up in 2011.
*Sixth
in a two and a half-mile handicap chase at Stratford on October 26, having been
pulled up on his seasonal return in a Fontwell handicap hurdle on October 5.
Also pulled up in the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys' Handicap Hurdle at The
Festival in March.
*Dual
scorer over fences, winning novices' chases over two miles at Wetherby and Ffos
Las, both in October, 2011.
Race
Record: Starts: 19; Wins: 5; 2nd: 3; 3rd: 3; Win & Place prize money:
£34,527
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