Agetur Kingmaker Novices' Chase Day, Warwick Racecourse, 8th February 2020

Good morning everyone from a splendidly sunny Warwick Racecourse, for their Agetur Kingmaker Novices' Chase Day. Just as a side note, it's not just ourselves in the press room today; fantastic to have a very good friend of ours Abbeigh Harris making her debut in the Warwick Racecourse Press Room!

The feature race on the 7-race card is of course the 2:05, the Kingmaker Novices' Chase, named after Richard Neville, the 16th Earl of Warwick, known to historians as "The Kingmaker". Some classy types have won this key Arkle trial, including Long Run, Saint Calvados and Glen Forsa, so the race is a strong indicator of who will be running in not just the Arkle, but also some of the other Grade 1 races in the season, such as the Maghull Novices' Chase at the Grand National Meeting, which a speed and jumping test such as Warwick may well suit. Nube Negra, Rouge Vif and Torpillo make up 3 of the 6 strong field, so this is once again a high quality line up. Torpillo, successful on his chase debut at Warwick, re-opposes his Henry VIII Novices' Chase conqueror Nube Negra, who also won on their chase debut at Warwick. He sets the standard, being a Grade 1 winner, with Rouge Vif bringing Grade 2 form to the pass. This should be a cracker of a race, and is highly-anticipated.

Add to this a competitive Mares' Hurdle, a cracking Class 2 Handicap Chase and a parade of RoR legends including The New One, Carruthers and Coneygree, also add to the day. It is therefore shaping up to be a fantastic day's racing. In fact, you'll probably see myself and Tom taking thousands of shots of just The New One. After all, he is a firm favourite of ours! A final note, before racing at 12:45pm, there will be a minute's silence in memory of James Banks, Robert Alner and Paul Blockley, who all very sadly passed away this week. A touching tribute from the racecourse, and one that we both hope will be respectively observed. Here's to their memory, and to a great day's racing!!