'He's been winging fences at home' - find which old favourite could be coming back to his best

Not every veteran requires a marathon test and this two-and-a-half-miler, confined to horses aged ten or older, is a nice precursor to Sandown’s feature for the older stayers 20 minutes later.

Had this race been staged five days earlier, nearly half the field would be ineligible. Nocte Volatus, Quel Destin and Red Rookie have just turned ten and this series opens up doors for these horses, who will always be vulnerable to younger legs in normal handicaps.

Early market preference for Nocte Volatus among that group is understandable. He picked up a warm Chepstow event on his return, bettering his third-placed finish in the previous running, and built on that with a superior effort at Ascot. The winner that day, Gemirande, landed the December Gold Cup next time and Nocte Volatus has been in the form of his life.

Eleven-year-olds Longshanks and The Widdow Maker are also new to veterans-only races. Longshanks has spent most of the past two seasons running in hurdles and point-to-points, while the Joe Tizzard-trained The Widdow Maker has endured 675 days on the sidelines. With a Grade 1 novice-chase third on his CV in 2022, he would be of some interest if fitness could be guaranteed first time out following wind surgery.

The Widdow Maker’s stablemate Le Ligerien recorded a smooth victory at Lingfield last month and is likely to be the Tizzard first string. This race contains more depth, however, and Stormy Flight stands out as a more logical winner.

Stormy Flight gave Lowry’s Bar a fright at Exeter last month and that horse is up 10lb in the weights after scoring again on Welsh National day at Chepstow. Given Stormy Flight readily fended off three other interesting novices in that Exeter race, his claims are clear off 1lb higher against more seasoned rivals.
Analysis by Robbie Wilders

What they say

Paul Nicholls, trainer of Quel Destin
It looks a good race for him to run in now we can go against veterans, the track should really suit him. I thought he ran okay at Exeter last time, he knocked himself turning into the straight. The result said he pulled up lame but he was 100 per cent. These races will be better for him.

Jeremy Scott, trainer of Stormy Flight
He's holding his form fairly well but I'm not sure how well handicapped he is. He seems to have retained all of his ability and his enthusiasm at his ripe old age. The horse that beat him [Lowry's Bar] won next time so his form looks good and he's in great order.

Emma Lavelle, trainer of Red Rookie
He's been a little bit of an enigma in the last couple of seasons but he's now eligible for veterans races, which is a big positive. He needs to get his mojo back but we schooled him in a visor this week and he winged his fences. He's very well handicapped if the good Red Rookie turns up and hopefully the visor will revitalise him. He shows he's still got the ability at home but he needs to share it with us on the racecourse. Wincanton wouldn't be top of the list of tracks for him but two and a half miles should help.

Kayley Woollacott, trainer of Longshanks
He's enjoyed his pointing stint, having had a couple of wins and a second. This is a step up in grade for his return to fences so it's a bit of a fact-finding mission, but he's in good form.
Reporting by James Stevens

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'This has been the plan for a long time' - trainers on their contenders for the £100,000 Veterans' Final 

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