Nervous Knight takes cautious line with Demon
Friday January 13 2006
SINCE the passing of Best Mate, Henrietta Knight has found a new vehicle for her nerves in Racing Demon.
The talent of this young chaser is beyond doubt but the protective instincts of his trainer are such that his profile is being enhanced more through absence than performance.
A second late withdrawal of the horse that heads the betting for the Arkle Chase at Cheltenham was hugely disappointing for those who had followed him into the Shropshire hills yesterday. In truth, though, few at Ludlow were entirely surprised.
Knight had arrived at this beautiful course in a visibly edgy state. Overnight, she had indicated that Racing Demon would not run if Timmy Murphy failed to recover from a heavy fall at Newbury on Wednesday.
Murphy, though, was passed fit, so Knight set out to walk the chase course and found it did not pass muster. "In places it's firm," she said. "I took him out at Sandown on Boxing Day for the same reason and if we'd run here I would be a complete hypocrite. It's just not worth the risk. We weren't going to prove a great deal today, and while it takes years to produce a horse like this, it only takes five minutes to mess him up."
With its reputation for fast ground, not to mention its plethora of road crossings, Ludlow had always seemed a problematical venue for Knight to select and she admitted: "I knew there was a risk it would be quick but I didn't think it would be this quick. I'm very sorry to disappoint so many people but the horse must come first."
Knight's actions will be variously interpreted as exasperating and paranoid, not least by the racecourse, which had attracted an expectant crowd for a card carrying £66,000 in prize-money.
Vindication
For vindication, however, she need only refer back to her similarly guarded behaviour with the horse she miraculously kept sound and healthy to win three successive Gold Cups.
As her husband, Terry Biddlecombe, pointed out: "We know what Hen's like and this horse does get her nervous, because he's very good. But they all said we wrapped the other one up in cotton wool and look what he did.
"There is a lot of damaged ground this winter - just look what happened to Kicking King. The number of recent injuries is obviously in our mind but I've been in this game long enough to know what ground is like. The important thing is that we've got a horse to take home."
Racing Demon will now be entered for a two-mile race at Uttoxeter next Wednesday, when fast ground is a remote prospect. "He won't mind it soft," Biddlecombe promised, though Knight added more cautiously that she would monitor conditions.
Racing Demon would have been long odds-on for yesterday's Concha Y Toro Wines Novices' Chase and the mantle of hot favourite passed to Taranis, who duly provided Paul Nicholls with his 91st winner of the season. "You must be getting windy, Terry," Nicholls called out to Biddlecombe. "We thought you needed the money," came the reply.
Nicholls has several likely Arkle Chase contenders in his Somerset yard and two of them, Albuhera and Cerium, are set to run against seasoned handicappers in the Victor Chandler Chase at Cheltenham in a fortnight.
That promises to be a big day for Nicholls, who revealed: "Royal Auclair will run in the Letheby & Christopher Chase and Denman is a probable for a novice hurdle on the card."
Philip Hobbs is still sorting out his novice hurdlers for the Festival but Wellbeing, fifth in the 2000 Derby, will not be going, having aggravated an old leg injury when third in the opener yesterday. (© The Times, London)
