Harry Fry has paid tribute to the admirable mare Love Envoi after her retirement at the Cheltenham Festival.
The bay provided connections with an unforgettable day at the meeting in 2022 when landing the Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle, the highlight of an excellent season where she won five successive contests.
The following year, she returned to take on Honeysuckle in the Grade One Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle and though it was Henry de Bromhead’s superstar who came out on top, Love Envoi was a tough and gallant second when going down by a length and a half.
This term, she began her season with second-placed runs in both the Fighting Fifth Hurdle and the Unibet Hurdle, after which she headed back to Cheltenham for the Mares’ Hurdle as a 14-1 chance.
In a field of 11, the eight-year-old came home a respectable fifth behind the exciting Lossiemouth, and that run will be her last, as she is now set to retire to become a broodmare.
Congratulations to Love Envoi on a stellar career ❤️
“She’s been a star. She was our second Festival winner and she’s been really consistent, running in some top races over the last couple of seasons,” Fry said.
“It wasn’t quite the swansong we were hoping for, she was still in there with every chance turning in, but younger and fresher legs told.
“Now she will go off to start her second career.
“We won’t be able to replace her, the likes of her don’t come around too often, but they are wonderful memories that she provided us with.”
Willie Mullins’ Lossiemouth will bid for more Cheltenham glory as she leads the stable’s string in the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle.
The grey was a highly impressive nine-and-a-half-length winner of the Unibet Hurdle on Trials day in January, defeating Love Envoi in a performance that brought the Champion Hurdle into question.
Connections ultimately decided to leave the mare with her own sex and she is completely dominant in the market as she steps up to two and a half miles for the first time.
She was a Festival winner last season when taking the Triumph Hurdle over two miles and a furlong, however, Mullins has few doubts about her ability to stay the extended trip.
“Lossiemouth was very good here on Trials day and most of my horses have been improving all season for their second run, so fingers crossed everything goes right for her,” he said.
Lossiemouth after winning the Unibet Hurdle (Nigel French/PA)
“The race is two and a half miles, so we have to step up to that. I wouldn’t have any worries about it, Triumph Hurdle winners are normally stayers.”
The same stable also runs Ashroe Diamond, the Yorkshire Rose Mares’ Hurdle winner last time out and the mount of Patrick Mullins.
“We’ve also got an able deputy in Ashroe Diamond as well, so hopefully we’ll get a result,” the trainer said of the mare.
Patrick Mullins added: “I think she has a huge chance and I think her form is against proper open class geldings.
“Lossiemouth is stepping out of the juvenile division which is hard.
Ashroe Diamond during her bumper career (Nigel French/PA)
“It’s a great position to be in as there is no pressure and I do think at the trip, she has a great chance of causing an upset.”
Gala Marceau is another entrant from the yard and will be ridden by Danny Mullins after two third-placed runs so far this year, in the Yorkshire Rose and the Quevega Mares Hurdle.
Gala Marceau and Lossiemouth had a season-long tussle last year, with the former getting her head in front in the Spring Juvenile Hurdle at Leopardstown but the latter coming out on top during their three other meetings.
“I think it (the Yorkshire Rose) was a good return, she settled much better than she had on her debut last year, so that probably shows she’s a bit more mature mentally,” the jockey said.
“Physically we’ve seen at home that she’s improved that way and I think the trip will be her big thing come Cheltenham. What she showed us in Auteuil last year (winning the Prix Alain du Breil) got me excited.
Gala Marceau on her way to winning the Spring Juvenile Hurdle (Donall Farmer/PA)
“The way Lossiemouth won in Cheltenham, it’s hard to see what can beat her, but we were close on her tail last year I think at two and a half miles, hopefully we might be able to frighten her in some way.”
Love Envoi was second in the contest last season and is a previous Festival winner having landed the Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle in 2022.
Her seasonal reappearance came in the Fighting Fifth, where she was second to Not So Sleepy, after which she was the runner up again behind Lossiemouth in the Unibet Hurdle.
She is proven on the ground, which is expected to be soft, and is stepping back up in trip for trainer Harry Fry and owners the Noel Fehily Racing Syndicate.
“She’s in fantastic form, we’re very happy with her, and we’re really looking forward to it,” said Fehily.
Love Envoi at Sandown previously (Steven Paston/PA)
“I think the ground will be perfect, I’d expect a big run from her tomorrow. She needed her first run and that was a big improvement the next time at Cheltenham over two miles and I’d expect her to improve again.
“Hopefully we can see something like her run last year at Cheltenham. The ground is ideal and I think she loves Cheltenham, it lights her up a little bit, we’re hopeful for a big run.”
Marie’s Rock was the winner of the race in 2022 and although she posted a below-par run last term, she has returned this season in good form for trainer Nicky Henderson.
Echoes In Rain is the fourth Mullins runner, with Henry de Bromhead fielding a team of three that comprises Telmesomethinggirl, Lantry Lady and Hispanic Moon.
The field is completed by Jamie Snowden’s You Wear It Well, winner of the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at the meeting last year, and Henderson’s Theatre Glory.
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Harry Fry will not shirk a Cheltenham Festival rematch with Lossiemouth despite seeing his own star mare Love Envoi come off clear second best in their clash in Saturday’s Unibet Hurdle.
The latter is already a Festival winner having claimed the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle in 2022 and last season gave the retiring Honeysuckle a real run for her money in the Mares’ Hurdle itself.
Fry admitted to being disappointed with Love Envoi’s performance when filling the runner-up spot in the rescheduled Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Sandown last month, but was much more encouraged by her display on Cheltenham Trials day, albeit she was no match for the impressive Lossiemouth.
“Obviously the winner was in a different league, but we were pleased with the run,” he said.
“She travelled and jumped with her usual fluency and it was good to see that she was much sharper for her reappearance.
“The Mares’ Hurdle has always been the plan, we were runner-up in the race last year and we’ve got six weeks to look forward to going back there.
“Obviously Lossiemouth is going to be very hard to beat on the form she showed on Saturday, but it’s a horse race at the end of the day and you’ve got to be in it to win it.”
Trainer Harry Fry was pleased with Love Envoi’s performance at Cheltenham on Saturday (John Walton/PA)
Love Envoi is a general 14-1 shot for the Mares’ Hurdle, with the Willie Mullins-trained Lossiemouth odds-on to record her second Festival win following last year’s Triumph Hurdle success.
Such was the impression she made on her comeback, plenty have suggested Lossiemouth should be heading for the Champion Hurdle, a notion Fry is unsurprisingly fully behind.
He quipped: “I don’t know what they’re thinking, I think it’s a no-brainer to go for the Champion Hurdle. If anything is going to give Constitution Hill a race it must be her, surely!
“I can understand where they’re coming from (going for the Mares’ Hurdle), but they’ve all got to get there and in six weeks anything can happen.
“We know the trip on Saturday is short of our best and we prefer slower ground as well. Hopefully we get conditions in our favour and the more testing it is the better, basically.”
Meanwhile, Fry is in no rush to make a final decision on Gidleigh Park’s Festival target following his latest success at Prestbury Park.
The giant six-year-old had been most impressive in winning a Chepstow bumper and twice over hurdles at Exeter and Newbury prior to stepping up to Grade Two level on the Trials day card.
Gidleigh Park (right) in winning action at Cheltenham (David Davies for The Jockey Club)
Gidleigh Park was not as visually striking as before, but showed a willing attitude to see off the challenge of Lucky Place by half a length and stretch his unbeaten record to four.
The Walk In The Park gelding is entered in the Baring Bingham Novices’ Hurdle and the longer Albert Bartlett at the Festival and Fry will wait until much nearer the time before making a final call.
He said: “After all the talk beforehand it was just a relief to see him go and get the job done.
“It was a small field and the way the race was run wasn’t necessarily to suit. We ended up in front sooner than we wanted to and Johnny (Burke) rode a sensible race without giving him a hard race as it was a trial after all.
“It turned into a bit of a sprint from turning in, which was never really going to play to our strengths, but the fact that he was still able to knuckle down and get his head in front after the last will stand him in good stead. Before that he’d been winning easily, so he needed a bit of a tussle and learning from that point of view, which will hopefully benefit him moving forward as well.
“We’ll make that decision when we have to basically. He’s a potential three-mile chaser in the making and what he is doing over hurdles is an added bonus, but he’s a lovely, young horse and we’re delighted to keep his unbeaten tag. Onwards and upwards.”
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Love Envoi could be rerouted to the Unibet Hurdle at Cheltenham on Saturday week after freezing temperatures scuppered plans to run at Lingfield on Friday.
Having finished second to Not So Sleepy in the rearranged Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Sandown on her reappearance, Harry Fry’s star mare was due to take on the boys once more in the £100,000 Weatherbys Cheltenham Festival Betting Guide Hurdle on day one of Lingfield’s Winter Million Racing Festival.
However, a frozen track forced the abandonment of Friday’s card and while the Lightning Novices’ Chase was rescheduled to be run at the same track on Sunday, Love Envoi’s race was not.
Fry has yet to firm up an alternative target for the Noel Fehily Racing-owned eight-year-old, but raised next weekend’s Grade Two feature in the Cotswolds as a possible option following news earlier in the week that Champion Hurdle hero Constitution Hill will not be lining up.
Options are open for Love Envoi (Zac Goodwin/PA)
“We’re in discussions with Noel Fehily and Dave Crosse and the owners about what we do next, we haven’t decided yet,” said Fry.
“Friday’s race was ideal, but it was not to be, so we’re discussing it among ourselves and deciding on a new plan.
“There’s a mares’ hurdle at Doncaster next weekend over two miles, but I think that’s very unlikely. There is the International (Unibet Hurdle) at Cheltenham and I think we’ll probably be putting an entry in for that, and then there’s a Listed mares’ hurdle at Warwick on February 10.
“We’ll continue to discuss it and work out where we go from here.”
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Harry Fry is keeping his fingers crossed Lingfield’s Winter Million Racing Festival beats the cold snap to give Love Envoi the opportunity to get back on the winning trail.
Despite finishing second to Not So Sleepy on her seasonal reappearance in the rescheduled Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Sandown last month, Fry admits his star mare’s performance was laboured.
The Dorset handler is now preparing the eight-year-old to take on the boys in the Weatherbys Cheltenham Festival Betting Guide Hurdle and is hopeful she will be sharper for her comeback run.
“If you’d said when they passed the stands the first time that she’d finish second (in the Fighting Fifth), we’d have jumped at that result, as from the word go she never looked to be travelling or jumping,” Fry told Sky Sports Racing.
“It looked like she was going round with the handbrake on and Johnny (Burke) said it felt like that, so for her to get herself involved between the last two and hang on for second was not a bad result in the end, but obviously it wasn’t her very best run and we’re hoping to take a big step forward.”
Love Envoi’s main target is the Mares’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, in which she finished second to the retiring Honeysuckle last season.
Fry added: “The whole season is geared around going back for the Mares’ Hurdle. She was just ready to get started in the Fighting Fifth, she looked a bit ring-rusty and she was coming back from an injury that she picked up at Punchestown.
“I’m pleased to say she seems to have taken a step forward at home in her work and her schooling, so we’re hoping to see that on the track.”
The trainer is also beginning to formulate future plans for two of his other stable stars in Boothill and Gidleigh Park.
Boothill will look to bounce back from a fall in Kempton’s Desert Orchid Chase early next month, with a trip to Leopardstown for the Dublin Chase or the Game Spirit Chase at Newbury his two options.
“He’s absolutely fine, schooled on Friday and schooled again this morning, just to give him a bit of confidence again after an uncharacteristic mistake,” said Fry.
“Jumping has always been a real strong point, but even the best make mistakes sometimes. The main thing is he’s all okay and we can make plans for him again moving forward.
“The entries (for the Dublin Racing Festival) closed last week and we thought why not give ourselves the option and have a look? You’ve also got the Game Spirit the following weekend at Newbury.
“Hopefully, the Clarence House goes ahead this weekend and you’ve got the two heavyweights in the division (El Fabiolo and Jonbon) due to take each other on, so we thought we’d have a look at those two options in early February and make our minds up.
“It would be great to go over to Ireland, but you want to do so knowing you can be competitive, as it’s a pretty tough environment to go and compete in. We’ve done it in the past and with the right horse we’re prepared to do it again. We’ll see nearer the time before making a final decision.”
Gidleigh Park has been hugely impressive in winning a bumper and twice over hurdles for the team and he is set to have his sights raised in a Grade Two novice event at Cheltenham next weekend.
Fry added: “He has obviously impressed so far this season, he’s unbeaten to date and we’re looking forward to hopefully taking him to Cheltenham on Trials Day.
“He’s certainly one that gets us excited in the morning and has schooled well under Jonathan Burke today. We’re looking forward to seeing him step up in grade next weekend.”
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Love Envoi is pencilled in for a Sandown return after her second-placed performance in the relocated Fighting Fifth on Saturday.
The seven-year-old was back in action after 224 days off the track, her final run of last season being a beaten effort at Punchestown where she picked up an injury.
Prior to that she was enjoying a very successful campaign, however, winning twice at Sandown before being finding just the great Honeysuckle too good in the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.
The complexion of the Fighting Fifth changed twice before the race, firstly because of the relocation of the contest from Newcastle to Sandown and secondly because of the withdrawal of leading hurdler Constitution Hill.
Without Nicky Henderson’s champion in the line-up the Harry Fry-trained Love Envoi started at 6-4 with only Jamie Snowden’s You Wear It Well more fancied as the 5-4 favourite.
Harry Fry’s Love Envoi (Steven Paston/PA)
Love Envoi was held up in last place in the early stages of the race and did not jump fluently to start with, but as the contest unfolded she stayed on to chase home Hughie Morrison’s veteran Not So Sleepy, who was an eight-length winner at 9-1.
The runner-up is owned by Noel Fehily Racing Syndicates and the former jockey was not disheartened by the performance after a significant lay-off for the mare.
“She’s fine, she did well to finish second but she was a bit slow and ring rusty early on,” he said.
“Then when she got into it she actually ran a good race in the end.
“The first two she jumped really up in the air and slow, she was definitely ring-rusty but she warmed up into it and came from a long way back.
Love Envoi at Cheltenham (John Walton/PA)
“Overall it was a good run. I wouldn’t think the ground had anything to to do with it, I’d be surprised if it did.
“Harry always said she was only just about ready to start so I think she will come on plenty for the run.”
One of Love Envoi’s Sandown successes last term was the Listed Unibet 3 Uniboosts A Day Mares’ Hurdle in early January, a race that she will now target again.
Fehily said: “We’ll head to Sandown for the mares’ hurdle she won last year, all roads lead back there at the minute.”
The Fehily syndicates also had another runner-up at the meeting as Insurrection came home second in the Grade Two Betfair Beacons Winter Novices’ Hurdle.
Insurrection and Harry Cobden at Sandown (John Walton/PA)
The Paul Nicholls-trained gelding was making his second start over obstacles after an easy win on debut last month, lining up at Sandown a 5-2 chance under Harry Cobden.
He looked the winner for almost all of the race and was only passed on the run to the line as Dan Skelton’s Deafening Silence headed him before the post.
“We were very happy with him, he looked the winner jumping the last but he just didn’t quite stay on that ground up the hill,” said Fehily.
“He’s a lovely young horse, he jumps for fun, we were very impressed with him.
“We don’t have any plans at the minute, we’ll give him a week or two and then make plans, it’ll be after Christmas and new year probably.”
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It’s only about ten weeks ago that I went through the lengthy career of Not So Sleepy, writes Tony Stafford. Of course, any time in competition for a racehorse that began with a win as a juvenile nine years before is unusual. Even more remarkable was Saturday’s romp to victory in the Grade 1 Betfair Fighting Fifth Hurdle, a race switched from Newcastle the previous weekend to Sandown.
This was Not So Sleepy’s fourth run in the race and his second triumph although he had to share the previous one in 2021 with Epatante, the pair impossible to separate in a dead-heat.
The previous year, Sleepy messed about at the start and unseated his rider soon after, prompting winner Epatante’s trainer Nicky Henderson to become paranoid about what the veteran Hughie Morrison gelding might get up to at the start in subsequent meetings.
He needn’t have worried. Last year when Constitution Hill came into the picture for his first Fighting Fifth on the way to that explosive Cheltenham Champion Hurdle success, Not So Sleepy was no problem.
I spoke to Hughie on Saturday morning, and it was he that alerted me to Henderson’s withdrawal soon after 8 a.m. of Constitution Hill. Also, it stopped the hastily changed plan for Shishkin, denied a run in the Rehearsal Chase that day at Newcastle, a week on from his standing stock still at the start at Ascot.
Hughie said, “Can you believe he’s the outsider of the four that are left? When I looked at the prices, he wasn’t just the outsider, but a double-figure price.”
The opposition included two mares. One, Love Envoi, is rated higher than the Morrison horse and, like the other, You Wear It Well, a Cheltenham Festival winner and fit from a recent winning comeback, they received 7lb from their two male rivals. They took the bulk of the market.
Then there was Goshen, back on his favoured right-handed way of going but hardly the most reliable. The ground was heavy, and as Hughie said, “That will be no problem for us!” And how.
Goshen had a 1lb higher rating over jumps than Not So Sleepy, but they met as recently as October in the Cesarewitch when the Morrison horse, trying in the race for the fourth time, finished seventh, 30 lengths ahead of the tailed-off Goshen. His flat-race mark of 101 exceeds Goshen’s by 15 lb, and how far did they finish apart at level weights on Saturday? - just about 15 lengths.
https://youtu.be/CmZfLDs_FYo?si=FAYdUn4tMCcf8YMU
In 66 races since 2014, Not So Sleepy has raced six times on official heavy ground. In his three-year-old season he was third in a Group 3 race in France on such going, and next time, four years on, was second in a Nottingham handicap.
Further investigation, though, should have alerted me to what must have been one of the bets of the year [they often are with hindsight – Ed.] without the Henderson horses to complicate matters.
These are the results, the last four times he has encountered a heavy surface: December 21, 2019, Ascot Grade 3 Handicap Hurdle 85k 1st of 13, by nine lengths, 9/2 JF; December 19, 2020, Ascot Grade 3 Handicap Hurdle 57k 1st of 17 from Buzz, 20/1; September 23, 2023, Newbury 1m5f handicap off 98, 36k, made all 15/2. Then on Saturday where he bolted up by eight lengths from Love Envoi with the other pair battling for third a similar distance back, he earned owner-breeders Lord and Lady Blyth another 45 grand!
In his last ten races, he has earned his owners around 170 grand and only twice in that spell has he started at shorter than 10/1, including Saturday. His average SP in those races has been 42/1!
As I say, the bet of the year! Hope Hughie had a bit on!
What is remarkable is the way this unique horse has been able to cope with such a long time on the track; and his only breaks have been early on in his career from one turf flat season to the next and since then planned absences, but never more than seven months at most. Despite two long barren spells as far as wins went, he never slipped below a mark of 92 having won Chester’s Dee Stakes on his third time ever on the track. Derby winners Oath and Kris Kin had that race as their prep for the Classic in 1999 and 2003 respectively.
He started hurdling late, aged seven, and while he stays every yard of the 2m2f of the Cesarewitch in which he has been in the first four three times, he is quicker than most hurdlers over two miles as the trio ranged against him on Saturday found to their cost.
Expect Hughie to keep him going as a 12-year-old and already he has survived in his career longer than Alcazar, Morrison’s winner of the Group 1 Prix Royal Oak in France wen aged ten. He had a couple of runs the following season without success, racing in all 31 times.
Originally with John Dunlop, with whom he won three times, Alcazar then had two very long absences, broken only by a first-time win for Hughie at Nottingham before resuming four years and four months after his last run for Dunlop.
In effect then, his active career could be regarded as six seasons. Not So Sleepy will be embarking on his 11th if he remains in training.
It was great that Betfair found room on the Sandown card to switch the race on a day when of the 41 races on offer around the country – Wetherby was abandoned – one was sponsored by the Pertemps Group, a qualifier for its long-standing Final at Cheltenham in March and one a Rachael Blackmore charity vehicle. The other 39 were all bookie-backed.
It was very nice money at both Aintree, where Boylesports underwrote the entire card of eight races including the Becher Chase, while Betfair was the benefactor of the Sandown card in its entirety. Coral got a nice Black Friday deal for the rather bargain basement (in comparison) card at Chepstow, which featured the Trial for their forthcoming Coral Grand National on the course just after Christmas: Gary Moore won that and a couple of nice pots at Sandown, too.
The two all-weather cards at Newcastle and Wolverhampton were shared between Bet UK and Bet MGM – reckon there might be some connection there! I mean that in the nicest possible way, of course.
There was big money on offer for the Grade 1 races at Sandown and the top prizes at Aintree, but it does pose the question, what would happen if the big bookmakers decided to take a unified stand and withdraw their support with little warning or as their deals expired?
In Ireland, there was a decent card at Navan, featuring a Listed handicap hurdle, a Grade 3 steeplechase, and the Foxrock Cup, but nothing like what will be on offer over there for the days immediately after Christmas. Still there was €130k to be sliced up.
I do like the feel of the variety of race sponsors, emphasising the homely feel to Irish jump racing. It started off with Mervyn Gray Construction; then the Headfort Arms Hotel, the Tote (what happened to them and race sponsorship over here?); Bective Stud, Tea Rooms and Apartments (love to stay there!), Durnin Workshop and Timeless Sash Windows. Oh for 1990!
As well as their three winners and a third, which pushed stable earnings beyond £100,000 on Saturday, Gary and Jayne Moore must have been still brimming with pride on the news that eldest son Ryan, unbelievably now a 40-year-old, was awarded the World’s Best Jockey accolade in Hong Kong on Friday evening.
He was there to ride four Aidan O’Brien horses in the handsomely-endowed International turf races at Sha Tin yesterday. In the first of them, the twelve-furlong Vase, Warm Heart ran another good race in defeat where, as when caught late by Inspiral at the Breeders’ Cup, she led into the last furlong but ultimately finished third to the Andre Fabre-trained Junko.
Two disappointments followed, but in the Cup, although not winning, anyone watching his ride on Luxembourg, finishing a short head second to the favourite Romantic Warrior in that mile and a quarter showpiece, would not question Moore’s best in the world status.
Always a couple of lengths behind the favourite on the way round, Luxembourg looked likely to be swallowed up as the challengers queued up entering the final furlong. With the favourite running on doggedly, another disappointment loomed, but Ryan conjured a final flourish, narrowly fending off his two nearest rivals and getting within an agonising short head of the fully extended winner.
In just missing the £2.1 million first prize, the Aidan O’Brien/Coolmore/Westerberg team still picked up £805,000 for second place, only £80k less than Auguste Rodin collected in the Derby. Also, it was considerably more than the £712k Auguste Rodin garnered when holding off Luxembourg in the Irish Champion Stakes on yesterday’s runner-up’s latest appearance.
The winner, a son of Acclamation, has earned more than £12 million in claiming 12 of 17 races since being bought by the Hong Kong Jockey Club for 300k at the 2019 Tattersalls Book 2 yearling auction. I will be writing next week about the various excitements in the same ring last week when one mare fetched 4.5 million guineas.
The other star yesterday was Golden Sixty, in the Mile. Like Romantic Warrior a 27/20 chance on the day, he made the local punters very happy, making short work of his field, bringing his career stats to 26 wins in 30 career starts, and pushing his earnings beyond £16 million.
Two Cheltenham Festival-winning mares are lining up to take their shot at the rearranged Betfair Fighting Fifth Hurdle, with You Wear It Well and Love Envoi also proven performers at Sandown.
Whether or not Constitution Hill competes, You Wear It Well is heading back to this venue at the peak of her powers.
Jamie Snowden’s six-year-old tasted Grade Two glory at the track last season before showing all her class to follow up at the Festival in March.
She raised her game once again on her Wetherby reappearance to down Luccia in convincing style and tee-up a crack at this Grade One prize for a yard firing on all cylinders.
“She’s in a great place and obviously had a phenomenal season last year in her novice season, winning two Grade Twos and winning at Cheltenham under a penalty,” said Snowden.
“She had a good summer holiday, came back and put in a really good performance up at Wetherby and perhaps a career best really, again under a penalty in a Listed race, beating Luccia, who came out and ran well in the Greatwood.
“She’s in the form of her life and she’s in great order. She has a run under her belt, which of course helps when running in a race of this nature, but we’re under no illusions taking on some smart horses here that she has a tall mountain to climb.”
Although putting together a highly-respectable sequence of results during her short career to date, You Wear It Well will head to Esher the lowest rated in the field of six, 11lb below the next on the ladder, Not So Sleepy.
However, she does receive a 7lb allowance and the programme book left a vacancy for a December outing, so Snowden was more than happy to take his chance against some of the best operators in the hurdling division.
He explained: “The mares’ programme sets itself out quite easy for November, January, February and March, but lacks a race in December, so in the absence of a suitable race, we thought we would try our hand in a big one and see where we get to.
“She’s a hardy mare and likes soft ground and has winning form round Sandown, but it’s a mighty good race and all of the opposition are very smart.
“On ratings, she has a lot to find with all of them, but I suppose there are a few question marks about a few of them.
“Constitution Hill is a champion and we’re under no illusions about what we have to achieve to win a race of this magnitude.
“However, we are in it for sport and she’s a racehorse and fit and well and there is no point giving horses like Constitution Hill a walkover.”
It was the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle that You Wear It Well landed at Prestbury Park in March, a race won the previous year by Love Envoi, who chased home Honeysuckle at the latest Festival and is another with smart course form to her name.
She suffered an injury in her most recent outing at Punchestown in April, but Harry Fry’s stable star is fit and ready to make her return, as connections eye another profitable campaign from their consistent performer.
“She loves Sandown. Obviously, Constitution Hill is in the race, but she’s ready to run, is in great form and her work’s been very good, so it’s time to get on and run,” said Noel Fehily, in whose syndicate colours Love Envoi runs.
Love Envoi has a great course record (Steven Paston/PA)
“Everyone is in the same boat taking on a horse like Constitution Hill, but we’re just looking forward to getting our mare started. There’s some good races for her after Christmas and the timing of this race is going to work out well, so we’ll roll the dice and see how she gets on.”
Hughie Morrison’s Not So Sleepy dead-heated with Epatante in this race in 2021 but has a chequered overall record in the race.
Goshen was not in the contest when it was due to take place at Newcastle last Saturday, but with it now staged at a venue where he has won on three of his four visits, trainer Gary Moore was keen to add his enigmatic seven-year-old into the mix when it reopened on Monday.
Soft ground and heading right-handed are both in Goshen’s favour, but Moore is another anticipating the sternest of tests if up against Nicky Henderson’s unbeaten superstar.
Goshen will take his chance in the rearranged Fighting Fifth Hurdle (John Walton/PA)
The trainer said: “He is a little bit better going round there (Sandown) than anywhere else and it is the first time he has had his ground in God knows how long, really.
“He was fine (after Ascot) and the ground was probably too good for him there.
“I’m well aware he has a near impossible task taking on Constitution Hill and he’s probably running for place money.”
https://www.geegeez.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/271402808-scaled.jpg12802560Geegeez Newshttps://www.geegeez.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/geegeez_banner_new_170x78.pngGeegeez News2023-12-08 17:35:302023-12-08 17:35:30Top mares ready to take on Fighting Fifth test
Harry Fry views a switch to Sandown as a major positive for Love Envoi ahead of the rescheduled Fighting Fifth Hurdle on Saturday.
The seven-year-old was all set to lock horns with the brilliant Constitution Hill in the Grade One contest at Newcastle last weekend, only for the Gosforth Park fixture to be abandoned due to a combination of snow and frost.
The British Horseracing Authority moved swiftly to save the recognised Champion Hurdle trial, however, and it will now take place on familiar territory for Fry’s star mare.
Harry Fry is looking forward to running Love Envoi in the Fighting Fifth Hurdle (Tim Goode/PA)
“All being well, the plan is to run,” the Dorset-based trainer confirmed.
“Obviously, it was disappointing for Newcastle to lose their fixture on Saturday, but we’re pleased the race was able to be rescued and rescheduled for this weekend on a track that suits us well.
“She’s three from three at the course and won at this meeting last year in the handicap hurdle. There’ll be more of an emphasis on stamina over two miles round Sandown than there would have been at Newcastle, so from our point of view, we’re very happy.”
Nicky Henderson has suggested he may not only saddle Constitution Hill at Sandown, but that he could be joined by esteemed stablemate Shishkin, who he feels is in desperate need of a prep run ahead of an intended tilt at the King George VI Chase on Boxing Day.
What a ⭐️ , LOVE ENVOI remains unbeaten for @ndfehily & his Syndicate of Owners to win a Grade 2 today at Sandown. Excellently turned out by @HarryFryRacing1 & @JohnnyBurke2
Fry, though, is focussing on his own horse, adding: “Conditions shouldn’t be a problem, it’s an ideal starting point for her campaign and we’re looking forward to getting her season under way.
“We’ll just have to wait to see who else lines up. If Constitution Hill does run, it goes without saying he sets a very high standard, but you’ve got to be in it to win it.”
Fry is also set to be represented in the Betfair Tingle Creek Chase on Saturday’s card, with Boothill looking likely to take his chance in the Grade One feature.
The eight-year-old is two from two this season, having plundered a couple of valuable handicaps at Ascot, and his trainer is keen to step him up in class earlier than originally planned.
Boothill at Ascot (John Walton/PA)
He said: “We’re leaning towards running. Initially, after winning the Hurst Park for the second year running, I thought we’d wait for the Clarence House (in January), but he’s bounced out of that race and is in great order with himself.
“It’s six weeks on Saturday until the Clarence House and with the weather at the moment, we’re having cancellations here, there and everywhere. You could wait all that time and you just never know.
“We just felt we’d keep our options open and we’ll make a final decision on Thursday morning, but at the moment, it’s probably more likely than not that we’ll let him take his chance.”
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Harry Fry has confirmed that Love Envoi will tackle Constitution Hill in the BetMGM Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle on Saturday.
A winner of eight of her 11 races under rules, she has been a credit to her connections for the past two seasons.
As a novice, Love Envoi won the Dawn Run Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle and last season she went out on her sword when taking on Honeysuckle in the David Nicholson Mares’ Hurdle, finishing a gallant runner-up.
While she faces a tall order on her return to action against the best hurdler in training, Fry feels it is the perfect place to get her started.
Conditions are currently cold in the North East but precautions have already been taken, with the track under cover.
Frost prtection is being deployed today ahead of Saturdays @BetMGMUK Fighting Fifth Hurdle. A huge thank you to our grounds team for all of their amazing work and efforts in preparing and maintaining the track ahead of racing. pic.twitter.com/fIYvANASGY
“She’s all ready to get her season under way. Obviously, it’s going to be a very good race with a certain Constitution Hill set to line up but it’s a lovely starting point for us,” he told Newcastle racecourse.
“We’ve been happy with her since she came back into work and we’re looking forward to seeing her out.
“I was delighted when Noel (Fehily, who manages the syndicate which owns her) asked me to train her, her first season went great, she was unbeaten over here and only lost her unbeaten tag in Ireland, winning at the Cheltenham Festival.
“Last year, she picked up where she left off, added two more wins and was then a brilliant second to Honeysuckle in the Mares’ Hurdle.
“That’s what her season will be built around once more in March, but we are looking forward to seeing her out this weekend.”
Love Envoi could make her seasonal debut against Constitution Hill, as the BetMGM Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle is considered by connections.
Harry Fry’s mare is an eight-time winner who landed the 2022 Dawn Run at the Cheltenham Festival at the height of an unbeaten run that lasted until the final start of her novice season.
Last term she stepped into open company and held her own, winning a handicap and then a Listed event at Sandown before going down by a length and a half when beaten by Honeysuckle in the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle at the Festival this year.
Her final run was an uncharacteristic beaten effort in the Mares Champion Hurdle at Punchestown, but an injury later proved to be the cause of that disappointment – which was the first time she had been out of the top two in her life.
The issue has left her a little late in her preparation for this season but she is faring well at home and if Fry is content she will return to action at the highest level in a race that is also the likely destination of Nicky Henderson’s superstar.
Love Envoi winning the Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at the 2022 Cheltenham Festival (Tim Goode/PA)
“Harry’s very happy with her, the plan was always to look at the Fighting Fifth,” said Noel Fehily of owners Noel Fehily Racing Syndicates.
“She’s not guaranteed to go there, depending on how she’s training up to the time of the race, but if Harry’s happy with her she’ll go.
“If not she probably won’t start under after Christmas because there’s not a lot else for her. We will be looking at the Fighting Fifth closely until the last minute and we will see how she’s working.”
On the possibility of facing the unbeaten Constitution Hill, he added: “With the mares’ allowance she’d be the next best thing I suppose, it’d be a lovely place to go and start but she did have a hold up.
“She was late coming into training but if Harry feels she’s ready to go then she’ll go.”
Fehily’s syndicate could have another good hurdler ready to climb the ranks this season in Insurrection, trained by Paul Nicholls to an easy eight-and-a-half-length novice hurdle victory when seen for the first time this season at Exeter recently.
The Formby Novices’ Hurdle, previously known at the Tolworth, could possibly beckon at Aintree on Boxing Day.
“He’s a lovely horse, we were really happy with him at Exeter the other day,” Fehily said.
“He’ll go for another novice hurdle somewhere, I spoke to Paul the other day and he hadn’t made up his mind on where’ll we’ll go with him but we will be running in a novice hurdle in the next couple of weeks.”
Of heading for Aintree, Fehily said: “Quite possibly, whether Paul goes straight for a race like that or whether he goes at a lower level under a penalty, I’m not sure yet.
“He’s a lovely horse, a chaser in the making, we loved him when we bought him and I’m glad he’s living up to expectations.”
https://www.geegeez.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/270475944-scaled.jpg12802560Geegeez Newshttps://www.geegeez.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/geegeez_banner_new_170x78.pngGeegeez News2023-11-22 15:57:382023-11-22 15:57:38Love Envoi could take on Constitution Hill at Newcastle
Love Envoi could be tasked with taking on the all-conquering Constitution Hill if making her return in Newcastle’s BetMGM Fighting Fifth Hurdle next month.
It was thought Harry Fry’s stable star would not be seen until the new year, having suffered an injury when racing at the Punchestown Festival in the spring.
However, having returned to training at Fry’s Dorset base, connections are keen to take their chance at Gosforth Park on December 2 providing the Noel Fehily Racing Syndicate-owned seven-year-old is giving the right signals in her homework.
Love Envoi winning at Sandown last season (Steven Paston/PA)
“It is definitely a possibility and it was a race we earmarked when we got her back going this year,” said Fehily.
“Obviously, she got started a little bit later this year and Harry will see how she is training, and if he is happy with her, we may go there.
“It will be down to what Harry thinks, how she is doing and whether she is ready to go there. It will definitely be a decision that will be left until closer to the time, I would say.”
Honeysuckle (left) and Love Envoi (right) in action at the Cheltenham Festival (Tim Goode/PA)
A Cheltenham Festival winner in her own right, taking on the reigning Champion Hurdle winner holds no fears for the Love Envoi team, with their eight-time scorer proving she is more than game for a battle with the best when a brave second to Honeysuckle at Prestbury Park in March.
“Constitution Hill looks exceptional but somebody has to finish second to him and hopefully it might be us,” continued Fehily.
“If you are not in, you can’t win, but she’s been a wonderful mare and we’ll only run if Harry is happy with her. If he is happy, we will take our chance and it is a great race to be involved in.”
Love Envoi will not be seen until the new year, when her season will be centred around going one better than last year’s brave second at the Cheltenham Festival.
A winner of the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at the Festival in 2022, a pair of taking victories at Sandown saw Harry Fry’s stable star head back to Prestbury Park full of confidence for a crack at the Mares’ Hurdle last March.
Sent off 11-1 in the hands of Johnny Burke, she came within a length and a half of back-to-back Cheltenham Festival triumphs as she eventually had to settle for a supporting role as Honeysuckle bowed out in fairytale fashion.
Love Envoi (right) pushed Honeysuckle all the way at the Cheltenham Festival (Tim Goode/PA)
Despite injuring herself in her next outing at Punchestown, Love Envoi is back in training with Fry at his Dorset base and although the handler is keen to take his time, another crack at the Mares’ Hurdle is firmly in his sights.
Fry said: “She went so close to the Mares’ Hurdle, running Honeysuckle all the way, and obviously the whole campaign is going to be geared around going one better in March.
“She picked up a nasty injury when disappointing at Punchestown when last seen, which is her only bad run of her career and obviously there was a reason for it.
Love Envoi and regular rider Johnny Burke (Zac Goodwin/PA)
“She has made a full recovery out with Noel Fehily over the summer and he has pre-trained her and she’s just come back to us at the beginning of the month.
“She’s not going to be seen out until the new year I would have thought and it is still early stages with her, but we hope to have a clear run to March all being well.”
Love Envoi has been tentatively pencilled in to return in the same Sandown Listed event in which she recorded a 13-length success early in the year, while a similar contest at Warwick has been identified as another key stepping stone on the route to Prestbury Park.
“The races pick themselves for her and you have got the Sandown race she won last season in early January and then the Listed race at Warwick in February,” continued Fry.
“She was a non-runner in that last year because of the ground, but the programme is there for her and they are ideal prep races for the Mares’ Hurdle itself.”
https://www.geegeez.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/270475947-scaled.jpg12802560Geegeez Newshttps://www.geegeez.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/geegeez_banner_new_170x78.pngGeegeez News2023-10-29 14:16:572023-10-29 14:16:57Fry taking patient approach with Love Envoi
Love Envoi bids to take the Coolmore N.H. Sires Mogul Irish EBF Mares Champion Hurdle crown back to Britain for the second year in succession on the final day of the Punchestown Festival.
Unsurprisingly the two-and-a-half-mile Grade One has been dominated in recent years by Willie Mullins, with the champion trainer landing seven of the last 10 editions.
However, Nicky Henderson’s Marie’s Rock ensured victory went to the raiding party 12 months ago and Love Envoi is rightly the hot favourite for Saturday’s renewal, having finished best of the rest behind the brilliant but now retired Honeysuckle in the Mares’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.
😊 Honeysuckle soars home to win the Close Brothers Mares' Hurdle!
The seven-year-old’s trainer Harry Fry has a good record at Punchestown, with dual Champion Stayers Hurdle hero Unowhatimeanharry among several previous winners for his team at the Festival, and the Dorset handler has high hopes of adding to his tally this weekend.
He said: “Love Envoi arrived safely on Thursday morning, Punchestown has been a lucky festival for us and we’re looking forward to taking our chance.
“She ran a great race at Cheltenham. We’re obviously taking on horses she beat that day, but we’re not taking anything for granted.
“She’s going to have to turn up and run her race. Hopefully she has a good chance.”
Harry Fry is looking forward to running Love Envoi at Punchestown (John Walton/PA)
With Love Envoi’s regular partner Jonathan Burke sidelined by a broken arm suffered in a fall in the Grand National at Aintree, Fry had booked Mark Walsh to take over in the saddle.
However, Walsh is now required to partner Epatante for his retaining owner JP McManus, meaning Danny Mullins instead comes in for the plum ride aboard the market leader.
“It’s been a bit of a jockey merry-go-round, but in the end we’ve managed to get Danny Mullins, with Johnny sadly on the sidelines. Hopefully it all goes well,” Fry added.
The Henderson-trained Epatante, who was third behind stablemate Marie’s Rock last season and has spent much of the current campaign chasing the shadow of Seven Barrows superstar Constitution Hill.
She was, however, a long way behind Love Envoi at Cheltenham and has since finished a well-beaten fourth in the Aintree Hurdle.
“She’s been a little disappointing recently, but it will be her last run of the season so we’ll see how she gets on,” said McManus’ racing manager, Frank Berry.
“She has to come back to her best form to have a chance.”
The home team is headed by the Mullins trio of Echoes In Rain, Brandy Love and Shewearsitwell, who finished fourth, fifth at ninth in the Mares’ Hurdle and therefore need to find improvement.
“Echoes In Rain could be a difficult ride over two and a half miles but ratings-wise, she would look the one for that, with Love Envoi the biggest challenge,” said Mullins.
Echoes In Rain is one of three declared runners for Willie Mullins in the Mares Champion Hurdle (Niall Carson/PA)
“In the same race, Brandy Love would probably prefer to go left-handed but I think she’ll improve a good bit on her Cheltenham run.”
The Gordon Elliott-trained Queens Brook split Love Envoi and Echoes In Rain when third at the Festival and is also in the mix once more.
Elliott said: “She’s been great since Cheltenham. She’s had a good season and ran a terrific race at Cheltenham in a top-class edition of the race.
“She’s in great order and we’re looking forward to running her.”
John McConnell’s outsider Anna Bunina, third when bidding for back-to-back wins in the Scottish Champion Hurdle at Ayr last weekend, completes the line-up.
💪 Lossiemouth digs in for the win in the JCB Triumph Hurdle
Mullins appears to hold all the aces in the final Grade One of the meeting – the Ballymore Champion Four Year Old Hurdle.
Lossiemouth and Gala Marceau are the clear standard setters after finishing first and second in a one-two-three-four for Mullins in the Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham.
“We haven’t missed much with Lossiemouth season – Christmas, Dublin Racing Festival, Cheltenham. That’s a lot on a filly and she’s not the biggest filly in the world but she has a huge constitution so hopefully, we ask for just one more day,” said the Closutton handler.
Willie Mullins at Punchestown earlier this week (Brian Lawless/PA)
“There’s no reason to say that she won’t give it. She’s just so laid back, I don’t think racing or anything fazes her or takes too much out of her. She’s really top class.”
Mullins also fields Cinsa and Zarak The Brave, with the latter considered no forlorn hope on what is his first appearance since finishing second to Lossiemouth in a Grade Three at Fairyhouse in December.
Mullins added: “I think Zarak The Brave is a nice type. He showed a lot and then got a colic during the season and we had to put him to one side, but he’s a horse to keep an eye on.”
https://www.geegeez.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/270087375-scaled.jpg12802560Geegeez Newshttps://www.geegeez.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/geegeez_banner_new_170x78.pngGeegeez News2023-04-28 13:18:042023-04-28 13:18:04Love Envoi flying the flag for Britain on final day of Punchestown
Harry Fry’s Love Envoi is aiming for Grade One glory in the Coolmore N.H. Sires Mogul Irish EBF Mares Champion Hurdle at Punchestown.
The seven-year-old took the Ryanair Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival last season and was unbeaten in her two runs prior to the meeting this year, landing both a handicap and a Listed event when running at Sandown each time.
She was an 11-1 chance in a top-notch renewal of the Close Brothers Mares’ Hurdle at Prestbury Park and was eventually beaten a length and a half by Honeysuckle after a brave tussle with the winner over the last and to the line.
Punchestown was quickly mooted by connections as a next port of call should she fare well following the race, and the weekend is now on the horizon for the Noel Fehily Racing Syndicate-owned bay mare.
“It’s all systems go for Punchestown, the plan is to go over there and take on the Irish horses,” said Fehily.
Love Envoi at Sandown (John Walton/PA)
“Harry is very happy with her, it was the obvious next race for her. We always said that if she came out of Cheltenham well enough then we would go to Punchestown with her and she seems to have come out of it very well, we’re going to run.
“She keeps on improving, keeps on surprising us. She’s just a very tough, likeable filly. She deserves a Grade One and hopefully we can tick that box.”
Love Envoi has been ridden by Jonathan Burke in all but one of her starts under rules, but the jockey broke his arm in a fall from Sam Brown in the Grand National and is out of action as his injury heals.
Mark Walsh has been called up to deputise, a rider who has enjoyed Punchestown success when teaming up with Fry before as the pair took the 2019 Champion Stayers Hurdle with Unowhatimeanharry and the Mares Handicap Hurdle with Pure Bliss in 2021.
Fehily said: “We’re delighted to get Mark on board, it’s very unfortunate for Johnny to be missing about because he’s probably been the making of this mare. She wasn’t easy in her early days and he handled her very well.
What syndicate dreams are made of 😍
Love Envoi makes it 6 wins in 7 starts and returns to the winners' enclosure @Sandownpark to be greeted by the delighted Noel Fehily Racing Syndicate!
“It’s great to have Mark on board, he’s an experienced jockey and he’s ridden Grade One winners for Harry Fry in Punchestown before so hopefully he can ride another one for us.”
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