Rich Ricci rules Royale Pagaille out of Betfair Chase clash with A Plus Tard

A Plus Tard’s path to a second Betfair Chase has one less obstacle in the way after leading owner Rich Ricci confirmed Royale Pagaille would not run at Haydock.

The eight-year-old, trained by Venetia Williams, chased home A Plus Tard, albeit 22 lengths behind, in the Grade 1 last year and was as short as 6-1 for the contest on November 19.

But speaking at Cheltenham, Ricci said Royale Pagaille would not run at Haydock due to a lack of rain, with the Coral Gold Cup an option at Newbury a week later.

Ricci said: "He'll miss Haydock and hopefully he'll run in the Coral Gold Cup but the ground and his fitness will dictate where he goes. He's had a slight niggle which means the Betfair Chase is off the agenda but he can carry plenty of weight and could go to Newbury if he's in good shape."

The absence of the three-time Haydock winner leaves five in contention for the Betfair Chase, headed by A Plus Tard, the Cheltenham Gold Cup winner. He is 2-5 with the sponsors, with Protektorat, Bristol De Mai, Eldorado Allen and Frodon also entered.

Royale Pagaille is 16-1 for the Coral Gold Cup with the sponsors in a market headed by Corach Rambler and Remastered.

Leopardstown's Grade 1 Christmas Hurdle renamed in memory of Jack de Bromhead

The life of Jack de Bromhead will be remembered at next month's Leopardstown Christmas festival after race sponsor Dornan Engineering renamed its Grade 1 feature to be run as the Jack de Bromhead Christmas Hurdle.

Dornan's chief executive is Brian Acheson – the Robcour owner who is one of Henry de Bromhead's biggest supporters with stars such as Bob Olinger, Chris's Dream and Journey With Me.

Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary has also renamed the Cheltenham Festival's Mares' Novices' Hurdle in honour of Jack, who tragically lost his life at the age of 13 in a freak pony racing accident in September.

De Bromhead said: "Brian made the suggestion around the time of Jack's funeral that he would like to rename the Dornan Group Christmas Hurdle, and getting that support from everybody is just unbelievable. These kind gestures continue to give us strength. Michael and Ryanair, and Brian and Dornan, have been very kind."

Speaking on Newstalk radio on Wednesday, De Bromhead added: "Rachael Blackmore is sponsored by Dornan, meaning she has the company's name down her breeches, and Jack's one aim when he started pony racing was to have breeches like her with Dornan on his leg. I told him he had to ring Brian and ask if it was okay to wear them.

"The conversation seemed to be going pretty well until I heard him nearly angling Brian to pay him to wear Dornan on his breeches! No doubt he would have had Ryanair on his breeches at some stage too. Those are great memories."

Boudot has licence 'withdrawn indefintely' as rape investigation continues

Pierre-Charles Boudot's licence has been "withdrawn indefinitely" by France Galop stewards following demands made by the police and the ministry of the interior.

France Galop introduced a series of rolling suspensions to his licence in May 2021 when Boudot was indicted on a charge of rape, following accusations that the Arc-winning jockey categorically denies.

The suspensions to his licence have been under a catch-all rule to protect the integrity of racing and Boudot succeeded in persuading France Galop to reduce his most recent suspension to three months, as he expressed the hope he might soon return to race riding.

Stewards granted that request in response to the decision of a magistrate to alleviate some of the judicial restraints on Boudot, enabling him to resume riding out in Chantilly.

However, France Galop's publication of the bulletin of stewards' decisions underlines the change in Boudot’s status, after a series of document exchanges initiated by the Ministry of the Interior, accompanied by a demand to reimpose the maximum six-month suspension or withdraw the three-time champion's licence indefinitely.

The communique underlines that the withdrawal is at the behest of the ministry and that a significant factor in agreeing to that course of action was the detail contained in a letter from France's Gaming Police (Police des Jeux) received by France Galop on November 7.

Boudot was formally indicted on May 14, 2021 but the prosecuting judge in the case has yet to determine if it will proceed to trial.

Former Ascot senior vet Svend Kold dies aged 69

Svend Kold, who retired in June after more than 30 years as part of the veterinary team at Ascot, has died at home at the age of 69.

Kold arrived in Newmarket shortly after qualifying in Denmark and spent several years at the Animal Health Trust before moving to an equine practice in the Cotswolds. He spent 35 years at Ascot, 30 of them as senior veterinary surgeon, and also worked at other tracks.

He was forced to retire from general practice in June for medical reasons but continued with the legal consultancy side of his business.

His funeral takes place at 2pm on November 22 at the Holy Trinity Church in Long Newnton, Gloucestershire, followed by a gathering at the Beaufort Polo Club.

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