Topham Chase (Premier Handicap)

CIARAN Gethings, from Coolboy in Co Wicklow, enjoyed the biggest win of his career to-date when winning aboard Arizona Cardinal over the Grand National fences on Friday.

Sent off a 20/1 chance for the Randox-sponsored Topham Handicap Chase, Arizona Cardina is trained by Stuart Edmunds. The eight-year-old stayed on well after the last to overhaul James Du Berlais and score by a length.

Gethings said: “I think I’ve gone beyond smiling, to be honest, it’s unbelievable. I love the horse, I always have. He’s just a fantastic little horse. We’ve had our troubles with him, but Stuart has trained him to the minute. I rode him at Ludlow last time when he bolted up, and I came in and said, that wasn’t the real horse, even though he won by 20 lengths, he didn’t feel like the same horse he did.

“Stuart said, that’s fine, we’ve won a few quid so we’ll spend a few quid on him. We just got him right, we brought him down to Lambourn to school, and I said to Stuart on Tuesday when we gave him a last pop, usually these races are just filling up numbers and we’re coming for a day out, but I really felt that we weren’t and that we had a good chance.

Outsiders

“That’s a different feeling for me, coming here – I usually just come up and pick up spare rides or have big outsiders, but I’ve fancied him for a long time. I haven’t really told Stuart that or a lot of people, but I’ve told a lot of friends, and I ride out at Kim Bailey’s and told them as well, that I really did fancy him to run a big race and that he was made for it. I thought I was beat, to be honest, and that we’d be second, but he just never stopped. It’s unbelievable.

“I thought riding a listed winner at Thurles during the winter gave me a great buzz, but this is right up there with the best day ever. My dad is here and my cousins, and my mum is watching at home. Today tops the time I had a winner here for Stuart when we were racing without crowds - this is something else.”

Anthony Bromley, racing manager to owners Simon Munir and Isaac Souede, said of the runner-up James Du Berlais: “Paul (Townend) said he had an excellent spin.

“He didn’t need to be leading at the last, but he said he jumped it so well he landed in front. It was a long way up the run in and I suspect the weight probably just told at that point as he had given it his all.

“You would come and have another go at this race, but you wouldn’t go another circuit as he travels too strongly for that. I’d say he will come back for this race next year.”