Under Control starts his bid to land a big bonus cheque at Kelso tomorrow (Saturday) (Edward Whitaker (Racing Post))
Nicky Henderson eyes Kelso on Saturday with potential £100,000 Cheltenham bonus up for grabs
Under Control: starts the season as one of Nicky Henderson’s most exciting prospects and the Morebattle runner has three entries at the Cheltenham Festival
Andrew Dietz (Racing Post)
The JP McManus-owned Under Control and last year’s winner Benson are having a crack at Kelso’s £100,000 bonus as they will line for Saturday’s bet365 Morebattle Hurdle (2.50 (16H50 SA Time)).
The valuable bonus is available to any horse who wins the 2m handicap and follows up with success at next month’s Cheltenham Festival, a feat pulled off by The Shunter in 2021.
Under Control, who was second to the Mares’ Hurdle second favourite Ashroe Diamond at Doncaster last month, is an interesting contender for the Kelso contest, which with a prize fund of £120,000 is more valuable than festival handicaps such as the Coral Cup and County Hurdle.
The Nicky Henderson-trained mare has three entries at Cheltenham and is the sponsor’s 7-2 favourite for the Morebattle.
Benson, a 12-1 shot, won last year for local trainer Sandy Thomson before being pulled up in the Coral Cup and has had this race as one of his main objectives for the season.
The in-form pair Black Hawk Eagle, trained by Kerry Lee, and Bingoo, trained by James Moffatt, are other notable runners.
Henderson also heads to Kelso on Saturday with Jango Baie for the bet365 Premier Novices’ Hurdle (2.17).
The Paul Robson-trained Formby third Cannock Park takes on Jango Baie, who holds entries in the Supreme and Baring Bingham.
Robson said: “It’s a lovely race for him. We’ve been very light on him this season and any issues that were there are now gone, as he seems to take the preliminaries well now.
“We considered the Morebattle Hurdle but he needed to have had four runs over hurdles, which meant he would have been really busy for a young horse.
“If he comes out the race okay, we’ll definitely consider the County Hurdle.”
Leading Grand National contender Monbeg Genius is running at the same meeting in the bet365 Premier Chase (3.25).
