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IT has finally sunk in. I have watched the replays enough times and the prize money is in the bank,” says trainer Jeremy Scott, some weeks after Golden Ace was crowned Unibet Champion Hurdle winner following one of the most remarkable renewals of the race.

Now he is priming her for one further errand - to once again square up to the best two-mile hurdlers in these islands in Friday’s Boodles Champion Hurdle at Punchestown.

Only twice this century have the overseas team struck gold in this race: first was Jonjo O’Neill’s Qazar in 2003 (ridden by Tony Dobbin) and in 2008 it went to Punjabi, trained by Nicky Henderson.

Scott trains on a 370-acre former dairy farm on the Somerset/ Devon border in the West of England, close to the idyllic tourist attraction of Wimbleball Lake.

The herd went as Scott and his wife got the racing bug, started training point-to-pointers and then Jeremy took out his full licence.

The Golden Ace story is the latest in a remarkable line of big wins for Scott and his team. He’s the first to stress it is a family operation, with daughters Laura and Georgina playing a huge part.

The first big success came in 2013 when Melodic Rendezvous won the Grade 1 Tolworth Hurdle, then run at Sandown, and they have usually had at least one horse each season since to compete at the highest level.

Golden Ace, owned by Ian Gosden, first caught the eye when winning a novice hurdle at her local track, Taunton, in January 2024, having finished second at an even bigger price than her Champion Hurdle SP in the mares’ bumper at the National meeting at Aintree the previous April.

She was third favourite that day but it was the style in which she quickened away from the last to beat the Nicky Henderson-trained Lucky Place, with whom she has renewed rivalry several times, and a Paul Nicholls-trained odds-on favourite in third, that impressed.

That impression was confirmed when she ran away with a mares’ hurdle back at Taunton a month later and so she went to Cheltenham for the Ryanair Mares’ Novice Hurdle, started at 10/1, and with the Irish filling the four places behind her, she quickened well off a slow pace to lead at the last and stayed on up the hill to beat the Gigginstown star Brighterdaysahead.

Shaky start

Golden Ace’s 2024-’25 season had started underwhelmingly when she finished fourth, although not beaten very far, in the Coral Hurdle at Ascot and third in the Relkeel at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day.

At the time Scott felt his horses were not in good form, saying: “It’s been cold, wet and miserable.”

But all that was to change on a spectacular Saturday in February when Golden Ace and Lorcan Williams saw off Burdett Road to land the Kingwell Hurdle at Wincanton on a card where Scott enjoyed a treble.

The yard’s fortunes had improved dramatically but still very few considered her a genuine Champion Hurdle challenger, capable of taking on Constitution Hill and State Man.

The Mares’ Hurdle over a longer trip at the Festival didn’t make much appeal either, with Lossiemouth and Brighterdaysahead headed there.

Connections took their time before finally plumping for the Champion Hurdle. Scott explained: “The owner wants to go and we will have a good day.” What followed is in the Cheltenham history book.

“I had a good hangover for a couple of days afterwards,” says Scott about the celebrations which forced him to delay returning to his base the next morning after his designated driver, who he described as ‘a good mate’, perhaps overenjoyed himself.

Golden Ace was paraded at Taunton’s recent meeting when a race was named in her honour and Scott gave an upbeat report: “We haven’t asked her to do very much since Cheltenham but we have been very impressed with what she has done. Now it’s time to prepare for Punchestown.”

Punchestown history

Scott knows what to expect when he, Gosden and the rest of their team arrive in Kildare.

“Melodic Rendezvous was second in the big bumper there in 2012. Southwestern looked like he might win the Champion Hunter Chase when falling at the last in 2009, and Gone To Lunch was second in a Grade 1 novice chase the same year. The people are always very welcoming, and we are very much looking forward to it.”

Looking ahead to Friday’s race, the trainer added: “It’ll be interesting to see who does turn up against her, and how she gets on with the undulations of Punchestown. We’re still learning about the mare and we are looking forward to it. It’s always a great party.”

No matter what happens it’s likely to be the last time we will see Golden Ace until next spring.

Scott explains: “She is a much better horse in the second half of the season and the spring, so I would not have thought she’d be back on the track before Christmas, at the earliest.”

The heroics of Golden Ace, and veteran Grade 1-winning chaser Dashel Drasher means that Scott has gone through the £500,000 prize money mark for the season, winning almost all of it since January, and the affable Master of Higher Holworthy Farm is in a relaxed mood as he contemplates the Irish adventure.

Should the mare complete the double there is no doubt that Irish racegoers will give Golden Ace and her trainer a very warm reception, though it is unlikely there will be a repeat of the “Jezza, Jezza” chants that rang out around the winner’s enclosure at Cheltenham.

Scott is not fond of the nickname but won’t be complaining.

“It’s always a good party and we are very much looking forward to it,” he says.

He’s not the only one.