The Big Westerner returns at Wexford Henry de Bromhead says all options remain on the table for The Big Westerner as she looks to kick off her second season chasing with a win in the Michael Hickey Memorial Chase at Wexford. Hopes remain high at De Bromhead’s Knockeen yard that they may have another top quality mare on their hands following a two-race novice campaign which ended with a win in a Grade Two at Limerick in December. The Big Westerner finished second to Jasmin De Vaux in the 2025 Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle, but was pulled out of the Brown Advisory Chase at last season’s Cheltenham Festival on account of the ground. That missed opportunity means The Big Westerner has a 10-month absence to overcome on Wednesday, but De Bromhead reported her fit and ready to do herself justice in a Listed event run over two miles and seven furlongs. “She is in great form and ready to get started so we are hoping to run her here and then we have no fixed plans after that. She is a good mare, a very good mare – a bit contrary at times but we like that – and that’s all we do know at this point,” he said. The Big Westerner hold Grade One entries in the Betfair Chase over three miles at Haydock on November 21 and the John Durkan Memorial Punchestown Chase over two-and-a-half the following day, but De Bromhead is in no rush to make future plans at this stage. “We are focused on tomorrow and then we will decide from there,” he added. The De Bromhead mare is up against some decent performers at Wexford with Mouse Morris’ consistent novice chaser Bossofthebrownies, Gordon Elliott’s The Enabler and Declan Queally’s smart hurdling convert Rocky’s Diamond among the opposition. Paul Nolan’s stayer Sandor Clegane, a winner of a Down Royal chase in April and tuned up with a run over hurdles at Punchestown last month, adds further depth to the race, while the Cian Collins-trained Katie Daniels rounds off the half-dozen declared runners.
