Handstands all set to start off at Carlisle on Sunday

Handstands is set to kick off what trainer Ben Pauling hopes will be an exciting season in the Colin Parker Memorial Intermediate Chase at Carlisle on Sunday.

The winner of three of his four starts over hurdles, the six-year-old also enjoyed an excellent novice campaign over fences, winning Grade Two prizes at Ffos Las and Sandown before successfully graduating to Grade One level at the latter venue in the Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase in February.

He was pulled up after being badly hampered by a faller at Aintree in the spring and Pauling is looking forward to getting him back on the track in Cumbria.

“I’m hoping they have a bit of rain, as long as it’s safe ground we’ll be grand,” said the Naunton-based trainer.

“He had an unbelievable year last season really and I think he’s got a lot to look forward to.”

While keen to get this weekend’s comeback out of the way before committing to future plans, Pauling nevertheless has some major prizes in mind.

He added: “He’s in very good order, it was always the aim to go there (Carlisle) first time this season and the plan then would be to probably look at the Betfair Chase or something similar. A lot depends on the ground and how he comes out of this race and how he runs to be honest.

“It’s a decent race on Sunday with some very good horses in it, but everything has gone to plan so far. He will improve for the run a tiny bit, but he’s fit enough to do himself justice.”

Another high-profile Pauling inmate set to reappear in the coming days is Henry’s Friend, who won a valuable prize at Newbury last Christmas before finishing eighth in the Ultima Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival and in the Scottish Grand National.

He has been declared for Saturday’s Sodexo Live! Gold Cup Handicap Chase at Ascot, and his trainer said: “He’ll almost certainly run, he won’t mind the quicker ground and he’s in good old form with himself.

“He ran incredibly well in the Ultima in conditions that probably weren’t ideal and I think none of my horses ran overly well in April, so I wouldn’t worry about that run at Ayr too much.

“He’s a year older, but he seems to be in the right place to go and run well. He hasn’t been away from home so he might just slightly need it, but he’s not a brilliant work horse at home and has to work hard in the early part of the season, so he’ll probably need it less than some of them.

“I’m very happy with where he is and we’ll see how he gets on. I think he’s probably high enough in the handicap, but at the same time he’s probably not out of it yet.”