Stamina in pedigree but speed on track: Atholl Street looks ideal for Dovecote

3.00 Kempton
Sky Bet Dovecote Novices' Hurdle (Grade 2) | 2m | 4yo+ | RTV/ITV4

With four Gold Cups and four Grand Nationals between them, owner Trevor Hemmings and trainer Paul Nicholls are best known for their success in staying chases, but the pair did not team up for any of those eight wins and their statistics together paint a different picture.

Hemmings-owned runners trained by Nicholls have been more potent over shorter trips. Since the start of 2008, the pair have teamed up for eight winners from 33 runners (24 per cent) over 2m1f or shorter, yielding a profit of £3.73 to £1 level stakes.

Atholl Street is the duo's representative in this two-mile novice hurdle and he is a typical Hemmings-owned runner, in that he is bred for stamina. His half-brother Peres Et Fils stays nearly three miles in Ireland and their dam, Allthewhile, is a sister to 2005 Gold Cup winner Kicking King.

However, Atholl Street is already starting to look like a typical Nicholls-trained, Hemmings-owned, representative, in that he has shown a lot of speed. Both of his hurdles wins have been achieved at Taunton, which is a sharp right-handed track, and Kempton is very similar.

All of that points to this test of speed being ideal for Atholl Street at this early stage of his career and Nicholls has a good record in this race with four previous winners.

Speed will likely prove key and there were none more talented on the Flat than Cape Gentleman in this line-up. He boasts an official rating of 100 on the level in Ireland.

Trainer Emmet Mullins does not send many across the Irish Sea, but in the last five seasons he has saddled five winners from 14 runners in Britain. He plundered the Greatwood with The Shunter at Cheltenham in November and a £1 bet on all his runners has yielded a profit of £6.98.
Race analysis by Graeme Rodway

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Top prospects up in grade for Nicholls and Skelton

Paul Nicholls and Dan Skelton have enjoyed the lion's share of Graded prizes run at Kempton this season and they train the two leading chances in Saturday's race.

Nicholls – who has captured the King George, Silviniaco Conti Chase and restaged Relkeel Hurdle at this track this term – is represented by the exciting Atholl Street.

"He’s a lovely horse who has won twice at Taunton, on the second occasion by 16 lengths," said Nicholls. "We’ve saved him for this race as he loves decent ground. He fully deserves this step up in class."

Skelton, meanwhile, has enjoyed Graded-level success here in the Kauto Star and Desert Orchid this season, and relies on Calico, victorious on his only start over hurdles at Ludlow.

"I’m really happy with him and I think the track will suit him," the trainer said. "He's got high class form on the Flat but he should be able to go at the pace they are likely to go in this race.

"It's a big step from his win at Ludlow but I feel he can compete at this level and he has performed well on better ground in the past."

The Fergal O'Brien-trained Lunar Sovereign is among the opposition and is looking to complete a hat-trick.

"He deserves to run in a race like this," O'Brien said. "He's won his last two and it was a great performance the last day at Doncaster. We were looking at the Kelso race next week too but the ground is drying out all the time so we thought we'd take our chance here."
Reporting by James Stevens

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