HARRY WHITTINGTON BLOG: Harry Whittington, Grade One-winning trainer and ambassador for market-leading betting exchange BETDAQ, looks back on a good week for the yard with a couple of winners, as well as previewing Saint Calvados in the Tingle Creek at Sandown.

Thrilled with two winners

I couldn’t have been much happier with Anemoi at Doncaster last weekend. There wasn’t much pace in the race, so we had to make the running which probably doesn’t fully play to his strengths.

What I thought was so impressive was the way he quickened away from the second last under a penalty. He’s learning all the time and there’s loads more improvement to come which is obviously very exciting.

He races like he wants further in trip and while there are a number of options over the Christmas period for him, we are considering the listed 2m4f Novice at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day.

He’s still a big baby and I think we’ll see an even better horse when he races in a higher grade. He’s one we’re very excited about.

It was great to have two winners this week with Rouge Vif winning at Southwell on Tuesday.

We put a hood on him for the first time and that seemed to relax him. He put the race to bed in pretty impressive fashion.

He couldn’t have done it much better and we’ll look to step him up slightly in grade next. We wouldn’t want to run him on bottomless ground and I think he’ll be well suited to a track like Aintree in the spring.

Other runners over the past week

We were obviously very disappointed with Simply The Betts at Doncaster.

Gavin [Sheehan] think’s there’s a problem with his wind there so we’ve booked him for an over ground scope next week. He travelled like a dream but found nothing, so hopefully we’ll find the route of the problem quickly and we can get him back out on the track sooner rather than later.

As for Bigmartre at Newbury, it was the first time he’d run with horses who would take him on for the lead and I think that just ran him off his feet a little bit.

He didn’t have a hard race and he seems to have felt no ill effects, so we could look at a race at Ludlow in a couple of weeks time.

Saint Calvados in the Tingle Creek

It’s obviously very special to be part of such a fantastic race and while we’re under no illusions how competitive it is, we feel the horse is more than worth his place in the line-up.

I couldn’t be happier with Saint Calvados, he’s in unbelievably good form at home and does have the benefit of a run and a win at that over in Ireland.

The race is one of the strongest renewals I can remember and there’s no doubt that Altior is the one to beat. He’s an out-and-out champion, but hopefully we can improve again and serve it up to him as well as Sceau Royal and Un De Sceaux.

You sometimes forgot he’s only a five-year-old, but he’s come back this year much stronger physically and fingers crossed he can keep improving and run a big race.

It really is a dream to have a horse of this calibre in the yard, you do have to pinch yourself considering where we were a few years ago. To now be lining up in four-runner Tingle Creek (3.00pm) with 16 Grade One wins between them is pretty special.

Other runners at Sandown on Saturday

We’re looking forward to running Jammy George in the opening race (12.15pm) at Sandown. He’s a really nice horse who will love the soft ground.

He ran well at Chepstow on his debut for the yard and the form of that run has been franked when The Big Bite hacked up on Wednesday by 19 lengths.

We’d like to think he’ll be very competitive and are hoping for a big run.

The latest addition to the Harry Whittington Racing Club, The Kings Baby, runs in the mares’ handicap hurdle (12.50pm).

We’ve got to start her off somewhere and this very much a fact-finding mission to see how we plot the rest of the season with her.

I’ve been pleased with some of her work at home, so hopefully she can put up a good account.

One runner at Chepstow

Young Bull takes his chance in the bumper at Chepstow (3.40pm). He ran in a hot looking bumper on debut at Ffos Las and he will have learnt plenty from that.

The horse was very green on debut and will need to be sharper to win this, but his work has been good since and I’m hopeful he’ll put up a solid performance.

HARRY