Newbury Saturday

JONJO O’Neill had few peers as a National Hunt jockey, and there were few big races he failed to win. One which eluded him was the Grand National, but he was in good company with his great colleagues and rivals John Francome and Peter Scudamore equally cursed at AintreE.

Both Scudamore and Francome had two wins in the Hennessy to soften that blow, whereas Jonjo could only manage second on Tamalin in the Newbury showpiece that he would so dearly have loved to have won.

Big race winners

Of course, Jonjo has made up for the few gaps in his riding honours by training many big race winners since he hung up his boots in 1986, but he still had an empty spot on his sideboard marked ‘Hennessy’.

The name has changed to the Ladbrokes Trophy Handicap Chase but the spot on the sideboard has finally been filled, thanks to Cloth Cap, who produced a spectacular display of jumping, notably at the ditch in the final straight, to win the latest running of the Ladbrokes Trophy under a well-judged ride from Tom Scudamore.

Scudamore had plenty of reason to smile, as this was his third win in the great race, eclipsing his father, and joining Willie Robinson as the winning-most rider in the race’s 64-year history.

It was also a third success, after Trabolgan and Many Clouds, for veteran owner Trevor Hemmings, who has also had a pair of runners-up.

In truth, Cloth Cap didn’t see another rival after flag-fall, and he had 10 lengths to spare over the gallant Aye Right (Harriet Graham/Callum Bewley) in second, with The Conditional (David Bridgwater/Brendan Powell) placed for a second successive year, and rank outsider The Hollow Ginge (Nigel Twiston-Davies/Gavin Sheehan) filling out the frame.

The winner has gone up 11lb to 147 for his success, and that should give him a place in the field at Aintree in April, which is clearly where Hemmings would love him to run given his well-documented love of the Grand National.