Henrietta Knight 'looking forward to getting going' after long training absence - but what does she say about her runners?

An intriguing new chapter in the Henrietta Knight story gets under way at Wincanton on Friday when she sends out her first two runners under rules since 2012.

The trainer of such jump racing legends as three-time Gold Cup hero Best Mate and Edredon Bleu was granted a licence last month, and resumes after an 11-and-a-half-year hiatus with Zettabyte (1.30) and Ballywalter (3.00).

Knight said: "I'm looking forward to getting going. I don't say we'll get going with a bang or have winners straight away but just to get going and get started. It will be fun to get out on the course."

Knight sprang her surprise on the racing world at the beginning of November when she announced her intention to take out a full licence for the first time since 2012, appointing Brendan Powell snr as an assistant to cover some of the same training tasks her late husband Terry Biddlecombe fulfilled back in the glory days at West Lockinge.

"I finally made my mind up quite suddenly in October but I'd been thinking about it for quite a while," said Knight, who lost a major client when big-spending owner Mike Grech died in September last year. "It's then taken time because there are quite a lot of forms and things you have to do for the BHA with insurance and the like.

"Declarations have changed [since 2012] but we still have the Racing Calendar and it's good to be able to see that in hard copy in front of you – it's not all on a screen. Brendan will do a lot of race-planning; he's the brains behind that and he knows the form so well."

Powell's son Brendan jnr is a regular fixture at the yard where, since handing in her licence, Knight has put her talent for getting horses to use themselves properly over a fence or hurdle to the service of other owners and trainers.

Powell will take the ride on Ballywalter in the novice hurdle over three miles, while another regular from schooling sessions, James Bowen, will get the leg up on Zettabyte in the handicap hurdle over two and a half miles.

"Brendan has been coming in to school for years and James comes in a lot too," said Knight. "And we have Paul O'Brien, but he's elsewhere on Friday."

Brendan Powell and Henrietta Knight have teamed up at West LockingeCredit: Edward Whitaker

Both horses began their racing lives in the Irish pointing field – probably one of the few points in common either one shares with Knight's masterpiece of a chaser Best Mate – and their new trainer hopes they will pay their way in time.

"Zettabyte has come over from Ireland, where he didn't set the place on fire," Knight said of the former Gordon Elliott trainee. "But he was placed in some point-to-points and he's a nice horse. He might improve a bit with age.

"I don't know whether his current owner will keep him or if we might syndicate him. He'll be a fun horse for somebody."

Were Ballywalter to prevail, the celebrations would be memorable, as he races in the ownership of Mary Cookson and will carry the navy blue silks she inherited from her mother – and Knight's sister – Lady Vestey.

"There's a family connection because he's owned by my niece and he'll run in my sister's colours," said Knight. "He's no world-beater but he's a genuine staying type and hopefully he jumps very well. He's always jumped well up until now."

Read these next:

Henrietta Knight declares first runners since 2012 at Wincanton on Friday 

'I'm probably mad' - Henrietta Knight plans to resume training career after 11-year absence 

'I do miss the training myself' - Brendan Powell relishing new role as returning Henrietta Knight's assistant 

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