@AWChamps Hanoverian Baron primed for Southwell return

Hanoverian Baron primed for Southwell return

Mark Johnston into lead of All-Weather Championships Trainers' Table with remarkable run of form

Hanoverian Baron is set to have his first start since October in the £20,000 Coral Mobile Just Three Clicks To Bet Handicap (3.00pm, seven runners) over 12 furlongs at Southwell on Thursday, January 30, the latest boosted race during the new All-Weather Championships.

 

Tony Newcombe's charge ran some respectable races on turf last year, finishing second to Sir John Hawkwood at York in May and seventh in the Old Newton Cup at Haydock Park in July. He rounded off his turf campaign with third in a competitive 12-furlong handicap back at York on October 11.

The nine-year-old's most recent success came on the All-Weather in March, 2013, when annexing a 12-furlong Class 2 handicap at Wolverhampton by three quarters of a length.

Newcombe reported: "Hanoverian Baron is in real good order. He likes soft ground and gets the trip well, so we are very hopeful.

"He won at Wolverhampton last year and then ran a really good race at York when he was just beaten by Sir Michael Stoute's horse (Sir John Hawkwood).

"He seems to have lost nothing with maturity and has never been over-raced because he has always had a few niggling problems, which means he has had fairly restricted campaigns.

"It depends if we get him qualified, but we will probably go for the £50,000 apprentice handicap on All-Weather Championship Finals Day. He would be a very straightforward ride and was second at Lingfield Park last year, so we know he handles the track.

"After that, he will probably go back to York's Dante meeting for the Jorvik Handicap, which he has a good record in."

Graham Lee takes the ride on Hanoverian Baron for the first time.

The Southwell line-up on Thursday also includes Hunting Ground (Mark Johnston/Joe Fanning), who will shoulder a 6lb penalty following an impressive victory at Wolverhampton on Friday. Johnston, based in North Yorkshire, has his team in fantastic form, with 11 All-Weather winners from just 19 runners between January 16 and today (Tuesday, January 28) when his only runner, Thatchmaster, was the easy winner of the Ladbrokes Maiden at Southwell.

This remarkable run of form has propelled Johnston to the top of the Champion Trainer Table of the 2013/14 All-Weather Championships, with 29 winners up to and including the end of racing today. David Evans and Mick Appleby follow on 25, Marco Botti on 19 and John Gosden on 15. The Champion All-Weather Trainer gains £10,000.

Also in Thursday's race are multiple course scorer Masterful Act (Alan McCabe/Tom Queally), consistent performer Presburg (Joseph Tuite/Jimmy Quinn), Dewala (Mick Appleby/Andrew Mullen), Flying Power (John Norton/Paddy Aspell) and Icebuster (Rod Millman/David Probert).

Southwell's seven-race programme on Thursday gets underway at 1.30pm and concludes at 4.30pm.

Horses qualify for the six championship contests on £1-million All-Weather Championships Finals Day (Good Friday, April 18, 2014) by running in a minimum of three races at Britain's All-Weather tracks - three owned by ARC, Lingfield Park, Southwell and Wolverhampton, and The Jockey Club's Kempton Park - between October 26 and April 12 or else by succeeding in one of the 16 Fast-Track Qualifiers. The dedicated website the www.awchampionships.co.uk has more details.