Marsh Hurdle (Grade 1)

IT took a while for Ascot to be given the green light on Saturday morning/afternoon, but thankfully it did, albeit without its star attraction Paisley Park.

Course officials were not satisfied after an 8am inspection and opted to have another look at 11:30am when they were joined by an entourage of jockeys, trainers and owners and although Barry Geraghty told Sky Sports Racing he had little concerns with the surface, it wasn’t until after 12:00 that an announcement confirmed racing would take place.

One wonders the trouble Ascot would have been in had the meeting been called off so late, but they got away with it.

The Marsh Hurdle, previously well known as the Long Walk Hurdle, was a lesser contest for the omission of the Stayers’ Hurdle champion, taken out on account of the deep ground, but it did make the race a lot more open with The Worlds End sent off the 15/8 favourite and the outsider of the four, Agrapart, only 7/2.

The former, ridden by Adrian Heskin, led the four-runner field from flagfall, directly preceded by the Oliver Sherwood-trained mare Papagana, Agrapart and L’Ami Serge and the order stayed that way until the straight where the race developed in earnest.

L’Ami Serge, returning off a mammoth 580-day absence, moved smoothly to take up the running at the second last, where The Worlds End jumped to his right. If you didn’t know L’Ami Serge, you’d have said the race is all over at this stage as Nicky Henderson’s horse quickly put daylight between himself and The Worlds End. However it’s never been that straightforward with this nine-year-old who tied up on the run in, allowing The Worlds End to surge past him late.

Delighted

Winning trainer Tom George said: “I’m delighted. He had a lot of problems towards the second part of last season, which we have sorted out over the summer. The runner-up I watched more than ours, and he has run a hell of a race.

“Maybe if someone had given us a lead, we would have found it easier as well. But at the end of the day we’re happy with the way it has gone.”

Heskin said: “He did everything well during the race, but when he got passed by L’Ami Serge, he was never for beating. He just kept finding and is just a dour stayer.

“It is fantastic to win a Grade 1 in these colours. I’m very lucky to be riding for the McNeill family. I’ve had a tough couple of years with injuries and things and they’ve stuck by me.”

The Worlds End was recording his second Grade 1 success having also taken the 2017 Sefton Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree. He failed to cut the mustard when campaigned as a Stayers’ Hurdle horse in the preceding season but can certainly hold his own now. He already has a notable scalp over Unowhatimeanharry at Wetherby this term, although he may struggle if meeting Paisley Park again, which he probably will do if connections go for the Cleeve Hurdle.

For all that this was a frustrating defeat for connections and supporters of L’Ami Serge, there are a lot of positives to take when you consider his long absence. He will come on for this run and will be better suited to a bigger field in which he can be waited with longer.

Burke Not for catching in Sleepy success

RARELY will you see a £150,000 race won more easily than the Betfair Exchange Trophy, which Not So Sleepy and Jonathan Burke turned into a procession at Ascot on Saturday.

Hughie Morrison’s gelding, who holds a rating of 94 on the flat, avoided any drama in behind by leading from start to finish for Burke, and the only worry was at the fourth hurdle where he had a look and half-tried to run out.

Heading into the straight, Not So Sleepy held a two-length lead but he quickly moved away from his immediate rivals, led by Monsieur Lecoq, and he had 10 lengths to spare before skipping over the last, after which Burke allowed him to ease down just before the line.

Impressive

So impressive was the son of Beat Hollow, the Champion Hurdle was mentioned by some, but it’s worth noting he was winning off a rating of 127, which suggests he still has a lot to do. That said, this was just his fifth start over hurdles, so he has plenty of scope to improve and the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury will be his likely next destination. If he can defy what will be a hefty penalty there, then the Champion can come into the reckoning.

Earlier on the card, connections of Riders Onthe Storm received some compensation for last weekend’s administrative mishap when the former Tom Taaffe-trained gelding put up a very impressive performance in the Betfair Exchange Graduation Chase.

The six-year-old travelled best of all in the straight and powered away from On The Blind Side and Henry de Bromhead’s Paloma Blue, both of whom he was conceding weight to.

Now trained by Nigel Twiston-Davies and ridden by his son Sam here, Riders Onthe Storm won on his stable debut at Aintree, the form of that race working out well, and on this showing, he would have won the Caspian Caviar Gold Cup easily last week.

However, that is in the past now and connections can legitimately dream of Grade 1 success after this performance. He was cut to a best-priced 16/1 for the Ryanair Chase, while the Ascot Chase, run over the same distance he won at on Saturday, looks an obvious target.

Encore

Elsewhere at Ascot, the J.P. McManus-owned Regal Encore extended his very good record at the course with a strong staying performance under Richie McLernon in the three-mile Listed Dave Dawes Silver Cup Handicap Chase, just getting the better of Acting Lass late-on.

Anthony Honeyball’s 11-year-old was winning for the third time over this course and distance and had found only the very well-treated Vinndication too good in the Sodexo Gold Cup Handicap Chase, again over this course and distance in November.

The other highlight performance came from the Venetia Williams-trained Espoir De Guye who routed his rivals in the Plymouth Gin Handicap Chase. On just his third start over fences, the five-year-old, ridden by Charlie Deutsch was 10 lengths too good for the similarly unexposed My Way and First Flow, and he could be set for bigger things now. Williams is operating at just under a 50% win rate in the last 14 days.

THERE were similarly tough ground conditions at Haydock, where Lord Du Mesnil relished the stamina test of the feature Betway Tommy Whittle Chase. Richard Hobson’s consistent six-year-old made all under Paul O’Brien and none of his rivals could stay with him in the straight where by the line he had 13 lengths to spare over Olly Murphy’s Calipso Collonges.

Betway also sponsored the feature event at Lingfield, the Listed Quebec Stakes, which went to the impressive Dubai Warrior for John Gosden and Robert Havlin. A son of Dansili, this three-year-old progressed from a Chelmsford handicap win last time and although he looks a ready-made candidate for races like the Winter Derby and Easter Classic in the new year, Gosden is also looking at options in Saudi Arabia and Dubai