Giant Scrapes In

Supporters of Jack The Giant breathed a sigh of relief when the ante-post favourite just made the cut for the Ladbroke at Ascot tomorrow.

Nicky Henderson's charge sneaked into the final place in a maximum 18-strong field for the valuable handicap hurdle after picking up a 6lb penalty for winning at Cheltenham a week ago.

The weights are headed on 11st 12lb by the Nicky Richards-trained Premier Dane - although Fearghal Davis will take 7lbs off to leave French Saulaie shouldering top-weight of 11st 11lb.

Philip Hobbs has a strong hand with the well-fancied Missis Potts also running along with the last-named horse.

Other double-handed trainers are Gary Moore (Altilhar and Heathcote) and Alan King, who runs Trouble At Bay and King's Revenge.

Irish trainer Willie Mullins relies solely on Viso, while Victram, trained by Adrian McGuinness, is the only other runner from across the Irish Sea.

Henderson thanked the owners of French Opera for their co-operation in agreeing not to declare their horse so as to ensure Jack The Giant made the cut.

'It's a great relief and it's been a very tricky situation,' said the Seven Barrows trainer.

'Jack The Giant has only got in because I am very lucky in that I have a very good bunch of owners, who are all good mates.

'The plan had been to run French Opera. He was going to run in the Sea Pigeon at Doncaster last weekend but that was off.

'We thought we would switch him to the Ladbroke but the owners have very sportingly agreed to wait for Kempton on Thursday in order to let Jack in because we knew we needed one more to come out.

'It's been a long sweaty morning. We had to go to one minute to ten and Jack was the last horse to get in.

'I'd like to say a huge thank you to everyone concerned that Jack is able to run.

'French Opera's part-owner Lynn Wilson has been a great friend of ours for a very long time and they have sportingly said they would wait until Kempton to allow Jack in.

'It's very sporting, one can't say enough.'

Henderson wanted to make sure Jack The Giant had recovered from his Cheltenham exertions first.

'I always said I wanted to wait until Wednesday/Thursday to make sure he was all right,' he continued.

'He's been very well, we couldn't do any more and it's been a long two days trying to work this out.'

Pigeon Island has been in fantastic form all season and the four-year-old appears to thrive on his racing.

Having started over hurdles last November, he has yet to enjoy a prolonged break but last weekend's third in a Cheltenham Grade Two arguably represented a career-best performance.

'We've been delighted with him, he has improved out of all recognition this year so I'm quite excited about tomorrow,' said trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies.

'He is holding his form better than ever and at the weights last week he shouldn't have been anywhere near, but he still had a chance two-out.

'I'm not really sure what we'll do after tomorrow, we'll just see how that goes first.

'With him holding his form so well it would be a shame to take a break with him.'

(C) PA Sport