Russell has strong book at Newbury Davy Russell is in action at Newbury on Saturday with four rides, including King's Bandit for Gordon Elliott. With £18,000 in prize money on offer in the Betfred Wishing You A Happy New Year Handicap Hurdle, Elliott had no qualms about sending King's Bandit over for the race. The eight-year-old has not won since joining Elliott, but was travelling well when he came down three out at Navan last time out. "Kings Bandit comes over from Ireland for the handicap hurdle and he was in the process of running a really good race at Navan before crashing out last time," Russell told Betway. "I hadn't asked him any real questions at the time, although there were plenty going equally well around him. "If that spill hasn't knocked his confidence, I'm sure he can go well, although he is running off a higher mark in what looks a better race." As part of his agreement to ride for owner Dai Walters, Russell also rides Welsh Shadow for Dan Skelton and William Henry for Nicky Henderson. He has also picked up the mount on Conas Taoi for Paul Morgan in the Betfred Mandarin Handicap Chase.
