Can Bravemansgame follow in the footsteps of his illustrious stable's stars?

MansionBet Challow Novices' Hurdle (Grade 1) | 2m4½f | 4yo+ | ITV4/RTV

Paul Nicholls will be brimming with excitement as he saddles one of his brightest prospects in this Grade 1 feature.

Bravemansgame is held in the highest regard by the 11-times champion trainer, who proclaimed the five-year-old would be "awesome over fences next season" in his Racing Post stable tour.

Nicholls might be 0-10 in this race in the last ten years, but he often runs his better chase prospects in it. Al Ferof finished third in 2010 and Politologue filled the same position five years ago, while let's not forget the great Denman was successful for the yard back in 2006.

Bravemansgame is right in the mix on form. His impressive victory in a course-and-distance novice hurdle last time was good enough for a Racing Post Rating of 146 and that is the joint-highest figure in the field, equalling that achieved by the Evan Williams-trained Star Gate at Sandown this month.

Three of Williams' last four runners have won, and the in-form trainer will achieve a rare feat of back-to-back Grade 1 hurdle wins if Star Gate comes home in front.

Williams, who was successful with Silver Streak in the Christmas Hurdle at Kempton on Saturday, is a more serene character than Nicholls but he was struggling to keep a lid on his excitement after Star Gate had bolted up in the Grade 2 Winter Hurdle at the Esher venue.

Star Gate is taking the same path as Fingal Bay (2011), Taquin Du Seuil (2012) and Messire Des Obeaux (2016), who all won that Sandown race before coming on to victory here. In fact, winners of that race in the last ten seasons have gone on to record figures of 1123163 in this.

Mares have dominated Grade 1 hurdles on both sides of the Irish Sea in recent seasons, winning two of the last three Christmas Hurdles, the last two Irish Champion Hurdles, the Champion Hurdle, the Fighting Fifth and the last five runnings of the Hatton’s Grace.

Judged purely on those results it seems fair to assume the 7lb allowance gives mares an unfair advantage at the top level, so can The Glancing Queen be the latest to cash in?

Alan King, who was responsible for saddling Messire Des Obeaux in 2016, had a mare beaten in this race two years ago when Alsa Mix finished sixth behind Champ.

She had won the Winter Hurdle at Sandown and had stronger form claims than The Glancing Queen. That suggests The Glancing Queen might be up against it, even with the allowance.
Race analysis by Graeme Rodway

Williams happy to have a crack

A fruitful festive period could get even sweeter for Evan Williams if Star Gate strikes in the Challow, but the trainer is keen not to overhype the Rucker family's exciting four-year-old.

Williams won his fourth Grade 1 at Kempton on Saturday when Silver Streak upset Epatante in the Ladbrokes Christmas Hurdle and has leading claims of another top-flight triumph with Star Gate, who barely came off the bridle to win Sandown's Grade 2 Winter Novices' Hurdle last time.

Star Gate: exciting youngster for Evan WilliamsCredit: Edward Whitaker

"It's a good race, but I don't know what we've beaten or achieved in our victories," said Williams, who has had ten winners from 38 runners this month.

"There are times in a season when your horses are well and, as the results probably show, our horses are running well, so when they're fresh and well there's no point sitting at home looking at them.

"We could have gone to the Tolworth, but that was dropping back in distance to two miles, and he'd have had penalties at Cheltenham on Friday, so the only place with no questions marks over trip or race conditions was this.

"I don't think we can get too carried away with the form of his Sandown win, but sometimes you've got to have a crack."

What they say

Paul Nicholls, trainer of Bravemansgame
We aimed to come for this after he won at the Ladbrokes Trophy meeting. He was beaten on testing ground in his bumpers last season, but he's had a wind operation since and was a big, weak horse then. Hopefully it won't be a problem, but it's something in the back of my mind that I'd prefer the ground was good to soft, rather than soft to heavy, but it's what you expect at this time of year.

Kim Bailey, trainer of Does He Know
We said after he'd won his second race at Cheltenham in November that he deserved to try a Grade 1, which is exactly what we're doing. Is he good enough? It's so difficult to say because I don't think the Cheltenham form is that special, but he has won nicely on every occasion and seems to have improved so we go there with every chance. He won't have seen the ground as testing as this, so we don't know about that. This is a learning curve as to whether we're good enough for the Cheltenham Festival or not.

Dan Skelton, trainer of Wilde About Oscar
I was always coming straight here after he won at Aintree and I'm very happy with him. He's in great form and the track, trip and ground are fine; there are no excuses.

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