Trafford switches to Butler High-class novice chaser Trafford Lad will have his first run for fledgling trainer Laurence Butler when facing eight rivals in the Poplar Square Chase at Naas tomorrow. The seven-year-old has been in the care of Dusty Sheehy for the last two seasons, where Butler has been head lad for four years. Butler is now ready to start his own training career and as Trafford Lad is owned by his family, he starts off with a talented horse. "I've worked for Dusty for a good 10 years and have been head lad there for four, but I've decided to start training myself this season. I thought it was a good time as I'm lucky to have a horse like Trafford Lad to go ahead with," said Butler. "There are six of us in the family and we all own shares in him, so I just thought I might as well start training now than wait until Trafford Lad has retired. Otherwise you could be waiting a lifetime for a horse like that to come along. "He's absolutely flying at the moment so he'll run on Saturday, all being well. It's only two miles which is probably a bit sharp for him, but I want to get a run into him before we look at running him in the Hennessy. It's a competitive race this weekend but it should set up nicely for Newbury and after that, hopefully we'll be able to make a plan for him." Forpadydeplasterer heads the nine runner line-up in the Grade 3 Poplar Square Chase, which also includes Joncol, Made In Taipan and Tranquil Sea.
