Baracouda Handed Newbury Mission A familiar programme has been mapped out for Baracouda as the brilliant 10-year-old bids to continue his remarkable record. The gelding, trained in France by Francois Doumen, is set make his seasonal reappearance in the Ballymore Properties Long Distance Hurdle at Newbury´s Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup meeting on November 26 followed by the Long Walk Hurdle at Windsor on December 17. He won both those races last season before finishing second in the Ladbrokes World Hurdle at Cheltenham for the second successive year on his only other start. Crowned champion staying hurdler the two previous seasons, he has won 18 of his 24 races and finished second in the other six. 'We´ll take the same route as last year. He´s in good form and Francois´s very happy with him,' said Frank Berry, racing manager to owner J P McManus. 'He´ll go for the Long Distance hurdle at Newbury on November 26 and then all being well the Long Walk Hurdle at Windsor just before Christmas. 'We´ll get over those two hurdles first before we think about Cheltenham again.'(C) PA Sport
