Sam Thomas is in no rush to send Al Dancer back into battle after his imperious success in the Badger Beer at Wincanton.
The evergreen 11-year-old produced a phenomenal round of jumping and galloping in the hands of conditional jockey Callum Pritchard to both turn the traditionally competitive early-season staying chase into a procession and continue his handler’s fine start to the current campaign.
It was the second notable success Thomas has saddled for owner Dai Walters in recent weeks following the victory of progressive hurdler Lump Sum in the Welsh Champion Hurdle at the owners’ home track of Ffos Las last month.
However, it was a special moment for the man who once steered Denman to Cheltenham Gold Cup glory as Al Dancer added another feather to the trainer’s cap at Wincanton.
“We’re absolutely thrilled and it was an amazing performance and we’re just unbelievably lucky to have such an incredible horse really, we’re very lucky to have these top horses,” said Thomas.
“We haven’t got a huge team but they are the races we all want to win and it’s great for the boss Mr Walters and just keeps the whole thing ticking along.
“We obviously want to win with every horse we can, but the big ones take the pressure off a bit. We’ve got a lovely team of horses to run and we’re just hoping for a bit of help with the weather."
Al Dancer was registering the 10th victory of his long career, but his trainer is prepared to box clever and bide his time before seeking an 11th – and despite his advancing years, the gallant grey has now reached a career-high rating.
Attempting to go one better than last season in Kempton’s Coral Trophy early in the new year is one option available as Thomas eyes further riches in the staying chase division, but for now connections will simply savour their Wincanton success.
“As expected, he’s a little bit tired but he’s such a warrior and he’s come back to himself quite quickly now,” continued Thomas.
“The handicapper could have been harsher but he’s still up to a career high mark on 159 now, so we might have to just play it by ear and try to be a bit clever with where we go with him really.
“The Coral Trophy was a near-miss at Kempton last year and he ran a blinder there, so that would be an obvious one and it’s the right way round for him. But we will take one step at a time and I wouldn’t be banking on too many runs this season, it’s just a case of finding the best opportunity we can.
“He’s a veteran and doesn’t qualify for those races because he’s rated too high, but he could be one for any of those nice long-distance staying handicaps and it’s nice to see that he stays the three miles well, as that was a question mark before."
He went on: "We’ll be dictated by him and it was amazing how it worked out with the Badger Beer, as I was scratching my head where to run him and we just had to roll the dice – if we didn’t run him, there wasn’t really anything for him until December.
"It’s amazing and having done that, it kind of takes the pressure off and we’re not in such a hurry to find that next target really."
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