Tom Scudamore hopes Dynaste can roll back the years at Sandown

I do think these Veterans’ races are brilliant especially for some horses when they get to 10 years old. For instance I rode Katkeau in the Coral Welsh National; he is ten and running off over 150, his highest ever mark.

For these sorts of horse it is a godsend for them to run against their own age group. The prize money is very good and I think it’s a really good initiative.

Chepstow mounts on Sunday

On Sunday, I have four rides at Chepstow. I ride Admiral Kid in the first race at 1.00. He has obviously got ability, but he’s fallen twice in his last three runs, including a fall at the last when he was second at Fakenham last time out.

So he’s going to have to put a better round of jumping in. It’s a competitive little race and with a clear round he could run well.

After that I ride Monbeg Aquadude in the second division of the maiden hurdle at 2.00. We took him to Ayr and I thought he was an absolute certainty on his homework and everything else he had done but he was beaten too easily.

He ran really disappointingly but he is a horse I think an awful lot about and he seems to have come out of Ayr ok, so hopefully that was just a complete no show.

If he’s as good as I think he is going to be, then I’m sure he will put up a very good performance on Sunday. His form from his point-to-point has worked out well and he’s a horse with an enormous amount of potential.

I then ride Fingerontheswitch in the 2.30, who I think has a squeak. He seems to have taken reasonably well to fences. It is a competitive race but we will have a squeak.

I am on the ex-French horse Shaama Grise in the 3.00pm. She has got decent form around Auteil and it will be interesting to see what we make of her.

She has pleased us and done everything right for us at home. However, at lot of these French horses sometimes acclimatise more quickly than others but she has the form in the book to do very competitively.

Overall I am most looking forward to riding Dynaste. I am hoping he is going to roll back the years as we’ve had some wonderful days together, winning at the Cheltenham Festival and everything else. It will be a day of contrast that’s for sure.

You’ve got one old boy looking to roll back the years and then you have Celestial Path who wouldn’t be beyond the realms of possibility of becoming a Champion Hurdle horse.

One with an enormous amount of potential and the other we are hoping to make a comeback. They’re the two big guns at varying ends of the spectrum so I can’t wait to see what happens.

Tom

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