NIGEL Twiston-Davies once again trained the winner of the Timothy Hardie Jewellers Novices’ Chase at Perth and this time most comprehensively as the Daryl Jacob-partnered Wholestone finished alone in what was a two-horse race over two and a half miles.

Owned by Simon Munir and Isaac Souede, the eight-year-old Craigsteel gelding was sent off the 1/6 favourite on the back of his form over the smaller obstacles which saw him win six of his 22 starts including the Grade 2 Relkeel Hurdle at Cheltenham on January 1st, 2018. He also won a pair of Grade 2 novices’ hurdle races at the same track and was Grade 1-placed on four occasions.

On the Perth racecourse website, Twiston-Davies is quoted as saying: “We always like to introduce a nice horse in this race and this is another one. I’ve won it with some very decent horses including Ballyandy, Double Ross, Fundamentalist and Bindaree.”

The much-admired Double Eclipse gelding Double Ross, who won a hunters’ chase at Chepstow in March, was bred in Northern Ireland by Tom McIlhagga. He began his racing career with Ian Ferguson who sent him out to finish third in a Navan bumper in January 2011 on his only start in this country.

Racecourse

The 1994 Roselier gelding Bindaree, who was to win the 2002 Grand National under Jim Cullotty and the following year’s Coral Welsh Grand National in the hands of Carl Llewellyn, won a five and six-year-old geldings’ maiden at Loughbrickland in March 1999 on the last of four point-to-point starts in Ireland.

He was then trained by George Stewart and was ridden by the currently very busy bloodstock agent, Kevin Ross.

The eight-year-old Kayf Tara gelding Ballyandy, who has seven racecourse wins to his credit, and Wholestone have more in common than being trained by Twiston-Davies to win that chase in Perth. Both were once owned by Wilson Dennison and trained for him at Loughanmore by Colin McKeever but they never ran for the pair before making their way across to Grange Hill Farm.

In contrast, the Westerner bay Ballyhome, the only other runner in last Thursday’s race who pulled up after nearly falling four out, was also once a part of the Dennison/McKeever team and won a five-year-old geldings’ maiden at Loughanmore on his third and final start between the flags in Ireland.