Seeyouatmidnight will step up to three miles for the £32,000 Grade Two totepool Towton Novices’ Chase (2.45pm), the highlight of action-packed afternoon at Wetherby on Medieval Day, Saturday, February 6.
Trained by Sandy Thomson, Seeyouatmidnight laid down a marker for the RSA Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in March when jumping and galloping his rivals into submission in the Grade Two Dipper Novices’ Chase over just short of two miles and five furlongs at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day.
A winner at Grade Two level over hurdles at a furlong short of three miles, the eight-year-old was third to Silsol on his chasing debut over two and a half miles at Carlisle in November but reversed that form emphatically when scoring by 13 lengths at Kelso over nearly three miles on December 6.
Thomson, who is based in Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders, said today: “Seeyouatmidnight has come out of Cheltenham great and we are really happy with him.
“We had a bit of a nightmare with the weather last week. We managed to get a couple of bits of work into him but not much in between.
“I was absolutely delighted with him at Cheltenham. He is a hard horse to pass and given the type of horse he is I always hoped he was capable of a performance like that.
“It looks like it will be another good race at the weekend but we have got to be hopeful. My only slight concern would be really testing ground because I don’t want him to have a real slog this close to Cheltenham. You just worry that a hard race might take the edge off him. The forecast seems to a bit drier down there so hopefully conditions won’t be too bad.”
Also among the entries are Grade Two scorers Southfield Royale (Neil Mulholland) and Native River (Colin Tizzard), who were second and third to Tea For Two in the Grade One Kauto Star Novices’ Chase over three miles at Kempton Park on Boxing Day.
Brian Ellison has entered Definitly Red, runner-up to Irish raider Black Hercules at Warwick last time out, while Nicky Henderson may run Doncaster runner-up Vyta Du Roc. Classy mare Bitofapuzzle (Harry Fry) and Dipper Novices’ Chase second Blaklion (Nigel Twiston-Davies) are also engaged.
First run in 1996, the Towton Novices’ Chase commemorates the Battle of Towton, a major conflict in the Wars of the Roses which was fought 10 miles from the racecourse on Palm Sunday in 1461.
Those attending Wetherby on Medieval Day will find themselves stepping back in time with living history re-enactments, a medieval kitchen, birds of prey and live music among a number of demonstrations.
The seven-race card gets underway at 1.00pm and concludes at 4.30pm with The Aunt Bessies Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race, which celebrates National Yorkshire Pudding Day on Sunday, February 7.
Tickets can be purchased at www.wetherbyracing.co.uk. Accompanied children aged 17 and under are admitted FREE.