3 minute read
Thomas Darby is on course to defend his Coral Long Distance Hurdle crown at Newbury on November 25 after finishing second on his reappearance in the West Yorkshire Hurdle.
Olly Murphy's nine-year-old was fourth in the Wetherby contest before bouncing on to victory at Newbury 12 months ago and claimed second behind Dan Skelton's Proschema in Yorkshire this time around.
However, Murphy's charge was conceding 6lb to the winner in a race that turned into a bit of a sprint and the Warren Chase Stables handler is hoping that a stronger run race on better terms can see Thomas Darby reverse the form.
"He'll go back to Newbury for the race he won last year, and he has come out of his run at Wetherby good," said Murphy.
"Obviously he had a penalty at Wetherby which didn't help, and Dan's horse was a decisive winner on the day, but we look forward to taking them on again on better terms. Maybe the race turning into a sprint didn't suit Thomas Darby as well as it did Dan's horse and hopefully, he can go to Newbury with a chance of turning things around there."
Murphy is also preparing Brewin'upastorm to take on Constitution Hill in the Coral Hurdle at Ascot on November 19 having jinked and unseated rider Sean Bowen at the first obstacle during his seasonal bow at Aintree on Saturday.
"It was a disaster at Aintree, but that's sometimes the way it goes," Murphy continued. "Sean was OK and the horse was OK and those are the two main things.
"Normally he goes straight to Cheltenham for the Relkeel Hurdle on New Year's Day, but I'm going to have to get a run into him before then.
"So, I imagine he'll have an entry in the two-mile-three hurdle at Ascot that Constitution Hill is going for. Obviously, Constitution Hill is going to be extremely hard to be beat, but there's good place prize money on offer and if he's OK in the next couple of weeks we'll let him take his chance."
Although Brewin'upastorm's trip to Merseyside ended in disaster, Murphy left Aintree with a double to his name and plenty to be excited about following the winning chasing debut of Doctor Ken.
Murphy said: "He's a horse who could turn out to be a good chaser, it was a lovely starting point. He probably underachieved over hurdles, but he was bought to be a chaser and I though he jumped very well.
"I'm not quite sure where he will go, but there is a race for him at Newbury's Coral Gold Cup meeting and he's one to look forward to."