Kempton Saturday
THE Grade 3 EBF Final at Kempton last week, transferred from Sandown’s abandoned Imperial Cup fixture went the way of the 5/2 favourite McFabulous, trained by Paul Nicholls and ridden to victory by Harry Cobden.
The son of Milan pulled six and a half lengths clear of runner-up Sevarano (Oliver Sherwood/Johnny Burke), with Hurricane Harvey (Fergal O’Brien/James Bowen) and Eden Du Houx (David Pipe/Tom Scudamore) filling out the places.
The winner, who landed the Grade 2 bumper at Aintree’s Grand National meeting last spring, showed himself to be on a lenient mark (of 132) as he swept to a comprehensive success, and the move away from testing ground has clearly benefited him.
He struggled to cope with heavy ground in the Grade 2 Kennel Gate Hurdle at Ascot in December, and was workmanlike in getting off the mark over hurdles at Market Rasen prior to this, but it’s clear that he can rate a lot higher on a sound surface on this evidence, and the manner in which he cleared his hurdles offers hope that he could be a high-class novice chaser next season.
As a half-brother to Ascot Chase winner Waiting Patiently, he’s certainly bred to excel in that sphere.
Sevarano is another who should be jumping fences come the autumn, and he ran well in a first-time visor, and also appreciated the return to better ground. Hurricane Harvey improved for a first try in handicaps, although was less suited to the relative test of speed than the front two, being niggled along in the back straight before rallying strongly into a place. Eden Du Houx led, but was unable to match the pace of the winner from the penultimate hurdle.
The EBF Final is often a source of future chasing excellence, although the conditions often make it an attritional test, as it would have been if not cancelled originally.
The move to a flatter track and better ground may not have suited the nascent stayers, but it was a kinder contest as a result, and my gut feeling is that it will provide a rich harvest of future winners.
Power for Twiston-Davies
The Silver Plate and the Silver Bowl are consolation races for horses balloted out of the handicaps at Cheltenham earlier in the week.
The first of those provided a welcome winner for Nigel and Sam Twiston-Davies as Our Power (11/1) carried the colours of Dai Walters and James & Jean Potter to victory over The Butcher Said (Olly Murphy/Adrian Heskin), Bootlegger (Neil Mulholland/Harry Reed) and Ballyhome (Fergal O’Brien/Max Kendrick). The distances were a length and three quarters and one and a half lengths.
Our Power was a fairly useful winner as a juvenile for Alan King, but has got back on a progressive footing since joining his current yard in December and this victory represented a career best in a strong handicap.
The Butcher Said was returning after a break having had wind surgery and shaped really well, particularly given he raced wide throughout, and the irony of the phrase “will be winning before long” is not lost here.
Bootlegger and Ballyhome are both last-time-out winners, and their presence in the frame adds to the solid-looking appearance of the form.
BEN Pauling has experienced a very up-and-down campaign in which two of the brightest spots have come at Kempton, but his victory in the Silver Bowl proved a double-edged sword. In the end, Delire D’Estruval ran out a surprise 25/1 winner having come from well off the pace, proving too strong from the final fence for Drumconnor Lad (Adrian Keatley/Adrian Heskin), Garde La Victoire (Philip Hobbs/Tom O’Brien) and Good Man Pat (Alan King/Tom Cannon) under an unflappable Daryl Jacob. He had half a length to spare over the runner-up at the post, with the other placed horses three and three quarter lengths and three quarters of a length further away.
Daryl Jacob was content to let the winner find his stride near the back and he only started making significant headway at the end of the back straight on the second circuit. It’s not easy coming from off the pace over fences at Kempton, and the jockey deserves praise for pulling off that manoeuvre.
Sadly the winner’s stablemate and race favourite Legal Eyes was killed in a fall at the third last when still disputing the lead, as he had done from the outset.
Drumconnor Lad has had a good season for Adrian Keatley, providing the trainer with his final winner from his old yard on the Curragh at Leopardstown in December, and also his first from new premises in Malton as he begins a new chapter in North Yorkshire.
This was another excellent effort from the 10-year-old, and it seems Keatley has quickly settled into his new surroundings (he’s renting stables from fellow ex-pat Tony Coyle), having trained two winners and two placed horses from his first four runners in what they call ‘God’s Own county’ here.
Cozy for Coquelicot
The rearranged Mares’ Final was not the strongest renewal, but it did go to the clear form choice in the shape of Coquelicot for Anthony Honeyball and Rex Dingle, the 13/8 favourite beating Step To The Top (Noel Williams/Tom O’Brien) and Bourbon Beauty (Alex Hales/Harry Bannister) by two and a quarter lengths and 12 lengths.
The winner had previously been successful at Taunton and Huntingdon, and as a four-year-old was receiving 8lb from her rivals despite those wins.
She is by Soldier Of Fortune out of a winning Peintre Celebre mare from the family of Prix Saint-Alary winner Moonlight Dance, and connections are reported to be considering a flat campaign for her after some necessary downtime.
Step To The Top was the only one to make a race of it, keeping on willingly in pursuit of the winner, and she is built and bred in the mould of a stayer. She remains a maiden after three starts, but is progressing, and there is little wrong with her application.