Wetherby Saturday
WETHERBY’S biggest day of the season provided plenty of food for thought, and a popular result in the Bet365 Mares Hurdle which the penalised Lady Buttons won with ease. Phil Kirby’s mare is probably best on a flat, galloping track, and was back to her best to win under regular rider Adam Nicol. Kirby will follow a similar pattern to last season with his star, her immediate target being the two-mile handicap chase at Newbury’s Winter Festival.
“With a mare like her you have to take the opportunities when they arise” explained Kirby after the contest. “My main target are the two Doncaster races, the listed chase in December and the Grade 2 mares’ hurdle in January.”
The Grade 2 West Yorkshire Hurdle went to The Worlds End for Tom George and Adrian Heskin, and the gelding was putting a disappointing 2018/19 campaign behind him.
He started off well over fences last year, but lost his way and didn’t recover his form despite a switch back to hurdles in the spring. He looked much like his old self here, and always looked too strong for Unowhatimeanharry. Connections now have the option of staying over hurdles or sending him back for a second spell chasing.
The 2017 winner of the Mares’ Hurdle, La Bague Au Roi was a rather weak favourite for the Grade 2 Charlie Hall Chase, and the drift proved justified as she ran well below her best, making a couple of serious mistakes before being pulled up by Richard Johnson. In the end, the race went to Ballyoptic (Sam Twiston-Davies), who has taken time to cut serious jumping lapses out of his repertoire, but has come good, and he only made one notable error in winning the race as the 11/4 second favourite, holding off the challenge of the strong-staying Elegant Escape, with Ryanair runner-up Aso a creditable third. This was a sixth win in the race for Nigel Twiston-Davies.
Both Ballyoptic and Elegant Escape are pencilled in to run in the Betfair Chase if the ground at Haydock comes up very heavy, although Nigel Twiston-Davies feels that the winner was unlucky in the Grand National in April, and the Aintree marathon remains his primary target for the season. Colin Tizzard’s Elegant Escape has the Ladbroke Trophy at Newbury as an alternative to the Betfair Chase, and the extra distance at Newbury would suit, as he showed when second in that contest last year.
ON Sunday, Lostintranslation showed he will take high rank among the second-season chasers by putting up a flawless display in the Colin Parker Memorial at Carlisle on Sunday. In truth he didn’t need to improve to beat Count Meribel, but he was foot-perfect throughout, and it really is a pleasure to watch him and Robbie Power over a fence. The Betfair Chase was nominated as his next target with the Cheltenham Gold Cup as his spring objective. He’s currently as short as 8/1 for that contest.
Exeter
The Haldon Gold Cup looked a competitive renewal, so the victory of top-weight Janika (Daryl Jacob) would have pleased Nicky Henderson enormously, especially as this was his first win on British soil. He kept on well to hold off Dolos and Destrier at Exeter on Tuesday, and Henderson now favours a tilt at the Grade 2 Peterborough Chase at Huntingdon on December 9th, rather than running him in the BetVictor Gold Cup, in which he would have a 5lb penalty to carry.
At a lower level last Saturday, Stuart Crawford’s La Chanteuse was a 5/2 winning favourite in a bumper at Ayr. The five-year-old daughter of Scorpion was ridden by Fergus Gregory and was winning at the third time of asking.