Ffos Las Sunday

CLASS very much came to the fore in the Welsh Champion Hurdle last Sunday – now a limited handicap – with highly weighted pair Sceau Royal (Alan King/Daryl Jacob) and Ballyandy (Nigel/Sam Twiston-Davies) separating themselves from the pack in the straight.

The former went on to win by two and three quarter lengths in receipt of 4lb from last season’s Haydock Champion Hurdle Trial winner.

The 10/1 winner was having his first start since running poorly in the Champion Chase, and seems to have benefited from subsequent wind surgery, for all he’s always been the type to go well fresh. He can be expected to head to Cheltenham next month for the Shloer Chase, a race he won two years ago.

Ballyandy was placed in both the International Hurdle and Christmas Hurdle last season, and he is likely to have a similar campaign this year, although his trainer may be tempted by the Greatwood Hurdle at Cheltenham’s Open meeting, a race he was happy to run The New One in in previous seasons.

Cap Fits

It’s good to see Wales’s most famous staying chaser commemorated in a race title, and this non-graded Norton’s Coin Trophy Novices’ Chase provided a strong if select field, all three being 150+ rated hurdlers, and it was former Liverpool Stayers’ Hurdle winner If The Cap Fits (Harry Fry/Daryl Jacob) who came out on top on his first start since being bought by Isaac Souede and Simon Munir.

The eight-year-old took a while to warm up faced with fences for the first time, but he jumped very well as the race wore on, and pulled seven and a half lengths clear of the early leader, last year’s Tolworth Hurdle winner Fiddlerontheroof (Colin Tizzard/Robbie Power), with Emitom, a mere Grade 2 winner over hurdles courtesy of the Rendlesham in February, well held in third having led early.

The runner-up travelled best of the trio, but seemed to need the run, in common with plenty from the yard, and this was a promising start, while favourite Emitom had been caught on the line on his chase debut at Uttoxeter, and again jumped well, which was his achilles heel as a hurdler, but faded as if still feeling the effects of his previous effort.

Silver streaks away

Kempton Sunday

KEMPTON staged two listed races last Sunday, with Silver Streak (Evan Williams/Tom O’Brien) proving the star of the show as he won the RacingTV Hurdle for the second successive year.

The son of Dark Angel is a top-class hurdler granted a test of speed, and this track suits him, while he’s often been inconvenienced by winter ground, including in the past two Champion Hurdles.

He’s not a forlorn hope for that race in the event of a drier season, and this was a smart performance, even if you don’t believe that hot favourite Verdana Blue (Nicky Henderson/Nico de Boinville) ran to the best of her form in second, the winning margin of six and a half lengths suggesting as much, but it’s worth remembering that she was also behind Silver Streak in last year’s Christmas Hurdle, when the latter was beaten only by Epatante.

The listed novice hurdle was something of an anti-climax, with favourite For Pleasure proving impossible to steer, and that left the way clear for Brian Ellison’s Mrs Hyde (Nico de Boinville) to score at 15/2.