Warwick braced for exciting new jumps season

Highlights will again be the Betfred Classic Chase in January and the Grade 2 Betfair Kingmaker Novices’ Chase in February, which has a host of top-class performers on its roll of honour.

“Following our successful Flat Season Finale, I am really looking forward to an exciting autumn jumps programme,” said general manager Huw Williams.

“Our fixture on Wednesday is quickly followed by another two weeks later on the 21st which features the Highflier 4-year-old Chase.

“We roll on into December with our Christmas Jumps fixture on Sunday December 9 which, for the first time this year, is sponsored by Betfred. We see the year out in style with our ever-popular New Year’s Eve fixture which is already selling really well, so I strongly recommend booking in advance.”

The Classic Chase is run over a distance of three miles and five furlongs and, with 22 fences to be jumped, requires horses with abundance of stamina to see out the trip.

It was won in 2011 by West End Rocker and last season saw Hey Big Spender put up a tremendous display to defy top weight of 11-12 and beat the lightly-weighted pair of Fredo and Strongbows Legend.

Among past winners of the Kingmaker are Long Run, winner in 2010, and Finian’s Rainbow, who took the 2011 running en route to scoring in last season’s Sportingbet.com Queen Mother Champion Chase.

The first race on Wednesday is the Follow Us On Twitter @Warwickraces Handicap Hurdle over two miles due off at 12.50pm and the meeting closes with the Whitsun Bloodstock George Mernagh Memorial Mares’ National Hunt Flat Race at 4.05pm.

The highlight is the fourth, the Class 3 Colliers Reduce Empty Business Rates Novices’ Chase over two miles. Last year’s event saw a surprise winner in Schumpters Lad, who beat hot 30-100 favourite Tatispout.

Looking further ahead, the 2013 fixture list has been confirmed, giving the course 21 meetings, the same as this year, with 11 on the flat and ten over jumps,