'The handicapper has had a hold of him for a long time' - Curious Rover returns to winning ways for Katie Scott

Click here to add us to your Google preferred sources or find out more here

Katie Scott is hoping a confidence-boosting win will do the trick for Curious Rover after his success in the 5f handicap.

The five-year-old, who races in the colours of Ursa Major Racing, was officially rated in the 80s throughout last season and took advantage of a reduced mark of 71 to score by a length and a quarter under Jason Hart.

Scott said: “The handicapper has had a hold of him for a long time and the headgear didn’t work on his last two runs, but he’s slowly eased in the weights and found it a bit easier in this grade. It should hopefully give him a confidence boost and we can kick on again.”

Scott enjoyed a career-best 20 winners last year but feels her lower-grade handicappers have paid the price this term, with Curious Rover her fourth scorer of the campaign.

Nonetheless, the Scottish Borders trainer has enjoyed some high-profile days, including with Epsom 3-Y-O Dash and York winner Naana’s Shadow.

Scott said: “It’s been a little bit frustrating. We had such a good year in 2025 but our lower-grade horses have not been that well handicapped this year. We only have 20 horses and to have three of them rated over 90 is quite amazing – we’ve aimed high and had some great days.”

Red-hot form

Ed Bethell has been successful with his last three runners following Weleyff’s victory in the 7f novice.

The son of Too Darn Hot finished best for a length victory under Oisin Orr, taking Bethell’s strike-rate to 34 per cent (11-32) in the last fortnight.

Sign up to receive On The Nose, our essential daily newsletter, from the Racing Post. Your unmissable morning feed, direct to your email inbox every morning.