AFTER a Flat season, thrillingly highlighted by his association with crack two-year-old The Wow Signal, who provided him with a Royal Ascot success and his first-ever Group 1 triumph, John Quinn is now turning his attentions to the jumps season and has his sights set on Wetherby’s weekend fixture.

The Norton trainer, whose reputation has been built on his ability to operate at a high level under both codes, has a useful string of jumpers under his care for the winter campaign.

His Wetherby challenge will be spearheaded by Aurore d’Estruval and Mr Gallivanter, both of whom will be bidding for Listed-race honours at the ‘A1’ course during this popular two-day meeting, which is showcased by the Charlie Hall Chase.

Aurore d’Estruval, who is poised to make her eagerly-awaited re-appearance in Saturday’s OLBG.com Mares’ Hurdle, a race Quinn won 12 months ago with Cockney Sparrow, is highly regarded by her Highfield trainer.

Previously based in France under Guillaume Macaire, the four-year-old made a winning British debut for Quinn at Wetherby last December before being narrowly denied in the Victor Ludorum Hurdle at Haydock. A minor niggle prevented her from bidding for the Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham in March, a Grade 1 race Quinn had won a couple of years earlier with Countrywide Flame, and instead, she travelled to Aintree the following month and contested a similar Grade 1 event, finishing a creditable fifth.

“That was a very good performance and the form of the race has worked out really well,” says Quinn, who has been delighted with the way Aurore d’Estruval has thrived physically throughout the summer and how she has come to hand for her first public engagement of the campaign.

“She’s where I’d like her to be at the moment,” says Quinn, in advance of her Wetherby assault. “I think she is a very good mare.”

Mr Gallivanter has already acquired some useful experience over timber ahead of his crack at the Wensleydale Hurdle on Friday.

The three-year-old, a Flat winner last season, made a winning debut over hurdles at Stratford in August and has since gained a runaway success at Kelso. “He’s a horse we’ve always liked,” says Quinn.

Among the rivals to Mr Gallivanter will be Full Day, winner of two of his three races this season for Brian Ellison, who, like Quinn, is likely to be well represented on both days of the Wetherby meeting.

Likewise, Malcolm Jefferson. The Newstead handler, whose high-class Urban Hymn was beaten a whisker at Carlisle last week, and who was on the mark at Ayr on Monday with Double W’s in the bumper, is poised to have a whole host of runners, including Pair Of Jacks, Secrete Stream and significantly, Oscar Rock in the Grade 2 bet365 Hurdle, a race also under consideration by Tim Easterby for Trustan Times, who has a chasing option at the track the previous afternoon.

It’s all coming nicely to the boil. The clocks have changed. The National Hunt season is swinging into top gear - as Wetherby will illustrate in a few days time.

 

• TIM EASTERBY, who produced Hawk High to gain a 33-1 win at last season’s Cheltenham Festival, is looking forward to bidding for further major honours this term after the talented gelding made a successful return to action last Saturday.

Owned by Trevor Hemmings, one of the stalwarts of the jumping game, Hawk High picked-up a first prize of more than £25,000 when making a successful comeback at Aintree, his owner’s favourite local track. Ridden by Brian Hughes, who had also scored on him in the Fred Winter Juvenile Novices’ Handicap Hurdle at Cheltenham in March, Hawk High’s comfortable 12-1 victory equalled the course record for two miles and one furlong.

“I was chuffed with him,” said Easterby, who watched the Aintree action unfold on television at Doncaster, where he was supervising his Flat runners. Improvement is expected with this opening race under his belt and the Great Habton trainer will weigh-up future options before deciding on a planned route. The valuable Greatwood Hurdle, at Cheltenham’s Open Meeting next month, will be under consideration, as will the Gerry Fielden Hurdle at Newbury.

Hawk High completed an across-the-card hurdles-Flat double on Saturday for Easterby, who was also successful at Newbury with Lilac Lace. Duran Fentiman rode a fine race on the North Yorkshire raider to get her home by a short-head from Richard Fahey’s Duksy Queen, the mount of Sammy-Jo Bell.

Easterby, who subsequently sold Lilac Lace for 20,000gns at Newmarket Sales on Monday, when he was on the mark at Redcar with the Megan Carberry-ridden Another Royal, still have one important mission pending on the Flat before the campaign draws to a close. He is planning to send Mattmu, recent Listed winner of the Rockingham Stakes at York’s final meeting to France for a Group 2 sprint at Maissons-Laffitte next Tuesday.

 

•  JACK GARRITTY enjoyed the sort of day most young riders can only dream about at Doncaster last Saturday when he recorded the first treble of his fledgling career for his boss Richard Fahey on a card where the Malton trainer pulled-off a four-timer - at combined odds of 6,074-1.

For Garritty, 18, it was the stuff of dreams. Not only did he win both legs of the apprentices’ handicap on Withernsea and Alquimia, he also clinched a narrow success on Tachophobia in the nursery which resulted in a 1-2 for Fahey with Arcano Gold, ridden by Paul Hanagan, beaten a neck into second place. Hanagan, formerly long-term stable jockey at Musley Bank, did, at least get on the scoresheet; he won on Fahey’s Latenightrequest, who made a nonsense of her 14-1 odds by streaking clear on her favourite ground. Two of the stable’s winners have since been sold at Newmarket’s Horses-in-Training Sales on Monday; Tachophobia changed hands for 65,000gns to go to Qatar, while Alquimia was bought by BBA Ireland for 23,000gns.

Doncaster, though, revolved around Garritty, whose career has soared since he transferred his indentures early in the summer from his original employer Andrew Balding at Kingsclere to Fahey, for whom he has since ridden 20 winners in a season which has provided him with a score of 36 successes.

To say, he is bred for the job, is beyond doubt. Jack is a son of former successful jump jockey, Russ Garritty, who enjoyed such strong associations in his career with Tim Easterby, Tom Tate and Peter Beaumont.

“Saturday was great,” said Garritty jnr. “It’s all down to the boss and the team I am working with. I couldn’t have wished for the season to have gone any better.”

Fahey went on to record a double on Monday at Leicester with Miss Van Gogh and Gabrial, both ridden by Paul Hanagan, who was recording his 100th seasonal success on the latter. Hanagan has ridden 19 winners from 82 rides this term for his former boss – a strike-rate of 23 per cent - and, significantly, has ridden more winners for Fahey than any other individual trainer this year.

As for Fahey, he is now on a mind boggling 177 winners this season, just four short of his best-ever score achieved in 2010.

 

• JAMAICAN BOLT, who had been knocking on the door in his recent races, finally got the response he deserved at Doncaster when gaining an overdue success.

Trained for owner-breeder Reg Bond by Geoff Oldroyd at Brawby, the six-year-old was ridden to an 11-2 success by William Buick in Friday’s six furlong handicap, run on the gelding’s favourite soft ground.

“Conditions were right for him,” said Oldroyd, who described Jamaican Bolt as “a very laid-back” horse. “He tends to have a flat spot in his races and William feels he’s crying out for seven furlongs.”