Harris taking Knight Salute route with potentially smart Scriptwriter

Milton Harris’ Scriptwriter will be tested at graded level when he lines up for the JCB Triumph Trial Juvenile Hurdle at Cheltenham on Saturday.

The three-year-old was previously trained in Ireland by Aidan O’Brien, running four times on the Flat to gain a rating of 102 after winning a Gowran maiden and contesting two Group Three races, including the Ballysax Stakes.

Subsequently sold and relocated to Harris’ stable in Wiltshire, the bay son of Churchill made his hurdling debut at Sedgefield in October where he lined up for a two-mile-one-furlong maiden event.

Despite some greenness the gelding prevailed by two and a quarter lengths, a distance that could happily have been further as he looked to have something in hand crossing the line.

Rider Paddy Brennan certainly thought so and made a lot of the horse’s talent in his post-race interview, with the jockey set to ride him again at the weekend at Prestbury Park.

“Paddy Brennan is, and you can quote me on this, a very hard man to please!” Harris said.

“He seems to have come forward from his initial run. If this was a Flat race, which clearly it isn’t and there are eight hurdles to get over, you’d say he was a good thing.

“He’s got 20lb in hand from his nearest Flat-rated horse, these three-year-olds tend to be Flat horses going jumping. On official figures we’ve got quite a bit in hand, but we all know it’s not that simple.

“I did note with amusement that they might have to take some of the hurdles out because of low sun – if they took them all out I’d fancy our chances!”

Harris won the race last term with Knight Salute, another Flat recruit who went on to Grade One success later in the season when he was eventually handed the Anniversary 4-y-o Juvenile Hurdle by the stewards after a dead-heat on the day.

“He’s a bit like Knight Salute in that he’s a typical Flat horse that is quick and efficient over them (hurdles), as opposed to something that is National Hunt bred that would make a better shape and spend longer in the air,” he said.

“He was 102-rated on the Flat and if he can translate that (to jumps)… The Sedgefield race was hard to equate, I don’t want to tempt fate but I have won this race (at Cheltenham) before and I would say that it doesn’t look as strong as it could.

“We’ve got two other juveniles in there that are good horses in there (Cabrakan and Polyphonic) and I’m not sure if they’ll run, but he definitely runs and we may run one more with him.”