Spine Tingling Weekend

It was good to have racing back at my favourite track Sandown this weekend and it was even better to be there and witness a truly great race, but we will start things off with the Friday of the meeting.

There was one stand out performance for the Friday and that was the Gary Moore trained Goshen who made it 2/2 over hurdles and it was as easy as he liked. He made all only putting in a couple of mistakes at the 3rd and 2nd last but was in no danger of ever being caught, going on to win by 34 lengths. After this he was shortened to 6/1 for the Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham come March and he’s definitely one to keep and eye on.

Away from Sandown on the Friday and there was another impressive winner, Sporting John for Phillip Hobbs. He jumped well tracking the leaders then easily put the race to bed between the last two flights for Barry Geraghty. It’s early stages in his career but he’s already being quoted at 20/1 for the Supreme Novices Hurdle, but I’d like to see him do it in better company before I even contemplate backing him, but he’s one to watch out for.

Over at Aintree on Saturday we saw the Becher Chase over the National fences, it ended up being Walk In The Mill who made it back to back wins in this race. He was badly hampered at the first fence but that wasn’t to stop him, as he eventually drew 4 lengths clear at the Elbow and stayed on well to win by 2 1/2 lengths from Kimberlite Candy. One to take out of the race for me was the 10 year old One For Arthur, he was held up at the rear and his jumping left little to be desired. But he rallied on really well to finish 5th, the extra distance of the National will surely suit once again with that being his target later in the year.

Later on the Aintree card we had the Many Clouds Chase which featured only the four runners, the main two being the Gold Cup rivals Native River and Might Bite. We unfortunately didn’t get to see the race we wanted as Might Bite unseated Nico De Boinville after the 4th fence, leaving Native River unchallenged and to win as he wanted by 33 lengths. Going forward Colin Tizzard has mentioned Native River for the King George should the ground be soft and possibly a tilt at the Grand National come April.

Back over at Sandown and we started with a novice hurdle, which say the Colin Tizzard trained Fiddlerontheroof gain his first victory over hurdles after finishing 2nd on his previous 2 starts. He did it in easy fashion making all and going on to win by 7 lengths, he’s one that definitely has some more wins in him throughout his novice career.

Next up was the first Grade 1 on the card, The Henry VIII Novice chase, it was an interesting field with the 6 runners, but that soon became 5 as we lost Summerville Boy jumping the 6th, the favourite Torpillo was leading the way making the pace till he was eventually headed 3 out. This left Nube Negra and Esprit Du Large to fight out the finish with Grand Sancy well held in 3rd. The eventual winner was the Evan Williams trained Esprit Du Large who won by just under 2 lengths. For me the one to take out the race was the Dan Skelton trained Nube Negra, he jumped really well apart from making a mistake at the 9th fence and was always held on the run in, for me he needs better ground and a possibly flatter track which he could get later in the year at Aintree.

The 2nd Grade 1 was the Tingle Creek, this had an 8 strong field but it eventually ended up between 3 of them, those being Defi Du Seuil, Un De Sceaux and Waiting Patiently. It ended up being won but one of last years star novices in Defi Du Seuil who in a thrilling finish managed to beat the 11 year old Un De Sceaux by a neck, with Waiting Patiently finishing really well to be a close 3rd. It was a brilliant race which was made more so with Defi Du Seuil not doing a lot when he hit the front allowing the other 2 to get close to him again. This race showed that he can be a force in the 2m division as well as over further with bookmakers making him the 3rd fav for the Champion Chase come March at 7/2.

I just want to touch on the final race of the day which was the London National, unfortunately this race ended up being void due to where Houlbon Des Obeaux fell just after the pond fence, who we eventually lost unfortunately. This race also resulted in seven jockeys picking up a 10 day ban for failing to stop when the flag was raised for them to do so. For me this was a bit harsh with the sun setting and visibility not being all that clear, but rules are rules.

There was also some decent racing on the Sunday at Huntingdon where we had the Peterborough Chase which saw Top Notch win it for Nicky Henderson and Daryl Jacob. He travelled behind the leaders during the race before picking off long time leader La Bague Au Roi 2 from home. He stayed on well eventually winning 3/4 length from Kauto Riko who ran a blinder at 100/1.

Also at Huntington we saw Slate House get a win after his fall last time at Cheltenham. It was a good performance from him giving 10lb to the field, with Harry Cobden just managing to get him up close to the line to win by 1/2 length. Will be interesting to see where the Tizzards send him next as he’s a horse that clearly has ability.

Over in Cork we had the Grade 2 Hilly Way Chase, which was a 3 runner race, this was won by the highly rated Willie Mullins trained Cilaos Emery, who managed to beat Ballyoisin by 7 lengths. Yes he won well but its hard to tell when you have small fields what he’s actually achieved, for me I’d like to see him do it against a bigger field and better company, thats not to say he can’t be very good I’m just undecided at the moment.

The final race I’m going to feature is the John Durkan Chase at Punchestown and this went the way of last years winner in Min, he made the running till he was briefly headed by Hardline after the 2nd last. But a big jump at the last effectively sealed him the race with him running on well to win by 2 1/4 lengths. One to take out of the race was the returning Presenting Percy, who never troubled the winner but ran really well to finish a length behind Hardline in 3rd, if he finds the form he had last season he could be an outsider for the Gold Cup this year.

Thanks for reading, look forward to next week where we have the return on Cheltenham for the international meeting.