Doncaster set for a top class weekend of National Hunt action

De Boinville broke his collarbone in a fall at Doncaster last month and returned to action at Lingfield on Sunday after a spell on the sidelines.

He took up a total of 11 rides, including a winner at Warwick on Monday, but after his narrow loss aboard Ilfu Un Mome at Chepstow on Wednesday, the rider decided to rule himself out of the weekend’s action.

“Nico was sore after yesterday, so he won’t be riding this weekend,” said De Boinville’s agent Sam Stronge.

“We’ll just take it day by day and see how it is next week. It’s unfortunate, we obviously tried to do our best as quickly as we could, and after riding for a couple of days he obviously wasn’t quite right.

“The sensible thing to do when you’ve got big rides like that (Jonbon) is to not let everybody down. It’s a very difficult decision, but we’ll take it day by day and hopefully he’ll be back next week.”

In De Boinville’s absence, the ride on Jonbon in Saturday’s rescheduled My Pension Expert Clarence House Chase at Cheltenham will go to Bowen, often the deputy for trainer Nicky Henderson.

“I’m really lucky to get on him and I can’t wait to ride him. Fingers crossed, he can get the job done,” said the jockey.

“I was thinking I might get on him last weekend, but Nico got back and then it was called off.

“He is the best horse in the race and odds-on shots are the ones you want to be riding. You just need the right horse to ride in these Grade One races and hopefully I can get the job done, but it is also up to him as well.

“I think it gives you great confidence when the owner and trainer are willing to put you on a horse like Jonbon. If they are happy enough for you to ride, that is what gives you the most confidence going out there.”

Oisin Murphy is relishing the prospect of being reunited with Mawj when she lines up in the Jebel Hatta at Meydan on Friday.

Globetrotting Murphy has kept himself busy overseas this winter, having most recently plied his trade in Florida.

He will jet into Dubai to link up with the horse that provided him and trainer Saeed bin Suroor with Classic honours last season, before returning to America for the big-money Pegasus World Cup meeting at Gulfstream Park on Saturday.

After outbattling Tahiyra to scoop the 1000 Guineas at Newmarket, Mawj missed the height of summer with a setback before travelling to America herself, where she added to her top-level tally at Keeneland before being cruelly denied by a nose in the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Santa Anita.

She now returns to the nine-furlong trip over which she won the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup in Kentucky last October and bids to maintain her unbeaten Meydan record in this Group One event.

“I’m really looking forward to riding her and she obviously had a great year last year,” said Murphy.

“She has won over a similar distance at Keeneland in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and she seems to be nicely drawn in the middle, so it will be interesting to see how the pace sets up.

“She can take a lead or make the running – she is very happy doing lots of things, so I’m looking forward to it.”

Spirit Dancer gave Richard Fahey and famous co-owner Sir Alex Ferguson a day to remember when striking in Bahrain in November and having flourished over the last 12 months, now tries his hand in Group One company for the first time.

“We’ve always liked him and he’s relatively lightly raced, but we’re getting a good go with him now as he’s been a bit of a backward horse who has taken time to mature physically and mentally,” said Fahey.

“We’re not surprised he’s improving, but he will need to improve again now.”

Charlie Appleby has won this race three times in the past eight years and after rattling the crossbar with third-placed Master Of The Seas 12 months ago, he now saddles three seeking to get his hands back on the trophy.

Stable jockey William Buick has elected to partner Al Rashidiya winner Measured Time, with the son of Frankel and half-brother to Breeders’ Cup Turf hero Rebel’s Romance winning four of his five career starts.

“Measured Time was an impressive winner of the Al Rashidiya and has done well physically since,” the Moulton Paddocks handler told the Godolphin website.

“This will obviously be more of a test, with Mawj and San Donato in the field, but he heads into it in great order.”

Measured Time is joined in the race by the reliable Ottoman Fleet and Highland Avenue, who were both behind their stablemate in Meydan’s pre-Christmas Group Two.

Appleby added: “Ottoman Fleet has proved ultra-consistent over this trip and doesn’t know how to run a bad race. He deserves to be in the line-up and I’m sure he will give his usual running.

“Highland Avenue has been competitive at Group level and was unlucky to get stuck wide in the Al Rashidiya. Hopefully he can get a better run around this time, which will help his chances.”

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