Ben Pauling is hoping Shakem Up’arry can continue his fine form into the 24/25 campaign as the fan-favourite enters his twilight years.
The 23/24 campaign saw 75 winners for Pauling’s yard, with the highlight undoubtedly being his success in the Trustatrader Plate at the Cheltenham Festival.
Pauling said: “He gave us a brilliant day last year, he’s been amazing that horse, he’s 10 years-old, believe it or not!
“Hopefully he picks up where he left off, but now he is eligible for the veteran’s chases, so we will probably look at a couple of those before bringing him back into open handicaps.“
There was almost double success for the team when The Jukebox Man powered six lengths clear in the Grade 1 Albert Bartlett.
It was agony in the final furlong as he was narrowly headed, but he remains a hugely exciting prospect.
He said: “He ran a nice race in the Challow to finish third and got chinned in the Albert Bartlett. He went and ran another good race at Aintree. I don’t think it was a mistake, but I don’t think he necessarily needs three miles. We’ll probably start him at towards the end of the month at Uttoxeter and might head to Newbury and go from there.
“He’s a horse we think is very good and hopefully he’ll be a top-class novice chaser.”
The contingent of horses Pauling has is filled with potential and Grade 2 bumper winner Diva Luna perhaps could be the horse with the highest ceiling.
“She is a very talented filly, 2-2 in Bumpers – she’ll go novice hurdling and start somewhere small before going to Newbury in the Listed Mares’ Novice in November. Hopefully the skies the limit, we like her a lot.”
The team’s novice chasers could prove to be a cut above the rest this season, with many exciting horses tackling fences for the first time.
“Handstands will go the Rising Stars Novice Chase at Wincanton. He’ll go there first time out, he’s a very talented individual, he won the Sydney Banks as he liked. When he went to Cheltenham, he had ran in point-to-points early season and he had been on the go a long time so I think he just felt the effects of a long season. On his best form he’s very exciting.
“Pic Roc will also be going chasing, he’s a big horse, hurdles get in his way a bit, hopefully a fence will bring out the best in him. We seem to have a lot of strong novice chasers, and he will be near the top of them.
“Personal ambition as well, he obviously won the Grade 2 at Kelso, he jumps for fun and will go chasing. Another exciting horse.
“Leader In The Park is a very good horse, we thought the world of him this time last year, didn’t quite become what we hoped he would. But we found a little niggle at the end of the season, and he’ll go novice chasing and start off in handicaps. He could be one to scale the ranks very nicely and hopefully become a proper horse for the season ahead.
Valuable prizes beckon for the team and another top hurdle prize is on the agenda for Champagne Twist.
Pauling said: “He will stay hurdling and will run at the November Cheltenham meeting; there is a 0-140 over two and a half. There is an outside chance he could be a big improver, running himself into the better staying hurdles later in the season. We’ll see how we go.”
As ever there are horses that fly onto the radar from out of nowhere and Pauling gave a few horses to keep an eye on this season.
“There is a horse called Legal Weapon, he’ll start in bumpers in November, Hawkstonian will be up there and Halrisk Des Obeaux is nice too.”
