32red kauto star

novices chase

(grade 1)

IT would be hard to exaggerate the impression Colin Tizzard’s stable has made on this season and even the luck is going his way.

About to come home an honourable but well-beaten second, 33/1 chance Royal Vacation was gifted the Grade 1 32Red Kauto Star Novices’ Chase at Kempton when runaway leader Might Bite came down at the last.

In a race full of incident, with only four of the 10 starters completing, Nicky Henderson’s Might Bite would have thrashed a good field.

Increasing the tempo from the 12th, he readily went clear for Daryl Jacob and was the better part of 20 lengths in front when his jockey drove him firmly into the last.

Whether he would have stayed up if trying to ‘fiddle’ it is impossible to say, but the fall was a bad one, though he emerged unscathed.

Royal Vacation, winner of a handicap before running well in a Grade 2 novices’ event last time, was left clear and came home a dozen lengths ahead of Virgilio in the hands of Paddy Brennan. Amore Alto and Paul Nicholls’ Present Man were the others to finish, the latter’s stable-companion Frodon, successful in the BetVictor at Cheltenham, another to come down at the last when well beaten.

BLUNDER

Might Bite had jumped perfectly before his late blunder and the RSA Chase will surely enter calculations.

Tizzard never expected that race to be a target for Royal Vacation but, as he remarked afterwards, the horse is experienced enough and never stops. In the event, this was a Grade 1 winner for owner Jean Bishop and Brennan when they were hoping Cue Card would be the star. As someone probably said long ago, racing is a funny old game.

HENDERSON WOE

It was a good day for Alan King but a poor one for Henderson, whose 1/2 favourite Jenkins was a very disappointing fourth in the opening novices’ hurdle.

Victory went to King’s 11/2 shot Elgin, but only after Amanda Perrett’s Glaring had come to take it up two out before making a very serious mistake. Elgin and Wayne Hutchinson went on to beat Mohaayed by nearly two lengths, King suggesting the Dovecote here might be the right prep for the Supreme Novices’.

Richard Johnson, quite possibly unlucky on Glaring, soon made his mark on Ian Williams’ Poker School (7/2) in the novices’ limited handicap chase and Jonjo O’Neill was also among the winners as Doesyourdogbite came with a nicely-timed run under Aidan Coleman to take the two-mile five-furlong handicap hurdle. Connections may try to qualify him for the Pertemps Final at Cheltenham.