Fighting Fifth for Wetherby Wetherby are to stage the WBX.COM "Fighting Fifth" Hurdle on Saturday after the Grade One race was lost when Newcastle was abandoned because of frost at the weekend. The five-day entries will stand and the race will not be re-opened. The 10 possibles included dual winner Harchibald, 2007 Champion Hurdle hero Sublimity and Nicky Henderson's Grade One Punchestown winner Punjabi. The "Fighting Fifth" will also remain the first leg of the WBX.COM Triple Crown which could see connections net #1 million if Saturday's winner goes on to land the Stan James Christmas Hurdle at Kempton and the Smurfit Kappa Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham. Sublimity appears set to make the journey back across the Irish Sea as his new trainer Robbie Hennessy seeks to send out his first-ever runner. "At the moment, we're definitely running," said Hennessy. "I just want to give Sublimity a bit of work and as long as I am happy with him, I'll look to taking him back over. He was quite lucky as we were able to get him back on an early ferry on Saturday and he was back in his box at nine o'clock on Saturday evening. He took it all well." Iain Turner, PR Manager for WBX.COM, said: "It was always our intention to run the race and thanks to the support of all parties I am delighted to announce this decision. "The race remains in the North of England and hopefully we can see a truly top-class race and that the punters from the North will come out and support us. "The prize money has still to be announced but WBX.COM will be contributing a significant sum to try and ensure we get the same field we were looking forward to having at Newcastle."
