Melodic likely for Wincanton Rendezvous Next month's Stanjames.com Elite Hurdle at Wincanton is the most likely seasonal starting point for Jeremy Scott's stable star Melodic Rendezvous. The eight-year-old kicked off last season with an impressive victory in the Grade Two contest and went on to enjoy further success in the Champion Hurdle Trial at Haydock and the Kingwell Hurdle back at Wincanton. He was unable to make an impact in either the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham or the Liverpool Hurdle at Aintree on better ground in the spring and Scott is keen to ensure his charge does his racing in more testing conditions this winter. Should the ground at Wincanton on November 8 be deemed unsuitable, Melodic Rendezvous could be prepared for a trip to Ireland for Punchestown's Morgiana Hurdle the following weekend. Scott said: "The plan is to go for the Elite Hurdle, but if the ground isn't soft enough we could look to the race in Ireland. "There are also races at Ascot and Haydock later on, so we'll see. "He's very well and everything is going well at home. We just need some soft ground. "We'll be sticking to softer ground this season, as when he runs on better ground he always seems to get jarred up." Scott also revealed the long-absent Empiracle is unlikely to race again after suffering yet another injury. The seven-year-old looked a potential star when winning on his racecourse debut at Huntingdon two years ago and was nearing a comeback. "He was going well and we were ready to enter him up, but unfortunately he injured himself again last weekend," said the trainer. "He won't run this season and probably won't run again. "It's very frustrating as he's probably the best horse we've had, but unfortunately we haven't been able to get him to the track."
