Kempton Saturday

THE headlines leading up to the race were all about Altior, but in the end it was a resurgent Frodon who won the Silviniaco Conti Chase for Bryony Frost and Paul Nicholls.

The eight-year-old jumped soundly if to his left, and had too much firepower for a slightly sub-par Top Notch (Nicky Henderson/Daryl Jacob) after the latter had travelled up well.

He didn’t finish as strongly as he can, however, and it was Keeper Hill (Warren Greatrex/Adrian Heskin) who threw down the last challenge, improving going into the last, but turned away comfortably enough by the winner.

Frodon, who returned at 5/4, was showing the dash which saw him land the Ryanair at Cheltenham in March having been treated for a serious ulcer problem since running in the Betfair Chase at Haydock.

First run

This was the first running of this contest under its current name and as a Grade 2, but the upgrade is merited with Top Notch and Waiting Patiently winning in 2019 and 2018, and it is ideally placed in the calendar to be a bona-fide trial for the Ryanair.

Connections of the winner are reported as being undecided as to whether to run him in that race or the Gold Cup, with Harry Derham stating after the race that a decision will hinge on his performance in the Denman Chase at Newbury next month.

From my point of view, what happens in the Denman can only serve to cloud the issue, as this horse is perfectly suited to the demands of the Ryanair, and his chances of winning the Gold Cup look negligible, for all he won the Cotswold Chase over and extended three miles and a furlong last January.

That win seems to show that he stays three miles, but he was all out there having jumped his rivals ragged, and the fact that 10 of his dozen wins over fences have come within a furlong of two and a half miles tells its own story.

Top Notch was soundly beaten in Grade 1s at Cheltenham and Aintree last spring, and this now appears to be his level.

Burrows benefits from last flight falls

THE Listed Lanzarote Hurdle at Kempton went to the Nicky Henderson-trained Burrows Edge (Nico de Boinville), a 5/1 shot, but it’s very much open to conjecture whether he would have won but for the last flight drama which saw both Debestyman (Suzy Smith/Micheal Nolan) and race favourite Notre Pari (Olly Murphy/Barry Geraghty) capsize. Debestyman seemed to have got the measure of Notre Pari between the last two and looked likely to prevail only to blunder his rider away, which was a shame for connections, who would have few opportunities to plunder such a prestigious pot.

The winner went clear on the flat in the style of one who is well treated, but he looked hard work throughout the race, and appears to dislike company, which makes him a hard horse to warm to with big targets in mind.

A review of the meeting would be incomplete, however, without mention of Millie Wonnacott, whose ride on Fingerontheswitch in the three-mile handicap chase was little short of sublime. Neil Mulholland’s handicapper is consistent but hard to win with, and was guided with great maturity around the tricky Kempton circuit by his talented young rider.

Like Bryony Frost, Millie was champion lady novice point-to-point rider in the Devon and Cornwall area, and has a background in pony racing as well as showing and show jumping. Based with Mulholland for the past few years, she deserves her chance on the biggest stage.