Cave Article is set to have his third run for the Coral Racing Club this afternoon in the Class 4 Novices' Hurdle (14:50) over two miles and half a furlong at Taunton.

Read our Raceday LIVE preview below and join us ahead of the race for all the build-up and live updates from the track with the team and Cave Article's lucky Owners for the Day across our social channels on X (@coral) and Instagram (@coralofficial).

Raceday LIVE Preview

Cave Article has ran twice so far following his arrival in January with trainer Christian Williams. First time out he was pulled up by Jack Tudor on bottomless ground at Doncaster, then on his second start he put in a much more positive performance from the front at Fakenham on slightly better ground where he jumped nicely, but unfortunately got tapped for toe over the short two mile trip and eventually came home in sixth (9 ran).


Cave Article in his latest piece of work on the gallops

Following his run at Fakenham, Christian Williams told us he was happy to see Cave Article travel well from the front and stick on well to see the race out. He is sure we'll see him in a better light when the ground begins to improve once the rain dries up, and also when he receives his opening handicap mark, which will come after today's race.


Cave Article heads to the beach in Ogmore-by-Sea

Raceday message from Christian Williams

"Cave Article ran a much more encouraging race at Fakenham than his finishing position would suggest, he really enjoyed himself out in front and jumped well for much of the race, so there were definite positives to take from it.

Nick Scholfield takes over from Jack Tudor, but once again we'll just be looking for the horse to enjoy himself, and learn a bit more about the job. It's a bit softer than we would have preferred, but that's just typical of the wet season we've had to put up with, and at least this meeting is on, unlike Newton Abbot later in the week, which was another option we looked at.

He'll get his handicap mark after this run and then we can plan future runs."

Owners for the Day and Prize Money

As winners of the Owner for the Day competition, 10 lucky Coral Racing Club members have been given the chance to enjoy an exclusive prize package for Cave Article's run at Taunton today.

Each winner, along with a guest of their choosing, will receive free entry to Taunton Racecourse, including exclusive access to Owners & Trainers areas. They'll have the opportunity to meet Cave Article and the Christian Williams team, and even enter the parade ring before the race begins to be amongst all the other owners, trainers and jockeys. And last but by no means least, each winner will get to take home an equal 10% split of any prize money won by Cave Article.

Today's Class 4 contest is worth £9,099 in total, with the winner set to scoop £4,955.32 for their lucky owners.

2nd place: £2,282.94 | 3rd place: £1,141.01 | 4th place: £571.42

Trainer and jockey form

Trainer Christian Williams has sent out 10 runners in the past two weeks, including one winner and one place. His record so far this season at Taunton also includes one winner and two placed efforts from a total of nine runners.

Jockey Nick Scholfield makes his Coral Racing Club debut today, but a big plus is that this season he's been the go to man for Christian following Jack Tudor being retained by David Pipe. Nick has ridden 30 winners so far this season, with four of them coming for Christian, including a huge sixteen placed efforts. 

At The Races | VERDICT

RYAN'S ROCKET almost sprang a surprise when a close-up second over track and trip in December. There was plenty of encouragement to be taken from that hurdles bow and the Fergal O'Brien-trained inmate should land the spoils if running to a similar level.

Penalised maiden hurdle scorer Diamond Dice must concede 7lb to the selection, but the five-year-old is feared most, ahead of Rules debutant Skin Full, who finished second in his sole point-to-point outing.

Today's opposition

• Ryan's Rocket finished second to Ben Pauling's Fiercely Proud last time out who went on to finish third behind Jeriko Du Reponet in a Grade 2 at Doncaster, and then backed that up with a second-place finish in a Grade 2 at Kempton.

• Diamond Dice won quite surprisingly last time out (SP 18/1), but he did it in decent fashion for the Jonjo O'Neill team and will look to back that up under Jonjo O'Neill Jnr today.

• Manuelito is an interesting contender for trainer David Pipe who's having just his second start over hurdles following his move from Richard Hannon in January. He finished third on stable debut last month so it'll be interesting to see if he can improve from that performance.