Roksana stamps Stayers’ ticket

THE field was small, but there was plenty of class on show, so Roksana (Dan/Harry Skelton) deserves plenty of credit for producing a smooth success over hat-trick-seeking Magic Of Light (Jessica Harrington/Jonjo O’Neill Jr) in the Grade 2 Warfield Mares’ Hurdle.

The nine-year-old was heavily supported into 8/15 favouritism, and while the runner-up ran her usual honest race, the writing was on the wall before the last, and it took just a shake of the reins to see Roksana cruise past to win by eight lengths.

Roksana was very much entitled to win as she did on the ratings, but Magic of Light has proven hard to pass in this race for the past two years, and third-placed Eglantine Du Seuil (Paul Nicholls/Harry Cobden) had won the Dawn Run Mares’ Novice at the Cheltenham Festival in 2019, so the race shouldn’t be viewed as a cakewalk on paper.

Roksana seems likely to take her chance in the Stayers’ Hurdle rather than stay in mares’ events, and she showed in the Long Walk that she has little to find to be competitive with her 7lb allowance.

She will go there full of confidence after this performance, and it will be a brave man who writes her off.

DESPITE getting very worked up before the race, and drifting accordingly in the betting, the Nicky Henderson-trained Craigneiche (Tom Cannon) ran out a comfortable winner of the Grade 3 Holloway’s Handicap Hurdle, beating Jonjo O’Neill’s Arrivederci (Jonjo Jr) and Kateson (Tom Lacey/Brian Hughes) by seven lengths and three and a quarter lengths. The winner was completely unexposed, and had been off since breaking a blood vessel at Doncaster a year ago.

As a non-novice he was qualified to run here after just two outings over timber (novices must run a minimum of three times in order too qualify), which is something of a contentious situation, but there are very few opportunities outside of handicaps for a horse like him, and that is why the rule exists.

Craigneiche is clearly ahead of his initial mark, but the handicapper has been quick to rectify that situation, and while he’s clearly open to further progress, the fact that he has burst in the past, and that he’s clearly quite highly strung, makes it hard to estimate how far he might go.

His trainer has worked wonders with more difficult horses in the past, and he will be given every chance to flourish, so needs to be kept on side. He should stay further, but there is no obvious need to step him up in trip immediately.