'I'll be disappointed if he doesn't take the beating' - Harris in bullish mood

Saturday: 1.30 Doncaster
bet365 Summit Juvenile Hurdle (Listed Race) | 2m½f | 3yo | ITV4/Sky

This is typically the day in which the juvenile division bursts into life, with the Summit at Doncaster preceding the Triumph Trial at Cheltenham.

However, both meetings are subject to passing pre-race inspections and trainers are keeping their options open as six of the nine-runner Summit field also retain a Cheltenham entry.

For three of those, the Triumph Trial is the first preference although it is not the choice of standard-setting Flat-bred pair Nusret and Scriptwriter.

The past ten winners of this Listed prize have brought a fairly even mix of Flat and jumps pedigrees to the table and the last two, Knight Salute and Monmiral, progressed to land the Grade 1 juvenile at Aintree later in the season.

Scriptwriter is essentially the new Knight Salute as both Milton Harris-trained juveniles won the Grade 2 contest at Cheltenham’s November meeting en route to the Summit. However, Scriptwriter was vastly superior on the Flat.

Scriptwriter and Paddy Brennan (second left) jump the final flight on their way to winning at CheltenhamCredit: Edward Whitaker

Knight Salute is rated 75 on the level after seven runs in that sphere for Andrew Balding and Scriptwriter is officially 27lb better after pausing his Flat career with a midfield effort in a Leopardstown Derby trial.

Like Knight Salute often was, there is a chance Scriptwriter is being underestimated as the market favours Irish raider Nusret, who is rated 12lb lower on the Flat.

The jury is still out on the strength of the Punchestown race Nusret landed on his hurdling debut as fancied stablemate Good Heavens never ran his race. Nonetheless, it was a nice performance and Joseph O’Brien is one from one over jumps at Doncaster over the last five years.

The final runner for whom Doncaster is the first preference is The Churchill Lad. While he is slightly more exposed than the big two, and needs to step forward on Racing Post Ratings, he has made a decent start to his hurdling career with two victories and a second.
Analysis by Robbie Wilders

O'Brien expects Triumph contender to relish conditions

Only three Irish-trained runners have contested this juvenile event over the past decade, and Nusret will bid to become the first overseas raider to land the prize since Grand Seigneur struck for Francois Doumen and France in 1999.

Joseph O'Brien supplied the second and third in this race back in 2016 when Lord Justice and Zig Zag chased home the Paul Nicholls-trained Cliffs Of Dover, but his exciting representative this time around holds much more obvious claims.

It was an impressive display from this year's Melrose Handicap sixth when making a winning hurdles debut at Punchestown last month, and the third-placed Calico was runner-up on her next start in a Listed juvenile fillies' hurdle at Aintree for Gordon Elliott.

Daryl Jacob made the journey to Ireland for one ride when partnering him to victory on that occasion and is set to maintain the partnership again.

O'Brien said: "He's travelled over well and I think he'll enjoy the decent ground. It's a big step up in class from his last start but we're hoping he can acquit himself well."

Nusret, who has this Doncaster assignment as his first preference over a Cheltenham alternative on Saturday, enters the weekend priced between 12-1 and 20-1 for the Triumph Hurdle.

What they say

Dan Skelton, trainer of Medyaf
He's got a good chance. The track will suit. He was behind a couple of these last time but we'll try to hold on to him a bit longer, which should help.

Milton Harris, trainer of Scriptwriter and Polyphonic
The plan is to run both Scriptwriter and Polyphonic. Scriptwriter is a very good horse, and I'll be disappointed if he doesn't take all the beating. He has improved significantly since his last run.

Nigel Hawke, trainer of I Have A Voice
He was a good winner at Southwell last time and our preference is for him to run at Cheltenham.

Rebecca Menzies, trainer of The Churchill Lad
Fingers crossed the meeting goes ahead. The better quality race and likely stronger pace will suit him more than Catterick where he had to make his own running. The stronger gallop will help him settle, and I’m hopeful he can go there and be competitive.

Anthony Honeyball, trainer of Trojan Horse
He came on a lot from his first run at Kempton to win well at Fontwell last time. He was a totally different horse that day as he'd been quite green over his hurdles. We hope he can take another step forward now and he looks to have a reasonable chance.
Reporting by Mark Boylan

Saturday's previews:

1.50 Cheltenham: 'He's crying out for this trip' - key trainer quotes for the December Gold Cup

2.25 Cheltenham: Twiston-Davies 'pretty confident' - but can I Like To Move It down Epatante?

2.40 Doncaster: Can James Ewart strike gold again with another promising French youngster?

3.00 Cheltenham: 'He goes there with a lovely chance' - Nicholls excited for Albert Bartlett trial

Newcastle: 'He had a great time last season' - all you need to know for Newcastle

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