Jax Junior aiming to play leading role at Ascot

After leaving Lucy Wadham with no option but to test the waters in a higher grade, Jax Junior is out to enhance his reputation in the Howden Noel Novices’ Chase at Ascot on Friday.

A useful hurdler last term, the six-year-old was well beaten on his chasing debut at Uttoxeter but improved massively on his second outing over the larger obstacles to leave a decent cast trailing in his wake at Kempton.

He now steps into Grade Two company with his Newmarket-based handler excited to see her charge take the next step up the chasing ladder.

Wadham said: “I’m very much looking forward to seeing him out again, it’s a very competitive race, but we know he likes the track and he’s in grand order.

“He’s kind of forced our hand a bit and showed us at Kempton we should be aiming a bit higher and here we are.

“I’m really excited about him but we’ll take it step by step as he has to earn each step up.

“He’s in great order and we’re really looking forward to it.”

It was Sam Thomas’ Lump Sum who beat Jax Junior at Uttoxeter earlier this season and the Gold Cup-winning jockey turned trainer will try to claim his scalp once again with impressive Carlisle scorer Steel Ally.

Thomas said: “It looks a good race and we’ll know where we are with our lad after the race, but we’ve always loved him and fingers crossed he can go and put his best foot forward.

“It was good to win nicely at Carlisle but I don’t want to get too carried away about the form. Gavin Cromwell’s horses probably weren’t in the best of form at the time and Unexpected Party’s focus is probably later in the season.

“Ultimately we can only beat what we can beat but we were thrilled. He jumped well and powered home and more of the same would be great. Carlisle is a stiff track and he’s won over further over hurdles, so I have no reservations about heading back up in trip.”

Arguably bringing the best form into the race is Ben Pauling’s No Questions Asked who was outstayed by Wendigo in the John Francome at Newbury having opened his chasing account at this venue in November.

“I think if you replayed the race again, could we have won it? Possibly,” reflected Pauling on that recent reversal.

“I think we got outstayed by Wendigo, but it’s not that we didn’t stay. I think Wendigo is a very good horse, (but) we could have put five or six lengths on the whole field going to two out with ease as he was still swinging along – I think he’s got a lot of speed.

“I think if we’d broken the back of the race there he would have kept going, but what we did is we sort of thought we were going to win by five (lengths) anyway, floated down to the last, got the worst jump and just stayed where we were.

“I think two-mile-three round Ascot is going to be just up his street.”

The Naunton Downs handler will also saddle last year’s runner-up Personal Ambition, with the five-strong line-up completed by Mark Walford’s Push The Button.