Balco Coastal off the mark

Nicky Henderson feels that Balco Coastal (7-2 Joint Favourite) is well on his way to proving himself a nice chaser, after getting off the mark at the second attempt over fences in good style at Kempton Park on Boxing Day, writes The Jockey Club's Nick Seddon.

The six-year-old disappointed slightly on his chasing bow at Newbury in November but proved a different proposition this afternoon when stepped up to an extended two and a half miles for the Ladbrokes Get Your £1 Free Bet Novices' Limited Handicap Chase, quickly getting into a good rhythm on the wide outside under jockey Nico de Boinville.

The pair turned the screw heading into the straight and were soon in control, producing a good jump over the final fence to seal a nine length success over the runner up Solo.

And while he wouldn’t be drawn onto specific targets, Henderson feels that his charge will likely be moving up the chasing ranks sooner rather than later.

He said: “I was thrilled with that, we ran him over two miles at Newbury last time and it was a bit sharp for him. It was probably my fault sending over two miles as it was a tiny bit too sharp for him, so we let him have a lot of daylight today and he enjoyed himself.

“I said to Nico to get out there and give him daylight and he had a lovely time and he was very good today. He won his bumper here first time out by a huge margin and we got very excited and he won a couple of nice races last season too.

“He looked today as though he’s going the right way towards being a nice horse and I hope he is. I have no plans just yet for him - I fear the handicapper is going to dictate to me where we go next.”

Grey Dawning sent the majority of the 12,760 crowd home happy after taking a step up in trip in his stride in the Ladbrokes Fanzone “Your Team Your Game” Handicap Hurdle.

Sent off the well backed 5-4 Favourite to follow up his last time out victory at Exeter the gelded son of Flemensfirth did not disappoint in the two miles and five furlongs contest to make it two wins out of three over hurdles.

Hitting the front on the run to the last Grey Dawning, despite drifting left up the run-in, pulled out more than enough under Harry Skelton to prevail by a length and a half.

Skelton said: “He ultimately got the race won in the end. He is a very nice horse and he is a horse down the line that will be a chaser. He has got stacks of ability.

“We won’t fly to high for the time being as he has won off 123 not 153. We will be respectful of him and mind him and hopefully he makes into a really good horse.

“Aintree first time out he needed and today he was still a bit babyish and he is by Flemensfirth and they can be a little bit like that and keep a fiver up their sleeve but I was delighted with him.

“He went off a short price and he was the most likely winner of the race as he was the least exposed and he ultimately did that.

“They are getting their flu vaccinations next week so we will let him get over that. For sure I will look for a nice handicap for him. By the end of the season he should be running over three miles. You’d like to think he will be running outside of handicap company by the end of the season but we have got to let him get there.”