Watch out Willie! Honeyball back in business with one eye on Mares Novices'

The Mares Novices' Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival may be 11 months away but for Anthony Honeyball it is a race he is already dreaming about with the progressive Coquelicot.

Honeyball bounced back from last year's virus-struck campaign with 36 winners and was hoping for more with some of his leading names being aimed at Aintree this week. That plan was soon scuppered when British racing was suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Anthony Honeyball's comeback season in Britain

2017-18: 34 winners / 162 runners (21 per cent strike-rate), earnings of £427,333
2018-19: 14 / 96 (15 per cent), £194,616
2019-20: 36 / 126 (29 per cent), £412,750

However, Coquelicot, winner of a Listed bumper at Kempton last month, helped him finish the season on a high and her campaign will be tailored towards her big festival target, a race that Willie Mullins has won every season since its inaugural running in 2016.

"She won her last three bumpers and has been pinging hurdles at home," said the Dorset trainer. "She's been doing everything beautifully. We'll work back from that Cheltenham race [Mares Novices' Hurdle], until she proves otherwise.

"She’s got the pedigree, stays well, has a hell of an engine and I think she can put it up to the best of them in the division. I'll leave her as fresh as I can, and dream to get her there. I’ve got massive faith in her.

“We could also have Midnight Callisto for that race too. She’s quite closely related to Minella Indo and she’ll improve for better ground. We’ve got plenty of smart young mares, I like Windswept Girl and You Caught My Eye too.”

Anthony Honeyball: excited by his string for next seasonCredit: Harry Trump (Getty Images)

Reflecting on his season, Honeyball added: ”We’ve had a really good campaign. We don’t get going until October so we’ll have plenty of time and we’ll be okay. We’re just shutting up shop and we’ll probably have about two horses in through the summer. We’re down to a skeleton team with a lot of them taking their holiday.”

Novice chaser Sam Brown emerged as a potential top-class prospect when winning twice in 11 days in January. He disappointed last time but his trainer is confident he can bounce back next season.

"Sam Brown didn't do himself justice at Ascot,” said Honeyball. “He had two quick runs and then he just didn't really fire but we were really keen on him for Aintree.

"We'd ideally like to start off in a race with a small field and soft ground around November or December, it could be a graduation or intermediate chase, or something bigger as he goes well fresh. We hope he makes into a proper Graded chaser in open company.”

Veterans Regal Encore and Jepeck are to stay in training while Acey Milan could be an exciting addition to the novice chasing ranks.

Honeyball said: “Acey Milan had a good year and he’ll go over fences next season. He’s schooled superbly and he’d only need to win one race and we’d be thinking about top novice chases. We’re keen to aim for the stars with him. He travelled well on his last two starts but just faded, so we're rebuilding, but he’ll back to his best.”

And Honeyball believes he has plenty of future young talent in the jockey department with Rex Dingle and Ben Godfrey.

Rex Dingle: rode 24 winners this seasonCredit: Harry Trump / Getty Images

He said: “We'll use Aidan Coleman as our go-to man but I’ve been impressed with Rex and Ben. They work very hard in the yard, Rex broke his neck just under a year ago but has bounced back with a really solid campaign. Ben has come on leaps and bounds and we think he'll be massive value for his 7lb claim.”

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