Carlisle Racecourse stages its biggest jumps race day of the season on Sunday.
A seven-race card is headlined by the £40,000 Colin Parker Memorial Intermediate Chase.
Run over two-and-a-half miles and carrying listed status, the Colin Parker Memorial Intermediate Chase commemorates the late Cheltenham Festival-winning trainer Colin Parker, who was based at Lockerbie in Scotland.
The race is restricted to first and second season chasers with its impressive roll of honour featuring the likes of future Grade One winners Lostintranslation, Waiting Patiently, Cyrname and Monet’s Garden, plus Grand National hero Many Clouds.
Two years ago the contest went to Thunder Rock, trained by Olly Murphy and partnered by future champion jockey Sean Bowen.
The same trainer/jockey combination are set to be represented this time around by Resplendent Grey.
The seven-year-old ended his first season over fences in the best possible fashion when landing the Gold Cup on the last day of the 2024/25 season at Sandown Park in April, and is all ready to go again at Carlisle on Sunday according to his trainer.
Murphy, who trains at Wilmcote in Warwickshire, currently has his stable in tremendous form with 10 of his latest 22 runners being successful – at an enviable strike rate of 45 per cent.
A strong entry of 11 for the Colin Parker Memorial Intermediate Chase also includes Haiti Couleurs.
Trained in Wales by Rebecca Curtis, the eight-year-old won the Princess Royal National Hunt Novices’ Handicap Chase at last season’s Cheltenham Festival before ending the campaign with a very valuable success in the Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse on Easter Monday.
Handstands (Ben Pauling) and The Changing Man (Joe Tizzard) were both Graded winners last season, while the chances of a locally trained winner lie with Scottish Champion Chase victor The Kalooki Kid (Nicky Richards) and Hombre De Guerra (Nick Alexander), who ended last season with two impressive victories at Ayr.
