Scarlet Dragon interesting first time up

Waiting Patiently paid for the day last Saturday and I was delighted for Ruth Jefferson. This is a very exciting horse and it is good to know he will not be rushed into anything. From what she says, I should think Aintree is a more likely stopping-off point than Cheltenham, where the only race for him would be the Ryanair.

The Kingwell at Wincanton was informative, with Nicky Henderson’s Call Me Lord well held in third and looking no more than a talented handicapper. Ch’Tibello in second showed how risky it can be, relying on heavy ground form at Haydock, even when the redoubtable The New One has been made to pull out all the stops.

The Kingwell winner on merit was Elgin, who had benefited from a rest and won well. I’ve been writing about Misterton and what a good race he ran in the Betfair Hurdle. Well, the form is there for all to see because he ran Elgin close in the Greatwood at Cheltenham in November. Mind you, he was receiving 8lb. I still think he can win a valuable handicap hurdle and I suspect Elgin will not be good enough to trouble Buveur D’Air in the big one but may well run into a place.

Alan King won both the Kingwell and the Champion with Katchit in 2008, the latter having kept classier company than Elgin. King is very clever with his hurdlers at Cheltenham and it will be fascinating to see how Henry Ponsonby’s SCARLET DRAGON, who wound up as a minor Group horse on the Flat, fares in the Grade 2 Dovecote Hurdle. A tough, consistent horse, he has a touch of class and I can see him going very close first time up. He has run well at Kempton before and will have been extensively schooled.