First runner of the NH Season at Musselburgh, Wednesday

Our Elsie is the first of our National Hunt string to make a racecourse debut for the 2020-21 season when she lines up in the bumper at Musselburgh on Wednesday.....which is either tomorrow or today depending upon when you are reading this.

It was at this very track in November 2006 that the Dodlands trained Well Disguised - the dam of Our Elsie - ran in a bumper, and in the process showed her first signs of ability on the racecourse when finishing 2nd. Well Disguised was always one of the better work horses during her 5 seasons here, and that race proved to be a springboard for a career that included 4 hurdle wins and numerous placed efforts in bumpers and over hurdles.

And in many ways Our Elsie shares similar traits with her dam - adored by the staff and a very good horse during morning exercise.
However, she does has a lot to prove on track but there is hope she can build on her debut run, when unplaced at Ayr a year ago.

The profile of the race could be put into two categories. Those that have raced but you'd think would need to step on up on form shown to win and a group of well-connected unraced horses with eye-catching bumper form in the pedigree.
In the former group, Fergal O'Brien sends up his twice raced Merry Berry who hasn't set the heather on fire in two runs so far but is a half sister to a reasonable bumper horse and daughter of a bumper winning dam.
There could also be more to come from Blue Hawaii who despite running well, was out of her depth in a Listed bumper at Market Rasen in January.
Goldie's Tara Key is bred to be a good horse and is improving with each run - her best came when 3rd, not beaten far, in a September bumper.
These three could put racecourse experience to good use.

There are some interested types in the unraced category.
Nicky Richards runs Ferney Green from a family that is well known to racegoers in the North in recent seasons. She is a half-sister to bumper winner Rubytwo and winning hurdler Amberose, but the horse with the most potential in this family is the once-raced Nell's Son, just touched off in a bumper last season.
The Whittingham/Jacobs combination are also present here as that yard introduces the unraced 4yr old Valirann filly Booley Beach, who cost 22k as a 3yr old. She is a half-sister to a bumper winner, the useful chaser/hurdler Gun Digger and her dam is a bumper/hurdle winner too.
To round off this unraced group, Richard Johnson makes the journey up from Exeter racecourse on Tuesday for his only mount on the card. This is for the Micky Hammond trained (and Richard McGrath owned) Wisteriarose, a £40,000 half sister to several smart 2m hurdlers. You may recall the Hammond/McGrath combination were responsible for 16 length Newcastle bumper winner Crypto (subsequently sold for £200k) a couple of seasons back.

Of course, we fully remember Crypto here at Dodlands, the only horse to beat our own Honda Fifty by more than a nose......
But I digress.

Our Elsie doesn't lag behind in the pedigree aspect though, being a half sister to a winning bumper/fairly useful hurdler and a daughter of a dam that was bumper placed prior to winning four 2 mile hurdles.
Nevertheless, a hot bumper. A potentially very hot bumper.

We hope Our Elsie, with owners Steve & Barry Chamberlain watching from afar and Callum Bewley in rather closer proximity, can put her best foot forward. 
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Good luck to all.

Our Elsie