Timeform Betfair Racing Club - Meet the horses... / Timeform / 27 January 2011 /

Keep up to date with all the latest news on Red Merlin right here. Each time he runs, we will give a review of the performance and update the Timeform master rating - so remember to keep coming back.

RED MERLIN 6 ch.g

Trainer: Donald McCain

Current Timeform Rating: F 105, H 123+

4 March 2011 - Doncaster 2m 110 yds Conditionals Novices' Hurdle - WINNER!

Red Merlin finally confirmed the promise of his hurdling debut as he ran out a cosy winner of this 12-runner novice, beating Kaolak by one and a quarter lengths. Sent off joint second favourite under the yard's conditional Henry Brooke, Red Merlin jumped slightly better on the whole than on his last couple of starts bar getting in tight to the last (was also sketchy early on) and seemingly had a bit more to give after idling upon taking up the running three out, finding more despite his rider dropping the reins at one point.

The back trouble he suffered after Musselburgh seemingly wasn't an issue and there are now plenty of options, one of them being to go for another novice (gets no penalty for this) before having his sights raised again, though Cheltenham probably won't be on the agenda for all he still holds a Supreme entry.



26 January 2011 - Musselburgh 2m Novice Hurdle

Red Merlin was sent off favourite ([2.54]) in a field of 13 but failed to come up to expectations back on what should have been more suitable ground. He put in a rather sloppy round of jumping (lost plenty of ground after making a mess of the sixth) and looked ungainly when hampered in the straight, after which he was soon looked after by Jason Maguire. Another maiden or novice looks on the agenda in a few weeks time, but Red Merlin is also eligible for a mark now, so handicaps could also be an option.

15 January 2011 - the story so far

Members of the Timeform Betfair Racing Club can say that they've part-owned a winner of the Old Newton Cup. Unfortunately for us, when Red Merlin took one of Haydock's richest handicap prizes he was trained by Clive Cox and owned by Reid's Allstars. We've got him now though, and with any luck he'll be a dual-purpose performer that can take the Club to the biggest meetings throughout the year.

It's fair to say that Red Merlin was a late bloomer on the Flat, taking ten attempts before finally getting off the mark in a Brighton maiden in September 2008. That success was to prove something of a springboard for Red Merlin, as he followed up in handicap company at Goodwood in October before surging through the handicap ranks in the first half of 2009, scoring at Chester (dead-heated with Empowered) and Goodwood before he completed the hat-trick at Haydock in the aforementioned Old Newton Cup, cutting through the pack to mow down Munsef fairly readily and win by a length and a half. That has very much been the zenith of Red Merlin's Flat career to date, though he did win in heavy ground at Warwick on his penultimate outing for Cox.

Sold for 58,000 guineas at the Tattersalls Horses In Training Sale in October and sent to join Donald McCain, Red Merlin made his debut for the Club in a maiden hurdle at Newbury in December, a race which boasted a number of similarly capable recruits from the Flat and bumpers. Despite this, Red Merlin was sent off at 5/1 (Betfair SP [6.65]) and ran a blinder to finish second to Nicky Henderson's Minella Class, jumping soundly in the main as he pulled six lengths clear of the remainder. On the back of that, it was decided that Red Merlin would try his hand in graded company, taking on Minella Class again in the five-runner Tolworth Hurdle at Sandown in January. Although Minella Class franked the Newbury form in no uncertain terms by winning in impressive fashion, Red Merlin seemed much less at home in the very testing conditions, jumping slowly and failing to travel with the fluency one would have expected.

Donald McCain has been training horses for the Timeform Betfair Racing Club since mid-2009, when he handled Marsool to success in juvenile hurdles at Newton Abbot and Huntingdon. The son of 'Ginger' McCain, immortalised by his association with Red Rum, Donald has made a real name for himself since taking over his father's license in 2006, before which he'd been assistant trainer. Already with four Cheltenham Festival winners on his CV, the likes of Peddlers Cross, Overturn and Wymott look set to cement Donald's place as the leading jumps trainer in the North before long.

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