Tag Archive for: Botox Has

Botox Has is Rendlesham hero, but no plans for Stayers’ tilt

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Botox Has appears unlikely to throw his hat into the Stayers’ Hurdle ring despite registering a wide-margin victory in the Virgin Bet Rendlesham Hurdle at Haydock.

The eight-year-old has been a fine servant to his connections, with two wins at Cheltenham, a National Spirit Hurdle at Fontwell and a Grade Three handicap win at Haydock last season featuring on his CV.

Gary Moore’s charge kicked off the current campaign with success in the Grade Two bet365 Hurdle at Wetherby and has since finished sixth in both the Long Walk at Ascot and the Cleeve at Cheltenham.

Returning to a track and conditions he clearly handles well, Botox Has was set off at 5-2 to complete a big-race double for his trainer and jockey Caoilin Quinn following Salver’s comfortable triumph in the preceding Virgin Bet Victor Ludorum Juvenile Hurdle.

And after sitting in the slipstream of 6-4 favourite Butch for much of the extended three-mile journey, the eight-year-old took over in the home straight and pulled nine lengths clear on the run-in.

Betfair trimmed Botox Has’ Stayers’ Hurdle odds to 20-1 from 66-1, but Moore’s son and assistant Josh expects him sidestep the Cheltenham Festival in favour of other options.

He said: “He’s won very well and I think he likes a flat track. For all he’s won at Cheltenham and Fontwell in the past, I think a flat track sees the best of him, like at Wetherby and here at Haydock in a handicap hurdle last year.

“I think we’ll probably bypass Cheltenham. He is in the Stayers’, but I don’t think he’ll go there. We might consider the Grade One at Aintree and we may also consider going to France in the spring for the French Champion Hurdle, and there are other races for him there as well.

“We’ll probably save him for Aintree first as I think the track there will suit him and we’ll hope for a soft ground Aintree.”

Jockey Caoilin Quinn
Jockey Caoilin Quinn (David Davies/PA)

Moore was keen to praise the winning rider, whose opportunities looks sure to increase after Josh’s brother Jamie joined him in retirement earlier this week.

He added: “Caoilin is riding very well and he’s actually closing in a bit on the conditional title leader (Patrick Wadge), so hopefully he’ll have a good go at that.”



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Botox Has heads dual Long Walk challenge for Moore

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Botox Has will spearhead Gary Moore’s Howden Long Walk Hurdle challenge on Saturday, with stable stalwart Goshen also poised to line-up at Ascot.

The former produced arguably a career best when claiming Wetherby’s Grade Two West Yorkshire Hurdle last month and his handler has been waiting for a crack at this Grade One ever since.

The form of that race has a strong look with Jeremy Scott’s reopposing Wetherby third Dashel Drasher getting the better of three-time Long Walk hero Paisley Park at Newbury and Moore is now keen to see if Botox Has can back up that performance and cement his place as one of the leading players in a wide-open division.

“I’m looking forward to running him and the form is working out well,” said Moore.

“Hopefully he is as good as he was that day at Wetherby but time will tell.

“He’s always been a fair horse and he was probably one of the best English horses during his juvenile year – if it had not been for Goshen he would have been the top four-year-old, he’s always been a good horse.

“He didn’t really take to chasing but has done well reverting back to hurdles.”

Caoilin Quinn will keep the ride on Botox Has
Caoilin Quinn will keep the ride on Botox Has (Nigel French/PA)

The race also offers a huge opportunity to conditional jockey Caoilin Quinn, who was aboard Botox Has when winning a valuable handicap at Haydock last season and when striking at Wetherby, with Moore feeling he deserves the chance to continue the association.

He said: “He has won two nice races on him so you could hardly take him off.”

There are no secrets surrounding the enigmatic Goshen, who was a winner at this track last term and also finished second when this race took place at Kempton last Boxing Day, but has struggled in both outings over hurdles this term.

Last seen in the rearranged Fighting Fifth at Sandown, Moore feels the return to three miles is just what the seven-year-old now requires and said: “I think that now suits him better, but I don’t know if the ground is going to be soft enough for him.

Goshen finished third in the Long Walk Hurdle last year
Goshen finished third in the Long Walk Hurdle last year (John Walton/PA)

“It was an afterthought (to go to Sandown) and I probably shouldn’t have run there. He’s danced every dance.”

A field of 10 will head to post with Paisley Park going for win number four in the Grade One and Nicky Henderson’s Champ bidding to regain the title he won in 2021.

Dan Skelton’s West Balboa will try to extend her three-race winning-run after an impressive display at Aintree last month, while Fergal O’Brien has always thought plenty of Crambo who suffered an interrupted passage when third at Haydock.

Blueking D’Oroux is on a rapid upward curve and unbeaten in two outings this term. He is one of two for champion trainer Paul Nicholls alongside West Yorkshire hurdle runner-up Red Risk, with the in-form Gavin Sheehan aboard Nigel Twiston-Davies’ Gowel Road.



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Moore has Long Walk in mind for Botox

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Gary Moore is keen for a crack at the Ladbrokes Long Walk Hurdle with Botox Has after his winning return at Wetherby.

The game seven-year-old had been off the track since finishing fourth in Cheltenham’s Cleeve Hurdle in January and pulled out arguably a career-best performance to deny Red Risk by a length in the West Yorkshire Hurdle.

That was the second time he has struck at Grade Two level and his handler was thrilled to see him return from 280 days off in such brilliant form.

“It was good to see him back on form, he’s a big-hearted horse who tries really hard,” said Moore.

“It worried me when he made a mistake two out, but he stuck to his guns and won quite well in the end.”

Botox Has holds an entry for the Betfair Exchange Stayers’ Handicap Hurdle at Haydock later this month – a race he won 12 months ago.

However, Moore is keen to stick to the graded route in a division without a standout performer and is eyeing up a first run in Grade One company at Ascot on December 23.

Botox Has and connections after winning at Wetherby
Botox Has and connections after winning at Wetherby (Nigel French/PA)

“I hope to train him for the Long Walk Hurdle now, that’s what I hope the plan will be,” he added.

“Whether he won the other day because he was fitter than the rest of them and because he had been trained for that race, I don’t know? He always does run well fresh, but I hope he can improve on that.

“It’s probably not quite the strongest division there is.”



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Mighty Quinn steers Botox Has to big win

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Botox Has provided Caoilin Quinn with the most notable success of his riding career so far with victory in a gruelling renewal of the bet365 West Yorkshire Hurdle at Wetherby.

The conditional jockey won a valuable handicap hurdle on the Betfair Chase undercard at Haydock last season aboard Gary Moore’s seven-year-old, who is also a former winner of the National Spirit Hurdle at Fontwell under the trainer’s son, Josh.

Botox Has had not been seen in competitive action since finishing fourth in the Cleeve Hurdle at Cheltenham in January – and while Quinn was unable to use his claim in this Grade Two contest, he proved more than up to the job.

Much of the pre-race focus was on the Philip Hobbs-trained Thyme Hill and Jeremy Scott’s stable star Dashel Drasher, two high-class performers on the staying hurdling scene.

Dashel Drasher adopted his customary role at the front, but it was hard work from some way out, while the other 7-4 joint-favourite Thyme Hill was unable to land a telling blow in the testing conditions.

Botox Has (15-2) himself was off the bridle early in the straight but kept pulling out more and recovered from an untidy leap at the final obstacle to get the better of Red Risk by a length, with Dashel Drasher narrowly beating Thyme Hill to third place.

Quinn said: “It’s unbelievable, I’m speechless, to be honest, what a performance that was. He was giving weight away to a lot of them, but one thing he has on his side is he’s very tough.

“When push comes to shove, he digs deep. I didn’t think he enjoyed the ground today, we thought he would, as he does like it soft, but for whatever reason he didn’t travel as well as he did when I rode him at Haydock.

“It’s very tiring ground and I just thought it was the best thing to go and let him pop the last, but I knew he had loads left.

“It’s an unbelievable training performance. I’ve said to loads of people, he (Gary Moore) is an absolute genius.

“He’s had his problems this horse, he had a niggling problem which meant he didn’t go to the Cheltenham Festival last season. He (Moore) has got him back as good as ever and I’m very grateful.”



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