The final might be a month away but the build up to the 906m Television Trophy gets underway with the first of the trialstakes on Saturday.
Racing manager Chris Page said: “The first name in the book is Jason Foster’s Market Heights but the Keightley’s have also trialled some of their runners recently (Roxhome Magic clocked a very respectable 28.49 for the 480m).
“Of our own runners, I think Mark Wallis has at least three pencilled in for it, mainly runners who are unexposed over the longer distances to date.”
The Towcester Puppy Stake final will be supported with a variety of opens over differing distances including, hopefully, the track’s first hurdle open.
Page said: “We have moved the hurdles so there is a bigger gap between the second and third jump and hope to get a full field together. With Jason bringing his marathon runner, he will hopefully bring a couple of hurdlers too. At the moment, we don’t have any local runners qualified.”
The 480m open could be particularly competitive should Face The Blade and Barefoot Apollo both be entered.
Blade was only one spot outside the track record with a 27.85 win in the Totepool Premier League heat on Saturday, while Apollo won an A1 in 27.93.
Saturday’s opens close at midday on Tuesday (14th).
