Peddlers makes chasing debut Peddlers Cross faces just three rivals on his chasing debut at Bangor this afternoon with Al Ferof not declared to run. Paul Nicholls was expected to run Al Ferof against the Champion Hurdle runner-up in the Golden Bear Beginners' Chase but he now looks likely to run at Cheltenham in the Independent Newspaper Novices' Chase on Sunday. Donald McCain's stable star will now make his chasing debut against Laterly, Oscar Close and The Chazer. "I can't say I'm particularly looking forward to it!" said McCain. "This has obviously been his target for a while, it's a grand track and the ground should be lovely, so let's just hope we can get it out of the way in the right way. "He's very well at home and everything has gone nicely." With stable jockey Jason Maguire sidelined by injury, Peddlers Cross will be partnered by Timmy Murphy at the Welsh track. "Timmy came in and sat on him the other day and it was fine," McCain added. "It's all a bit different for him as Jason is the only one who has ridden him under Rules, but there's nothing we can do about that and it shouldn't be a problem. "We won't make any plans until we get this race out of the way. As we saw at Exeter last week with Menorah (unseating Richard Johnson), these things are never as straightforward as people think." Al Ferof is owned by John Hales who said: "Bangor was our preferred option but he's not running because Ruby is suspended and we really want him to ride. "We were hoping that he would get the ban overturned at last week's appeal but that didn't happen, so he'll run at Cheltenham on Sunday instead. "Ruby has done all the schooling on the horse and knows him well, so we think it's important he can ride. "It looks like a good race on Sunday and we'll see how we get on."
