Unexposed chasers to the fore? Expert analysis and key quotes for the Rowland Meyrick at Wetherby

Seven of the last ten winners of the Rowland Meyrick have been seven-year-olds. In the same timeframe, only around a third of runners have been that age or younger. So for all this race has served up some slow-motion finishes in recent years, it is still demonstrably a race where the unexposed rise to the top.

The market has taken that lesson. The three post-declarations favourites were also the only three horses aged seven or younger. Cruz Control, Tahmuras and Some Scope are the most interesting horses in the race.

Cruz Control has already won a big prize, Aintree's Freebooter in April, and was among the favourites for the Becher before that race was lost. Some Scope remains with some unfinished business, he just needs a bit of decent ground and a race that isn't biased against horses held up.

Thumbs up: Paul Nicholls had plenty of reasons to smile after the Coral Gold Cup

Paul Nicholls: runs the lightly raced TahmurasCredit: Edward Whitaker

Tahmuras could be the most interesting of all. He was a Grade 1-winning novice hurdler and was given a quiet novice chase campaign which left him on an attractive mark of 144. After a run at Haydock to get fit, he is now in a Premier handicap and up in trip. Reading between the lines, it has been a smooth path to here for this talented sort.

Those aside, the one worth spending most time on is Young Buster. He improved around this time last season and shaped well while lacking fitness when last seen at Kelso. Like Some Scope, he may be best kept away from deep ground.

The ground is something of a tricky one here. Wetherby's GoingStick is hardly in danger of wearing out through overuse, so it is hard to get much of a grasp on what a reading around 5.5 means exactly. The general sense is that we will not get a running akin to last year or 2021 when the principals were crawling home.

Wetherby is at its best when runners get to take a cut at the four fences up the straight. For the sake of spectacle, and your bets if you choose Some Scope or Young Buster, you should hope the rain stays away.
Analysis by Keith Melrose

Cheltenham Festival winner Sine Nomine takes aim

The majority of this field are no strangers to Premier handicaps but Sine Nomine has charted a different path to the Rowland Meyrick as a star of the hunter chase scene.

The eight-year-old toughed it out at the Cheltenham Festival to deny hot favourite Its On The Line in the St James's Place Festival Challenge Cup and trainer Fiona Needham made the decision to venture into deeper waters in search of black type this season.

Sine Nomine unseated her rider on her first try at Listed company at Market Rasen last month, but she is none the worse for wear and tackles a strong field at Wetherby, where she was a 15-length winner on her sole previous visit.

Sine Nomine and John Dawson win the Festival Hunters' Chase at Cheltenham

Sine Nomine: Cheltenham Festival winner tackles the Rowland Meyrick

"It was a little bit unfortunate last time, but she gave herself a nice loose school and she'll come on from it a bit," Needham said.

"She can be like that first time out and hopefully that will have taken some freshness out of her. We wanted black type for her at Market Rasen, but she likes Wetherby, and if there's a time to try a race like this, it's now.

"It looks competitive and I was hoping for more rain, so we'll see, but if it doesn't work out we could still go hunter chasing in the spring. I'm terribly proud of her regardless, she's a joy to have."

What they say

Paul Nicholls, trainer of Tahmuras
He will improve lots for his return last month. He ran very well until he got a little bit tired on testing ground. This is a nice race and I've wanted to run him over three miles, so I'd like to think he's got a leading chance.

Tom Lacey, trainer of Cruz Control
We ran him over hurdles in October and he came out of that really well, so we're looking forward to seeing him back over fences. He's matured over the summer, so hopefully with his head down he'll go well. Our plan originally was the called-off Becher Chase, and we'd want to be winning on Boxing Day in some fashion, but if he rises five or six pounds we could contemplate the National.

Fergal O'Brien, trainer of Young Buster
He won three races last season, which put him up in the handicap but we're hoping he can build on that. I don't think it helped having lots of fences missing at Kelso last time and they just quickened by him. The ground, race and track should suit him.

Willy Twiston-Davies, assistant to Nigel Twiston-Davies, trainer of Good Boy Bobby
Jamie [Brace] takes off 7lb and that will be a massive help. He's won the race before and is very consistent. He's come out of his last race really well and the track and trip should suit. He's getting on a bit, but there are not many negatives.
Reporting by Catherine Macrae

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