Tom Scudamore: “I sat on him yesterday and he is in great order”

Coral ambassador previews Friday’s Newbury rides

13.50 Newbury – Eamon Du Cnoic

It was a shame what happened at Cheltenham earlier this month. He just overjumped his fence and fell. Everything was right for him that day.

We are on a retrieval mission here. He has never run around Newbury before but I do think it will suit him.

It’s a good race with Kalashnikov and Glen Forsa in there too but my horse has to have a good chance so I am hopeful.

15.00 Newbury – Thistlecrack

This will obviously be a stepping stone for the King George on Boxing Day. We have had two racecourse gallops with him and he has improved in both of those.

I sat on him yesterday and he was in great order. He is going to be getting 6lb off the rest of them here and obviously his record over hurdles speaks for itself. It is brilliant to get him back on the track and we will know a lot more about his chances for the season after this race.

He came back a little later this year so he missed the Betfair Chase at Haydock, which is why we have decided to go back over hurdles here.

He ran a cracker in the King George last year, so hopefully this race will tune him up for Boxing Day at the very least, where I am sure he can be competitive once again.

15.35 Newbury – Champers On Ice

It was great that he was able to get his head in front once again last time at Ffos Las. The softer the ground, the better for him. I think the ground is Soft (Good to Soft in places) at the moment which will be alright for him.

The handicapper hasn’t hammered him too much for that latest success. He seems to be in a good place at the moment so I really fancy him to run another big race.

I am really looking forward to this meeting. It’s one of the highlights early in the season and one in which I have had a lot of success at in the past. Newbury is as good of a track that you can ride around and there are some great horses turning out over the next couple of days.

Tom