Haydock run could be key to Ma Shantou’s seasonal aim Emma Lavelle is ready to test the limits of her promising stayer Ma Shantou, who steps up in class later this month following a fine return to action at Cheltenham. Ma Shantou to Tackle Haydock Test After Cheltenham Win The six-year-old, a bumper winner and consistent novice last term, was third in the Grade Two River Don before finishing seventh in the Albert Bartlett at the Cheltenham Festival. He made a winning start to his new campaign when landing a three-mile Pertemps qualifier at Cheltenham last month and now faces a 9lb rise for the Betfair Stayers’ Handicap Hurdle at Haydock on November 22. Lavelle said: “He’s come out of Cheltenham really well, he is ticking over with Haydock later in the month the plan.” “That will tell us a bit more about what direction we head in next. He’s definitely in very good shape and we’re looking forward to getting him out again. “It’s up a grade and he has gone up in the weights, so it will help us decide if he will go the Pertemps route or if he could go down the Stayers’ Hurdle route instead. “If we’re going to be heading for that then he’ll need to run a big race at Haydock, so we will learn something whatever happens. “He’s so straightforward and he loves his jumping, which stands him in good stead, and you can ride him how you want to depending on how the race is run.”
