Luck on our side at Carlisle

It was good to see Hell’s Kitchen make a winning return to action in the £50,000 Weatherby’s Hamilton Graduation Chase at Carlisle on Monday.

 

The race looked an ideal starting point for him though luck was definitely on his side when the two horses a few lengths in front of him both came down at the final fence.

 

He looked booked for third place at the time but stayed on well up the Carlisle hill to hold the challenge of Chesterfield by a length and a half.

 

It is not the way you want to win a race but there was plenty of encouragement to be taken from the performance of Hell’s Kitchen.

 

I thought he jumped really well on ground that was slower than he likes and now that he is settling better we can look at races in excess of two miles.

 

I’d imagine handicaps are out for him from this point and will talk to Frank Berry, Racing manager for JP McManus, about future plans.