StableTalk: I like this horse, otherwise i wouldn’t be running him in this race

Seeing Al Ferof win the way he did last Sunday was amazing. He jumped great, travelled well, and now it’s onwards and upwards to the King George. There are no negatives at all with him but the King George is going to be a really tough race. Al Ferof has been a great horse for the Hales’ family and the King George is the next start before we target more big races with him next year.

I was very happy with Bon Chic, who came second for the Coral Champions Club, but she just bumped into a good one in Kalane. Kalane was a better hurdler than Bon Chic so we knew that to beat her we had to either jump better than her, or she had to jump badly. To be fair Bon Chic jumped immaculately bar one fence where she was bit slow, but still clever at it. Kalane however jumped brilliantly, simply amazing. Our fate was almost obvious after just three fences the way Kalane jumped them. Come the spring when we run Bon Chic in those mares’ handicap chases Kalane will have to give us plenty of weight, so we’ll get our chance for revenge then.

Bon Chic coped with the soft ground, and I think as she’s getting older she’s getting stronger which helps on that ground. But she will be better in the spring, all mares are. She’ll go to Leicester on the 28th December for a beginners’ chase and then you probably won’t see her again until March. The ground at Leicester is never too bad so it should suit her.

Virgilio is a very good horse. He pulled like a hooligan last Saturday and still won. He will go the Relkeel on New Years Day at Cheltenham. We’ve run out of options for him, we’ve got to go there. That will tell us where we lie compared to the good hurdlers. If he gets beat there we might just send him over fences and get some experience, and see where the land lies come the spring. He’s actually had one run over fences in France.
I’m so pleased with the way things are going. It’s magic. Harry is riding brilliantly. The horses look great and are running well. We’ve just got to keep that form up, that’s the most important thing.