Lanesborough carrying Lanzarote hopes for in-form Pauling

Ben Pauling returns to the scene of his tremendous King George VI Chase triumph looking to pick up another of Kempton’s major prizes as Lanesborough goes for Coral Lanzarote Handicap Hurdle glory.

The Sunbury track was a happy hunting ground for the Naunton Downs handler and The Jukebox Man’s pilot Ben Jones over the Christmas period and they hold leading claims in Saturday’s feature with their Doncaster scorer, who has seen the form of that wide-margin romp boosted by the runner-up since.

Pauling said: “He’s in great order and is a lovely horse who won well at Doncaster and should handle the ground nicely.

“The form of that Doncaster race has been franked and he will have improved for that run, so I’m looking forward to seeing how he gets on.”

That Doncaster win over Christian Williams’ Williethebuilder came over the minimum distance but having previously excelled over further, his handler is backing him to prove just as effective at this two-mile-five-furlong trip.

Pauling added: “I think he’s versatile and before Doncaster I didn’t have him down as a proper two-miler but then he seemed to handle that perfectly OK.

“The lovely thing is you can put him anywhere you want in the race, there will be no pressure and over that trip he can take his time and find a nice position, get in a rhythm then turning for home hopefully be there competing.”

He went on: “He’s in the William Hill Hurdle at Newbury early next month, but he would have to come out of this really well to go there, but it wouldn’t be out of the question.”

Dan Skelton will rely on the hat-trick seeking A Pai De Nom to register his own three-timer in a race he has dominated in recent years.

The Ladbrokes ambassador said: “I have had this race in mind for him for a good while now.

“He won at Cheltenham in a conditional jockeys’ race in November and then he went to Leicester and won a novice hurdle.

“This race has been the plan and we have no negatives going into it. We have been happy with his training and he will run well. It is very competitive, but we don’t have any excuses and he is my best chance on the day.”

Another arriving at the Sunbury track in a rich vein of form is Philip Hobbs and Johnson White’s French Ship, who since falling at Chepstow in the Silver Trophy has not looked back when winning competitive heats at Cheltenham and Newbury.

Despite being burdened with top-weight, White is hopeful he can continue on an upwards curve and said: “He’s carrying a lot of weight but that’s because he’s the best horse in the race, simple as that.

“If Saturday went well he would be moving out of handicap company and if you look at his profile he has just improved race on race throughout his career.

“With his profile from last season we very much hoped he would continue improving and he has very much done that, so long may it continue.”

Jeremy Scott is double-handed with a pair of recent winners, Hereford scorer Came From Nowhere and King Of The Lake, who found the scoresheet at Chepstow.

Paul Nicholls will also saddle two with Harry Cobden aboard former Challow Hurdle winner Captain Teague and daughter Olive continuing her association with the in-form Wincanton and Musselburgh victor Fasol.

Meanwhile Nicholls’ nephew Harry Derham reverts dual Autueil winner Just Ennemi to the smaller obstacles after underwhelming on his chasing debut at Haydock before Christmas.

It will be the six-year-old’s first run over hurdles in the UK having cost £320,000 at the David Maxwell dispersal in the autumn and his handler is keen to erase the memory of his stable bow on Merseyside.

Derham said: “His bloods came back wrong after Haydock so we did find a reason for why he ran so disappointingly, but having said that he does now have a point to prove.

“You can’t ignore that run as it obviously happened, but he has the chance now to prove he’s a better horse than that.

“He’s a horse I really like, he’s in good form and I’m very pleased with him and I’m looking forward to running him.”