Graham Clark gets the lowdown from Harry Fry on his team for the new jumps season.
For all the frustration of training as many seconds as winners last season, there was more than just a glimpse as to what could be in store for trainer Harry Fry this campaign.
His final total of 25 winners might have been his lowest since his debut season in 2012-13, but those figures fail to tell the whole story for the Grade One-winning handler.
While Fry would have wanted more winners, prize money levels remained respectable, and the emergence of Gidleigh Park and Anno Power, showed a sign of things to come.
And with both horses expected to hit the heights there is every reason that together with a number of new recruits, and familiar faces, Fry can enjoy a campaign not remembered for hitting the woodwork, but one for finding the back of the net on a regular basis.
He said: “Prize money wise we were nearly on par with previous seasons, but we didn’t have as many winners, but we had lots of placed efforts. This season we will try and turn those narrow second and thirds into wins this time around.
“I suppose the highlight was Cheltenham’s meeting in April where we had three winners. In Excelsis Deo deservedly got his head in front in the Grade Two Silver Trophy and his season summed up our season in a way with a lot of nearly moments.
“We have got a lot of young horses coming through and that is what we have got to look forward to this season. We have the likes of Gidleigh Park going chasing and we have Anno Power who looked good in bumpers last season for novice hurdles this time around.
"The likes of Love Envoi have moved on, but we are hoping Gidleigh Park, Anno Power and the other young ones coming through can take us back up to the next level again and help us compete regularly at the big fixtures at weekends."
“We haven’t seen him since he disappointed in the Betfair Hurdle, but he came back and he wasn’t 100 percent right. It took a while to get him right and we just ran out of time to run him again. He is back in and the plan is to run him in 0-130 handicap Sandown on Sunday.
“He ran two good races at Ascot last season, but I can’t believe the meeting there near Christmas was on good ground. He wasn’t beaten far in the Betfair Exchange Trophy that day behind Luccia, but he was just crying out for a bit more ease in the ground.
“We thought everything was in his favour at Newbury, but he just never turned up. He is still relatively lightly raced. I would love to get a confidence booster into him before aiming his sights a bit higher again.
“I’m sure there is a good prize in him over hurdles. He has got the size to go chasing one day, but I think there is unfinished business over hurdles.
“There is the race at Ascot near Christmas for him again, and the handicap hurdle on Tingle Creek day we won with Love Envoi, while I wouldn’t be afraid to step him up in trip as well.”
“She showed a real turn of foot at Ascot. I went to Exeter to take on the boys first time out, and I often don’t run mares against the boys, and I thought we just had to turn up, however it is never as simple as that and we bumped into a good one of Ben Pauling’s (Dunskay).
“She was the last one off the bridle, but she over raced and on that soft ground it turned into a bit of a duel and she just got outstayed.
“We rode her with loads of confidence at Ascot and she picked up and passed the field up the straight. At Cheltenham under a penalty it was great to see her back that up.
“We were going to go to Aintree, but the ground was soft and we didn’t want to blunt her speed, which is her asset, so we waited for Cheltenham and it worked out well.
She has schooled great and has shown us lots of speed on the track, and at home. Hopefully all roads lead to the Dawn Run Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in March.
“The plan is to run her in a maiden hurdle at Sandown on Sunday and all being well she will then go to Newbury for a mares’ Listed novices’ hurdle there at the end of the month. We will be sticking at two miles with her and hopefully have lots of fun.
“She is as good as any of the good mares we have had. I’m not sure I’ve trained a horse with such a turn off foot before.
“We have got to go out and do it all again now over hurdles, but she is a lovely mare and as good, at this stage, to any other mare we have had.”
“He is still about and is now a veteran of the yard. He won a veterans’ chase at Exeter last season which qualifies him for the final at Sandown in January, which is very much what we are working towards.
“I was hoping to go to Sandown on Sunday, but I didn’t enter him on the account of the ground as we know he likes plenty of cut in it. The final in January is a great race for horses like him.
“I hope we can go to Warwick now later this month for another veterans’ chase provided there is enough rain. We will just pick our targets with him.”
“We haven’t seen him on track since the December Meeting at Cheltenham where he was runner-up to Dysart Enos, who he was trying to concede seven pounds to, and that was a drop back in trip to two miles one furlong.
“It was frustrating he picked up an injury that ruled him out for the second half of the campaign, but he has made a full recovery and hopefully he will reappear at Cheltenham next Saturday in the intermediate handicap hurdle over two miles five furlongs.
“Off 132 he hasn’t been gifted a mark, but he is still very unexposed. Over that intermediate trip I would like to think then going forward he could be competitive in races like the Lanzarote Hurdle as an unexposed second season hurdler.
“You never know where he might progress to, but there is definitely more to come from him.”
“He secured two very good wins at Ascot then very uncharacteristically hit the deck twice on ground that was slower than ideal.
“We only ran him in the Game Spirit at Newbury as it was our last chance before Cheltenham to try and get a clear round in.
“To end the season with a confidence boosting run, which sounds silly in a Grade One, was good as it was a case of making sure he got round.
“It was good to see him jump well, and stay on, at Sandown on the last day of the season and it gives us the confidence to throw our hat in the ring in good two mile chases this season.
“He is rated 158 now and he is going to be a few pounds shy of the top two mile chasers in level weights races and in handicaps he will be carrying a lot of weight.
“We will mix him and match him a bit and place him to win where he has the best chance. He is a good horse, but just shy of taking on the real best, but as we saw last season they have to turn up on the day and anything can happen.
“There is the Shloer Chase at Cheltenham next weekend, but we will also have a look at the Hurst Park Handicap Chase at Ascot that he has won for the past two years.
“He will have an entry in the Tingle Creek, while there is the Desert Orchid Chase over Christmas, which he fell in last year.
“I’d love to go back to Ascot in January for the Clarence House Chase. He would be taking on the best there as it is a Grade One, but he has got such a good record around Ascot.”
“He won’t be seen out until after Christmas. He had three good runner-up efforts last season and he chased home the Reynoldstown winner (Henry’s Friend) around Hereford in one of his three runner-up starts.
“He went to Ayr on his last start and didn’t run his race, but he picked up an injury and we have to let him get over that, hence why he won’t be out for a while.
“He has not won over fences, but he has run some good races over them. He has now got that experience over fences, and he is still eligible for novice chase contests, so he has all angles covered.
“I’d like to think we will have some fun in two and a half mile and three mile handicap chases from the turn of the year.
“I think we will probably look at handicaps as off his mark there is no point winning a standard novice handicap. He might as well go in a good handicap and go up in the weights winning one of those.”
“He has not had a clear run of things, but last season he put in two good runs at the start and finish of the season. He was a good fourth in a Pertemps Qualifier at Cheltenham then on his last start he finished third in the Heroes Handicap Hurdle at Sandown.
“He is not the easiest to keep right. We have had our niggles, and issues with him, but hopefully we are on top of them. He is never a horse we will see many times each season. “We have tried him over fences once before and we are keen, while he seems in good order, to try him over them again.
“He always looked like he would be a chaser so we will give it another try. He was a good third in the EBF Final at Sandown and that race is often a good pointer to future chasers.
“We want to make the most of the opportunity while he is right. He is rated in the mid 120s at the moment and if we can keep him right he is definitely a 130s horse, and maybe a bit more, if things go his way. Hopefully there will be a good handicap in him at some point over three miles.”
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“He went through the race lovely at Carlisle, but he takes a lot of graft and we knew he was going to need it. He just needed it more than we thought as he got tired.
“He won a bumper first time out, then we went novice hurdling as a four/five year old, and although he won his maiden hurdle in the spring, I felt we could have maybe done with another 12 months in bumpers.
“He will stay hurdling this season and he has got a mark he should be able to win off, especially now he has got that run under his belt.
“There is a nice prize at Wincanton in a few weeks over two and a half miles, while he is still eligible for novice hurdles until the end of the month and there is a Class Two one at Ascot at the end of the month.
“As the season progresses hopefully he can make his mark in two and a half mile handicap hurdles, and possible ones over three miles as well.”
“We ran him in the wrong race at the Cheltenham Festival as it turned out. Three miles on heavy ground was everything we were trying to avoid, but you live and learn. We are now looking forward to going novice chasing with him.
“You should never be afraid of one horse, but we thought we would have a better chance in the Albert Bartlett.
“The Classic Novices’ Hurdle he won on Trials Day has produced a number of winners of the Albert Bartlett, but not the Baring Bingham. In hindsight we would have been better off running him in the Supreme on heavy ground.
“He is such a big heavy horse, and he covers so much ground, but we ended up trying to restrain him on testing ground in the Albert Bartlett and he overdid it and didn’t manage to get home in the conditions.
“We won’t be going three miles with him in a hurry at the moment. He will be coming back in trip and all being well he will go to Exeter on the 18th for a beginners chase over two miles and three furlongs.
“It is a lovely course to introduce him over fences and he won his maiden hurdle there last season so if we get some rain that will be a lovely springboard into the season.
“We schooled him in the spring, and the other day, and everything he has done until this point has been good and we can’t wait to see him over a fence.
“You have the Towton up at Wetherby in January for him and the Scilly Isles at Sandown in February if things go well that we can work towards.
“However we have to prove we are at that level first, but I would like to think he will be better again over fences.”
“He won at Ascot last season and ran a really good race at Chepstow on his return, giving over a stone away to the winner.
“He could go back to Ascot for the same race he won last year or there is an extended two miles two furlongs handicap hurdle at Haydock Park on the same day.
“I think we will step him up in trip through the course of the season. I didn’t enter him in the Greatwood Hurdle this season, which he has finished runner-up in before, but I don’t think he is quite at that level and there are more unexposed horses coming through.
“He can run well if we pick the right races for him.”
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Discover Sporting Life Plus Benefits“Plumpton was the wrong track to run her on first time out in the spring. Then we ran her against the geldings at Chepstow in October and she ran a lovely race to finish fourth.
“She is a new one for the Harry Fry Racing Syndicate. She jumps for fun and she will go to Exeter next over hurdles over two miles and two furlongs, and we will step her up in trip from there. I think she can provide the syndicate with a lot of fun this season.
“I think she could be an ideal type for the Grade two British EBF ‘National Hunt’ Mares’ Novices’ Limited Handicap Hurdle at Newbury in March. That could be spot on for her.”
“His flat form was very good and initially we purchased him as a juvenile hurdler, but we have had to be patient with him as he has his issues.
“We have been trying to make up for lost time with him and we campaigned on the flat thinking that there is still more to come from him, but he hasn’t really progressed.
“We started out over hurdles at Wincanton and he was novicey, but doing his best work at the end. The first two home were also off the flat, but they had already had a run.
“Hopefully it will be our turn next with that experience under his belt as he is more than up to winning a maiden and hopefully progressing.”
“The plan is to go back to Cheltenham for the Prestbury Handicap Chase over an extended three miles and three furlongs.
“I had him in a couple of races at Cheltenham at the October meeting, but I knew the race at Newton Abbot was there as he was still eligible for novice hurdles.
“He showed little regard for the last four flights, but it worked out really well. That race will put him spot on for his return to fences.
“Hopefully he is a second season chaser that can be one to follow in those staying races as he is unexposed with the potential for more to come.
“He is rated 127 at the moment and I would like to run him in a National of some sort, which one that is will depend on his early season form.
“If it is not the Grand National there is the Midlands National and Scottish National and also the bet365 Gold Cup.
“Any of those races we would be looking to run him in the second half of the season. Whether we go for a Welsh Grand National before that I’m not sure.”
“The Galway Plate was over the moment it started. He missed the start and was all but on his nose at the second fence. In a race like that you don't recover around a track like that. It was frustrating, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.
“He is all set to hopefully now run in the Paddy Power Gold Cup. He was third, second, fifth and first at the track last season. He has run well every time he has gone there.
“It is a very competitive race as it is a valuable prize, and lots of people will be aiming at it, but I still think he is progressive at that distance and there is more to come as he is only six.
“You would like to think he will be there, or thereabouts at the finish. There is then the December Gold Cup after that and he can run in all those valuable handicaps there and hopefully he will get his day.”
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Discover Sporting Life Plus Benefits“We were delighted with him first time out where he chased home Valgrand, who has since won twice.
“I was very happy with him at Chepstow on Wednesday. It was a good return, and he will have learnt plenty for it. At some point we will go up in trip with him.
“He has now had two good runs over hurdles, but as we know maiden, and novice hurdles, are hot this time of year.
“Hopefully we can find a small race for him to get his head in front next time.
“He is a lovely big horse and hopefully he can progress. He will be a lovely chaser in 12 months time. He has a lovely profile and I’m looking forward to a bright future with him.”
“She made a really good debut for us when finishing second behind Nurse Susan at the Christmas Meeting at Cheltenham.
“It was a great start, but unfortunately she picked up an injury which ruled her out of the rest of that campaign, and the start of this one.
“Hopefully we will have her for the second half of the season. On the back of her Cheltenham run she should be capable of winning a nice prize or two.”
“He has just been frustrating full stop. He is a horse that has clearly got plenty of ability, but I can’t believe we have won so few races with him. It makes people laugh as he went off favourite at Sandown when he was trying to concede weight to Constitution Hill as a novice.
“We tried him over fences last season and he wasn’t a natural albeit he did win a match race at Exeter. We reverted to hurdles and, without tempting fate, I think he has slipped to quite an attractive mark. We are hoping that we can land a good one with him at some point.
“He is in at Kempton on Monday for a two miles five furlongs Pertemps qualifier, but I’m leaning towards going to Bangor instead on Wednesday as the ground will be slower.
“I think three miles just stretches him. He has got ability, and the handicapper has given him a chance, so hopefully he will get his name in lights at some point. He could be a Lanzarote Hurdle type horse.”
“He only had the one start last season when he finished a staying on fourth over hurdles at Ascot. He is a lovely big horse, but he missed the rest of last season with a setback.
“He is not back in training yet, but we are hoping to have maybe a spring campaign with him.
“We want to make sure we keep him sound as he will be a lovely novice chaser next season.”
“She won at Fakenham first time out for us, but she showed a good attitude that day as everything that went wrong pretty much did, however she was still able to win.
“The track at Fakenham didn’t suit her at all so that is why we went to Uttoxeter over a more galloping track, although I knew over two miles that would still be on the short side.
“She has got a great attitude and she was closing all the way to the line. It was a really promising start and she will now step up in trip.
“She will have no problems winning a mares’ maiden hurdle. Hopefully she can then progress into black type races from there.
“The Jane Seymour at Sandown would be a lovely race to have a go at with her. She won her point-to-point on heavy ground so I would have no problem switching her to slower ground.”
“He had a good first season over hurdles as he was two from four. We have decided to go chasing as he gets all those allowances as a four year old and he has schooled really well.
“He is eligible for novice hurdles this season, but he would have to carry a double penalty. Yes, he could go and run in handicap hurdles, but we just thought as a four year old he won’t get a weight for age allowance where he does over fences.
“He just needed the experience on his first start over fences at Chepstow on Wednesday as he made a couple of mistakes.
“Twelve months ago Hymac pulled up in the same race and look what he went on to achieve.
“He will be all the better for that chasing debut on his next start.”
BUMPER HORSES
“I was in shock watching him on his comeback at Chepstow on Wednesday as I thought he was one of our better younger horses.
“However, soon after the race he was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation, and having been through that recently myself, I can see just why he stopped pretty quickly.
“I would like to think once we get him right we can put a line through that effort and move on as I do think he is a nice horse.
“He is a lovely horse and he has been very straightforward at home. He has a great mind and takes everything in his stride. We went to Newton Abbot thinking there are lots of point-to-point winners in the race and we would be delighted if he finished in the top four.
“It was a photo finish, but luckily we came out on the right side of it. It was a very exciting start.
“He is only four, but he has plenty of size and scope. I’m leaning towards having a go at a better bumper now without a penalty as I would love to have him as a novice hurdler in 12 months time.
“He is from a good chasing family that has both Oscar Elite and Lord Windermere in it. Potentially he could be a graded novice hurdler in 12 months time.
“He won’t go to Cheltenham’s meeting next week, but maybe we might go to Ascot for the Listed bumper there just before Christmas. There is also Newbury in February as well, which we have won before.”
“She was fourth on her debut at Wincanton in a newcomers race. It was good ground that day, and all her family like it like that.
“She will be much better for that experience. We will give her another go in a bumper next.
“Even though she is five she is just taking time to fill her frame.”
ON THE BAYOU
“He is a four year old that we picked up in the spring having won his Irish point-to-point well. “He looks like a real galloper and he will start in a bumper later this month. He is a lovely long term prospect.
“He is one I’d like to keep as a novice hurdler next season, but he is very much one to look forward to when he goes over fences.”
“He made his debut last month at Chepstow. He travelled nicely through the race, but just lost a bit on the ground up the home straight.
“He will be all the better for that run and will hopefully go close the next day.”
“He made a really promising debut when runner-up in a three year old junior bumper. He was green turning in, but I loved the way he finished the race and hit the line hard.
“There is another race like that back there next month and with the benefit of a run he should hopefully take a bit of beating.
“If that all went well we could go to Cheltenham for the four year old bumper there on New Year’s Day.”
