Ben Pauling hasn’t ruled out bringing The Jukebox Man back to the minimum trip despite confirming the Ladbrokes Kauto Star Novices’ Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day, over three miles, being his next stop.
The six-year-old was one of the leading staying novice hurdlers of last season, finishing second in the Albert Bartlett at Cheltenham and the Sefton at Aintree.
He produced a dazzling display to win the Coral John Francome Novices’ Chase at Newbury on his reappearance last month, jumping and travelling well as he beat Masaccio by two lengths.
That was over two-and-a-half miles and the trainer told Wednesday’s Nick Luck Daily Podcast: “He’s been more of a headscratcher than I expected to be honest. I campaigned him over three miles last season in the better three mile novice hurdles at the back-end.
“The way we rode him was pretty positive and I didn’t blame the horse for getting tired in the last furlong a couple of times, but I sort of felt a drop back in trip would be feasible.
“I was expecting proper soft winter ground when we did drop back to two-and-a-half but of course we went to Newbury on genuine good to soft ground and no worse and he put in the performance of his career really. He jumped unbelievably well, he was fast and accurate, and his enthusiasm for the game looked stronger than ever. We then were faced with the question of do we stick to two-and-a-half but there’s not an awful lot around at all or do we drop him back down to two?
“We know he will stay three miles given a more sympathetic ride than we’ve possibly given him before, so we were in two minds over where we went and what we did.
“But I think we’ve landed in the fact we’re going to go for the Kauto Star at Kempton so back up to three miles but he’ll have entries everywhere come March, at two and three miles, because if it came up heavy I’d never be scared of dropping him right back to the minimum trip because he looks a faster chaser than he did a hurdler.”
It will be The Jukebox Man’s first start under Rules going right-handed and Pauling is keen to learn more about his rising star.
“He’s a quirky character and can lug left but it’s all in his head because once you straighten him up he’s gun-barrel straight. He doesn’t jump left, he doesn’t run left, it was just trying to get him round the water jump at Newbury that he started lugging in left,” he said.
“So, it will be interesting to see how he does go going right-handed and I don’t think it’s going to be an issue at all. He’s never been right apart from when he won his point-to-point so it will be nice to go right-handed just to give ourselves the options of knowing where we are really.
“As a novice chaser we’re still learning about him and in years gone by he’d have been an obvious horse for the Dipper at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day but that’s been scrapped, and our hands are forced really to go three miles or two. There’s a race over two miles two, the Noel at Ascot next weekend, but I just feel that comes a week early, so we’re sort of where we are really.”
Stablemate Handstands fell on his chasing debut at Wincanton in November but got back on track with an impressive win in the Betfair Esher Novices’ Chase at Sandown last week.
A firm plan is in place for him, Pauling adding: “Handstands has come out of his race very well indeed and I think he’s probably going to side-step Christmas and look towards Warwick on the 11th January and the Hampton Novice Chase there.
“It’s a Grade Two over three miles and he looked to me like he stays every yard of that three mile trip, he seems to possess a nice amount of speed at that distance as well.
“Hopefully he’s quite a dangerous horse over three miles. He could come back to two-and-a-half with the other options possibly would be looking at going to the Scilly Isles afterwards.
“The owners are keen to run him a couple of times before our spring campaign so it will be Warwick and the Scilly Isles I’d imagine.
“The first part of his season will probably be campaigned around getting to the Scilly Isles in A1 form and how he comes out the back of that will determine whether he’s a Cheltenham horse or an Aintree horse.”
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