Three ‘Active’ chances for trainer Ben Pauling as Cheltenham Trials Day looks set to go ahead

Horse racing trainer Ben Pauling is hopeful his three horses at Cheltenham on Saturday will have good chances on a competitive Trials Day card.

Prestbury Park’s nine-race event was in doubt earlier this week due to some areas of the track still being frozen, however, a positive update from Clerk of the Course, Jon Pullin, suggests racing will go ahead if the course passes its precautionary inspection at 7:30am tomorrow morning.

If Cheltenham gets the green light, Pauling is set to unleash three contenders around the undulating track, a team that is headed by the runaway Ascot winner YOUR DARLING.

The Gloucestershire-based trainer said: “The drop back to two-and-a-half miles will definitely suit him and I hope he can run a big race – I’ve been struggling to work out his last race at Kempton as I think he ran well and he is in better form now.

“He’s got a nice weight, there are horses with form around the track that we don’t have, but if he goes there and the ground is not too horrific, he’ll stand a good chance.

“He’s not in love with soft ground, we’ll have to see how it’s riding on the day because it could be tacky – they are putting the frost sheets down on the course ahead of racing to try and get it on, which is always going to be a tricky one.”

The Cheltenham Festival-winning trainer is also represented by ACTIVE DUTY in the first race of the day, the Grade 2 Triumph Hurdle Trial.

Last year, the race was won by Gordon Eliott’s Pied Piper, a former flat horse, before going on to finish third in the Grade 1 Triumph Hurdle in March – Pauling’s runner is also an ex-flat horse and could outrun his odds of 40/1.

“He ran nicely first time out and he will come on a bundle on for that, but this is a much deeper race and we think he is a fair horse at home.

“It would be quite nice to see him get into the Boodles, or if he really turned up, you could look at the Triumph Hurdle, but I’d imagine the Boodles would be his aim.

“It’ll be great experience for him around Cheltenham and you’ve got to run them in one decent race to get him a mark in order to get into the Boodles.”

Just 30 minutes after Active Duty’s run, MALINELLO is set to step back down in trip for the 2m4f Novices’ Handicap Chase, a winning distance for him from his novice hurdle victory at Market Rasen in 2020.

“He’s in good order, he’s run very well this season, it was bottomless ground at Newbury when he was third, and he just looked like he couldn’t really get going up the home straight without fading too much,” said Pauling.

“He’s a classy horse and hopefully, he’ll run a nice race as well.”