Ground concerns but hopeful Solar can get the pulse racing

My Big Day Chris Kellett

The horse Solar Impulse

The race Shawbrook Handicap Chase (3.15 Ascot)

The story All trainers can relate to the struggle in finding that one horse to grab the limelight on a big day and Chris Kellett is hoping Solar Impulse will have his name in the headlines on Saturday after contesting the £100,000 2m handicap chase at Ascot, which will be the Lancashire trainer’s first runner at the track as well as on Channel 4. Just the one winner over jumps under rules and ten victories on the Flat in the past ten years has not deterred Kellett, who has nine horses in training and acquired this year’s Grand Annual scorer, formerly of Paul Nicholls, at the Doncaster sales in May for £50,000 for owners Andy Bell and Fergus Lyons.

He says It’s fantastic to have a runner in a race like this – we mainly deal with low-grade horses so to train one of his quality is a real honour. We got him pretty cheap at the sales in May – there are not many Cheltenham Festival winners you can buy for £50,000! We’re always looking to improve our quality of horses but it is just so hard to compete financially. We’ve been taking him to the beach at Southport, which is quite local to us, a few times a week so he has certainly had a change in scenery and he looks really well. He’s really fit but we’re slightly concerned by the ground as he does prefer a sound surface. It would be fantastic if he were to run a big race, and if he were to win, it would definitely be a career highlight – every trainer needs that one big winner to get the ball rolling.