Scudamore says: Dynaste has ‘big chance’ of Wetherby win

I am really pleased with the way my rehab has gone this week. I went to a specialist and he is very happy with my progress. Obviously, it is a case of it will be ready when it is ready and you can’t rush these things but I really hoping I will be back for the Open meeting at Cheltenham next month. That is the target at this stage.

It is frustrating and annoying not being able to ride each day, but I don’t have a magic wand to make it better so you just have concentrate on getting back as soon as I can.

The break has been good in that I have been able to spend some time with the kids, especially as it has been half-term for them. I still watch all the racing I need to watch but I probably wouldn’t watch as religiously as I would if I was riding myself. All the ones I need to keep an eye on and the ones I would have been riding, I do watch.

There was some good racing at Cheltenham last week. Fortunately I have not missed a lot, as David has not run many of his better runners yet. There is horse of David Bridgewater which won really well at Fontwell a couple of weeks ago. I’d be disappointed if he did not win again. Hopefully there is still plenty to look forward to when I do get back.

David also a horse called Champers on Ice who has a few entries next week. He’s an exciting horse to look out for when he does run next. He won a decent bumper at Punchestown last year and has some good point-to-point form. The big guns will start coming out now. I saw many of them the other day and they all look ready to rock.

Tomorrow is a great opportunity for Dynaste in the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby. He has been a great horse over the years. With the way the weights are framed, he has a big chance. David also has Ballynagour in the race. They both have good chances. If I was fit, it would be very hard to choose between the two but I suppose I’d come down on the side of Dynaste just because he has been so consistent over the years. He is marginally better in on official ratings but it will be a cracking race. You’d be hoping on the form he showed last year, he’d be capable of winning this race.

I rode Dynaste for his seasonal opener in France earlier this month and he just needed that run. The trip was also on the short side for him, and he nearly got brought down at one hurdle which cost us a lot of ground. I am not saying we would have won the race had that not happened, but we would certainly have finished a lot closer. He was only beaten nine lengths and was staying on near the finish, so I wasn’t disappointed at all with that run. The three miles around Wetherby will certainly suit him a lot better.

We will see how tomorrow goes first but his season is most likely to consist of the Betfair Chase, the King George and then we will make a decision from there on whether it will be the Ryanair Chase again or the Gold Cup. First of all though, we just hoping he comes through ok from tomorrow and he runs as consistently as he has done over the last couple of years.

The Gold Cup division looks very strong this year, but they all have to get there in once piece. You’ve got the young pretenders such as Don Cossack, the novices form last year in Vautour and Don Poli and then the defending champion Coneygree, so it is sizing up to be a strong division with strength in depth. At this stage it has hard to say anyone is going to dominate it, but there are going to be some mouth-watering clashes over the winter. It will be great to think they will all line up in March fully fit.

The West Yorkshire Hurdle will be a good race to watch at Wetherby tomorrow. Rock On Ruby has been a fantastic horse over the years and always looks like he will get three miles. Then you have Grumeti who isn’t going need to have a big jump to be in the frame for the World Hurdle. The other interesting horse is The Druids Nephew who probably won’t be winning this race but he is a potential Grand National runner, so it is great to have him back on the racecourse. It is a race which will have a lot of pointers for the future, especially if Grumeti was to hack up and transfer his distance chase form to hurdles, then we will have a new kid on the block.

The World Hurdle looks to be a wide opening division. Cole Harden did it well last year but then he was beaten by Whisper at Aintree. A lot of the novices that might have been challenging for the World Hurdle are likely to be going over fences. There is plenty in there though that could blow the division apart.

Over at Ascot, Purple ‘N Gold is in action in a listed race at 2.15 over two miles. He has been an absolute star over the years and has taken to fences really well. This is a tough race for him though, but it probably doesn’t have the strength in depth as the race he was in at Cheltenham last week so we will be hoping for better performance.

In the 2.50 at Ascot, David saddles Unanimite who has bits and pieces of form. He won at Market Rasen last year but he has always flattered to deceive because we have always thought he had potential. Hopefully tomorrow he can change that. The one to beat is probably Sign of a Victory, although he does have to carry of lot of weight in this so it will be an interesting race.