Stable Tour: Chris Gordon aims to keep hot streak going at Cheltenham Showcase Meeting

Former jockey Gordon – alongside wife and assistant trainer Jenny – is no plucky upstart with cash to burn or any semblance of entitlement, rather an experienced grafter who will be perfectly content to cover his costs this winter, knowing full well that plenty in the sport - and outside of it - may not.

"The real driving force for me is being able to pay the bills,” the Hampshire-based trainer says en route to Plumpton, where the stable sends out three short-priced fancies on the card.

"And whatever the horses do on the track is a bonus. If you’ve got a horse for those big days, then off we go, but for me it’s just about gradually growing."

And gradual growth is clear for all to see when it comes to Chris Gordon Racing, an operation that started from basement level, registering four winners in 2007-08, to post a record 43 winners from 252 runners last season.

If the past two months are anything to go by, the current campaign promises to deliver yet more career-high figures.

He said: “It was this time last year we were actually finding very frustrating, we had just 11 winners going into the New Year and it was a real struggle.

"Sometimes you go to the races thinking they’re running well but they were disappointing us at the time and it was only at the start of this year they really started winning. We ended up having 30-odd winners after the turn of the year and we’ve kicked off where we left off which is fantastic.

“We’re really happy with the way everything’s going and everything’s heading upwards, but in this game it can turn around as quickly as it started."

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Having had zero winners from 11 runners through the months of June, July and August, Gordon ("I'm sick of summer jumping to be honest") has really taken off, winning nine races since the start of September, the sort of early-season surge once associated with the likes of Nigel Twiston-Davies or David Pipe.

“Over the years we’ve slowly been upgrading the horses and we’re trying to have more proper winter horses now," Gordon said.

"We’re pretty much filled up here now with around 60 horses. We went to Morestead – to what was quite a big yard - and we started off with four horses running under Rules, plus around 15 or 20 point-to-pointers – and they’re really what kept us going.

“The Rules side of things has just steadily turned around for us and it’s been a long old haul for myself and Jenny. I ride out four (lots) a day and she rides out five a day, so there’s a lot that goes in it from the whole team.

“I think five years ago the average price (of horse) in our yard was £8,000 so obviously we’re spending a bit more money now and getting that nicer type of horse. We’re not having to go off to the sales and buy second, third, fourth-hand horses anymore - people are generally getting rid of them for a reason and it can be a minefield. We’re able to go and buy younger horses or horses who have done their job in point-to-points, so things have definitely got better for us in that respect."

One such recruit - not expensively bought but already expertly placed to win at Stratford earlier this month - is Kayf Legend, who appears among the entries for Saturday’s Royal Gloucestershire Hussars Open National Hunt Flat Race as racing returns to Cheltenham for the Showcase Meeting, where Gordon struck gold in the novices’ handicap chase on the Friday card courtesy of Annual Invictus 12 months ago.

“Kayf Legend did it quite easily I thought on his debut at Stratford. I’ve put him in at Cheltenham on Saturday and if the ground did stay on the decent side, he’d go on that and he’d maybe like it more than one or two of the others.

“We’ll certainly have a look and see how he works on Wednesday, but I think he’ll be ready for another run.”

Kayf Legend clearly has potential, but he won’t be carrying the flag for the yard at Prestbury Park this week, that mantle going to the diminutive but upwardly mobile Aucunrisque in Friday’s squareintheair.com Novices’ Chase.

Unsurprisingly, Gordon isn’t one looking to get anybody’s hopes up prematurely with any horse, and yet the regard in which he holds this six-year-old shines through a steely façade.

“A bit like Kayf Legend, he’s another small horse but he’s very athletic. And he has a wonderful attitude – I wish I could take some of that attitude out of him and spread it across some of my others!

“He really gets down and has a crack and he won five times for us last year.

“Over fences he almost jumps a little too cleanly if anything, his back end comes up a bit, but Tom (Cannon) says he was really warming to the task as the Uttoxeter race went on so we’ll go to Cheltenham all being well. It’s not quite the jumping test as it used to be there.

“I’d love the ground on the easy side of good for him. I wouldn’t want to run him on good to firm anyway. There are fewer novice chases than there were in the past so when you get one like this they tend to be very hot races. But I thought we’ve had one nice win so it’s worth having a look at Cheltenham."

Press Your Luck is another looking to keep the early-season momentum rolling and will tackle three miles for the first time in Saturday’s Jim Wilson Memorial Novices’ Chase, while the returning Annual Invictus takes a change in direction in a bid to restore some confidence having lost his way after the bright start last year.

Gordon said: “Press Your Luck will stay. People are always in a real hurry to get to three miles – as soon as a young horse is disappointing everyone tells you to step them up in distance and before you know it you’re running over three miles at just four and a half years old.

“I’ve been trying to do things steadily with this horse but we’ve got to that stage now and fingers crossed for a good run. I was so pleased when he won on his chasing debut at Chepstow, as mentally he can be a little bit weak.

“Last year in the Lanzarote I put cheekpieces on him and he completely hated it, he didn’t want to go to the start and he didn’t want to walk around with the others at the start. He didn’t want to be there, but he improved again when I took them off.

"I’d say he’ll be fine on winter good ground – around Kempton and Newbury will be fine – and there will be plenty of options for him.

"I’ve put Annual Invictus in the Pertemps Hurdle qualifier this weekend in a bid to just change his mind a bit.

“He looked very smart in novice chases early last year and we suddenly seemed to have a massive blip when we went back to Plumpton, having won there earlier in the season.

“He seemed to react when he went past the stables and we went back there again in May for the Sussex Champion Chase and he looked to be going well out in front but it was the void race. When they put the race back on two weeks later Annual Invictus completely downed tools going past the stables again.

"He’s probably getting a little bit clever but he’s a very capable horse. I just want him to be a happy horse again so maybe hurdling will do the trick."

Gordon knows more than most there aren't really many tricks or shortcuts when it comes to training racehorses, but there's no illusion to the yard's magical current run of form, and it's perfectly clear the hard work that really makes the difference isn't about to relent any time soon.

Rest of the team...

Bumper horses

Mount Bonete - "When I run them first time out in a bumper I would only really ask for one token smack behind the saddle to help teach them and nothing more, but he had run in a point-to-point so had experience from that in the spring. He’s a lovely big horse and went and did the job well. He hit the front early in the straight and they came to him but he did it nicely on the line and he did it the hard way really. He was quite a lot of money for us but he could be worth every penny as he’s a lovely one for the future."

Invictus De Brion – "He’s a sweet horse, his wind really collapsed on us and we had to give him quite a significant operation to fix it, but he put in a really nice run when second at Southwell and then won at Plumpton after we’d sold him to the Goodwins who sponsor our yard. And he did it really nicely too. I broke him in as a two-year-old and he could be a little more forward than some four-year-olds – we’ll see if I stick to bumpers or decide to go hurdling. I’ve given him a break now but get going again with him soon."

Proper Twelve – "I thought he was the winner coming around into the straight. Tom thought he maybe needed it or didn’t quite get the two miles and two furlongs around there. He just didn’t quite see it out so whether that was through fitness or not I don’t know. We’ll stick to bumpers with him this year so fingers crossed he’ll win one along the way."

Bentley’s Return - "I thought he ran really nicely the other day and he’s another going to stick to the bumper route. He’s only a four-year-old and he was a big, green baby first time out. I hope he’ll end up going close in a bumper this season."

Chasers

Unanswered Prayers – "He’ll be going off over fences and I’ve a novices’ handicap chase at Newbury in mind for him. He’s a wonderful jumper and one to look forward to. He’s made to jump a fence so fingers crossed."

Blade Runner – "The ideal plan with him would be the Sussex National that we won with Go Whatever last year. Hopefully he could creep into that on a fair mark and a low weight. He stays very well and he’s good around Plumpton."

Stanley Pincombe - "He’ll come on for his first run back but we’ll need a bit of rain. He’s a very nice horse at home and should be rated a fair bit higher if he puts it together on the track.

Alto Alto – "I’d have run him at Kempton last weekend but I might wait for a bit more rain. I’ll probably give him a run a week on Saturday at Ascot in a conditional jockeys’ handicap hurdle. The idea would be to then go novice chasing with him."

Storm Dennis – "Stratford didn’t happen for him but it was his first time over fences and he probably wants a bit more juice in the ground. It was probably a bad decision from the trainer to run him but he’s got plenty of time and should be a nice chaser in time."

Only Money – "He’ll probably run at Worcester on Wednesday and I’m not sure the course will be ideal as they fences there aren’t overly big whereas jumping is one of this horse’s strengths. It’s quite a valuable race for the grade so we'll support the race."

Smurphy Enki – "He's having the season off which is a shame. He’s been treated for a very bad kissing spine and it’s quite a major operation. He then got an infection so we’ve struggled to get him ready for the racecourse."

Hurdlers

Highway One O Two – "My son Freddie rode him at Fontwell at the start of the month and I know plenty of people weren’t happy but for 97% of the race he gave the horse a lovely ride. For whatever reason we ended up getting collared on the line which was a shame, he thought he’d got it in the bag at the second-last and these things happen. The horse achieved one of his highest ratings of his life on the day and he isn’t the easiest to ride in fairness. He’s gone up a couple of pounds which makes it even more frustrating but he’s got options in some nice handicap hurdles."

Highway One O Three – "We’ve had his wind done since the spring when he was on a bit of a roll. He won his last three last year and he’s going off over fences this time around. He’s well and due to run in two weeks’ time. He’ll probably go into a 0-105 novices’ handicap, maybe at Huntingdon in a couple of weeks."

Lord Baddesley – "He’s not a straightforward horse at times. He ran a blinder in the Betfair Hurdle last year as they went like the clappers and it really suited him. Running him over more than two miles, he sometimes doesn’t see the trip out. There are some nice races at Ascot and elsewhere in the coming weeks."

Leave Of Absence – "He’ll start off over two miles, possibly at Ascot or maybe Newbury in early-November, and he’s been jumping hurdles well at home. He was a wonderful horse in bumpers last year so hopefully he can carry on that progress. I ran him back quite quickly at Aintree after winning at Newbury in the spring and he ran a blinder. Josh (Moore) said Aintree was just too tight for him and he wants a proper gallop."

Red Windsor – "I bought him very cheaply from Ireland and the owners have been lucky. He went and won his novice hurdle first time out, battling well, and I’ve got him ear-marked for Plumpton in a couple of weeks’ time. He’s going to have it tough under a penalty now but he could nick another little novice at one of the smaller tracks hopefully. It’s a big bonus if you have well-balanced horses around Plumpton and Fontwell, plus jockeys who know these courses well."

Presenting A Queen - "She’s naturally quite a slow mare and doesn’t look anything out of the ordinary so when we ran her in her bumper first time out at Newbury we didn’t expect much. Tom had to jump off and make it at Plumpton and at Chepstow too, which is quite tough for a mare. I don’t think she’s doing a tap out in front and in a better grade of race you’ll probably see a better mare again. I’m stepping her up to two miles and seven at Exeter next time as long as the ground is OK. I just hope something will take her along a bit so she can sit in third or fourth. She’ll stick to mares’ races as there’s a good programme."

Diamond Egg – "He was due to go to Plumpton this week but we had him scoped and he wasn’t great so he’ll be on a course of antibiotics which will hold him up a few weeks."

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