Nico de Boinville: “If people write Santini off or underestimate him, then so be it”

Kempton

12.40pm

Go Sacre Go

He was pulled up on his only start in France, so he has plenty to prove on that evidence, as he meets some smart winners in here and the smart Flat horse On To Victory. But he gets 8lb from the winners and has done well since he has come to us, and this will tell us plenty about him. It is clear that he has a lot on his plate here, though, and he will better as he gains experience.

1.15pm

Son Of Camas

He didn’t enjoy what was very soft ground on his return over hurdles at Cheltenham last month, and hopefully we will get a better surface for him here. Fingers crossed, it won’t be too bad then, as I definitely think he has the talent to be figuring off a mark of 132 on his chasing debut, as he has pleased us in his schooling and his best hurdles form suggests that handicap level is workable. It looks a competitive race, but I think I have a good chance. Unibet's 15 To Go offer will be live on this race.

3pm King George

Santini

Obviously, it was a late call by the guv’nor on Sunday as to whether we supplemented him, but it made complete sense. We know this isn’t his ideal track, as we saw in the Kauto Star at this meeting a couple of seasons ago, but it is not as if he ran a shocker that day and he is the third favourite in a King George and that tells you it is well worth a roll of the dice. He also happens to be one of the best staying chasers in the country, as we saw in the Gold Cup in March, and I am sure the Aintree run last month will have done him the power of good. I obviously wasn’t riding him there but he clearly ran a very solid race from which to build from. The top two in the market clearly have big claims – my slight preference would be for Cyrname – but if people write my horse off or underestimate him, then so be it.  The formbook says they shouldn’t, and any more rain will not harm his chances either, as that would clearly put the emphasis more on stamina.

3.35pm

Barbados Blue

We haven’t seen her since she eased home in a three-runner race here in May last year as she picked up a problem afterwards, so she has a long absence to overcome. But we like her, and would like to think that an opening mark of 119 gives her claims in this handicap. Again, it looks a race that will take plenty of winning but we would be hopeful of a good run.