Two major spring handicaps under consideration for Eider hero Kitty's Light
Christian Williams is eyeing either the Coral Scottish Grand National at Ayr or the bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown for Kitty's Light, who overcame adversity to hand his trainer successive wins in Saturday's Vertem Eider Chase.
Successful with Win My Wings 12 months ago, Williams was on the mark again in Newcastle's £80,000 marathon chase, although Kitty's Light had to navigate an indifferent round of jumping on ground he "hated".
"It was a bumpy ride," said Williams, who watched the Eider from Kempton. "I think the ground was rough enough at Newcastle but fair play to the owners for running. We had the race mapped out for the horse and you don't get too many four-mile races with good prize-money.
"It's a hard race to win. Win My Wings won it last year and she had about 25lb in hand, which just goes to show how hard a race it is to win. I never won it as a jockey and it's great for Jack Tudor to win a race like that."
Williams has decided he will keep Kitty's Light fresh now, following either in Win My Wings's hoofprints and bidding to follow up in the Scottish National on April 22 or heading to Sandown on the last day of the season seven days later. Kitty's Light has unfinished business there having been badly hampered close home when second two years ago before finishing third to Hewick in the bet365 Gold Cup last year.
The trainer added: "He's a proper horse but wants good, fast ground. I'd say the clerk was under a bit of pressure on Saturday after the last meeting [where the ground at Newcastle was criticised] which nearly scuppered it for us but fair play to the owners for being brave enough to run.
"I'd say he hated the ground and never jumped one fence. It was painful to watch but there was a big roar when he won. We'll keep him fresh for the Scottish National or the bet365 now. He did plenty of racing last season and this one, so we'll give him a quiet fortnight and gear him towards one of those two."
Stablemate Cap Du Nord came up short in his bid for back-to-back wins in the Coral Trophy at Kempton, finishing last of the nine finishers after winning at Ascot seven days earlier.
"He just ran a bit flat," said Williams. "I took a chance running him and it was probably trainer error but you need to be brave and run. It paid off running Kitty's Light but backfired with Cap Du Nord."
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