Gary Moore's Hudson De Grugy has the luxury of a course and distance victory as he bids to take the first prize in the Sovereign Handicap Hurdle on day one of the Winter Million meeting at Lingfield on Friday.

The five-year-old produced a game run to beat Calico by two and a quarter lengths on heavy going last month, and with similar conditions likely at the Surrey venue, trainer Gary Moore goes there quietly confident.

Hudson De Grugy has gone up three pounds for that success, but Moore is optimistic the horse is fit for the battle, in a race that carries a hefty prize purse of £100,000.

"I'm really looking forward to seeing him run. Hopefully he's got a reasonable chance," said the West Sussex handler.
"He's gone up in the weights a bit, but hopefully he's improving enough to counteract that. He won over the course last time and conditions shouldn't be a problem."

Irish raider Lucky Max is looking for the four-timer after enjoying a fine unbeaten run. The six-year-old, trained by Sean Doyle, is one of three Irish contenders in the £100,000 event and heads to Surrey in top form after two victories at Cork and one at Clonmel.

Doyle is hopeful his upward trajectory can continue, in spite of his his mark, which has risen from 96 in Ireland to 136 in England so far this term.

"He's just improved and improved, we don't know how much improvement is left in him but he's definitely up to that mark now," said the County Wexford handler.
"It's the next step for him now, we want to step him up and see if he's good enough to compete at that level.
"We're going to find out more about how good he is on Friday."

Fellow Irishman Emmet Mullins is the other handler from the Emerald Isle tempted by the prize money on offer at Lingfield and he has a pair of runners in the same race.

Carrarea, with Paul Townend up top, is vying for favouritism with Metier and has gone close twice in hurdle events this season. He was beaten just a head at Fairyhouse in November on his handicap debut.

"It was a good run by Carrarea last time. It was his first run in a handicap, so hopefully the experience should help him," Mullins told Sky Sports Racing.
"Paul is over there for Ascot on Saturday so it was good to take advantage of that."

Sevenna Star, the other Mullins entry, is a horse previously run on the Flat by John Gosden and one who is yet to lose his maiden status over obstacles.

"He was a good younger horse in his day on the Flat, but he's had his issues and problems," he said.
"Hopefully, we seem to be getting on top of them in the last month or so. Mike (O'Connor, jockey) is a good young rider and has had a bit of success for me in the past.
"Picking between the two is a tricky one. Sevenna Star has had his issues, Carrarea has more potential but with the ground, the weight and Mike's claim, maybe Sevenna Star could run into a pace, hopefully."

Regarding former solid novice Metier, trainer Harry Fry said: "It was nice to see him bounce back in the big handicap hurdle at Ascot before Christmas and this race has been very much on the radar since then.

"Everything about the race should suit him well and we are looking forward to seeing him back on his favoured heavy ground."

The Don of Ditcheat Paul Nicholls runs the lightly-raced Hacker Des Places for the first time since his sixth-placed effort in a Kempton handicap hurdle on December 27, after 365-day injury absence.

"He was far from disgraced on his return at Kempton over Christmas after a long time off with an injury," Nicholls said on his Betfair blog.
"He tired late on that day as I expected when a lack of peak fitness told and it wouldn't surprise me if he needs this run too and will improve for it."