Lavelle charge ready for Trophy test
Emma Lavelle hopes Cloudy Grey can regain his old sparkle in the totesport Trophy at Newbury on Saturday.
The grey, a 40-1 shot with the sponsors, has had his fair share of injuries in the last two years and has yet to fulfil the potential he showed as a novice.
However, Lavelle is confident the nine-year-old will do himself justice in the £125,000 (€182,000) handicap hurdle.
“He seems in really good nick so hopefully he’ll go and put his best foot forward,” said the Andover trainer.
“He’s better going left-handed and he’ll love the ground. Also it will make a nice change for him to be carrying 10st around the course instead of going round with top weight.”
With regular rider Barry Fenton injured, Lavelle is on the lookout for a suitable jockey and has not ruled out using a conditional.
“He’s only 3lb wrong at the moment and we’ll have a look and see who we can get to ride him,” she added.
“We may even get someone who can take a couple of pounds off him so he can run off his right weight. There are some good claimers around.
“It would be nice to get him back on track and if he were to come back to his best off that kind of weight, you’d like to think he’d have a little chance.”
