Shloer Chase (Registered As Cheltenham Chase) (Grade 2)

HIGHLIGHT of the opening day of Cheltenham’s November Meeting was the Shloer Chase, one of a pair of Grade 2 contests on the day, but, while the action was typically exciting, there were concerns about horses slipping up on the final turn on the chase track, with three separate incidents requiring Director of Racing Jon Pullin to sand the bend in order to alleviate such concerns.

Jonbon (Nicky Henderson), ridden for the first time by Harry Cobden, registered his third win in the Grade 2 Shloer Chase as he stayed on well from the last to beat Mighty Bandit (Warren Greatrex/Sean Bowen) by two and a quarter lengths, making up for his defeat in the same race 12 months ago.

The winner’s task was made easier by the lunchtime defection of main rival Gidleigh Park and he was sent off at 1/2 to regain his crown. Jumping well under a positive ride, he looked set to score comfortably at the top of the hill but Mighty Bandit got within a length or so after jumping the last, forcing Cobden to get serious with his mount on the run-in.

Looked fitter

All told, this was a satisfactory start for Jonbon, who looked fitter than he did when beaten by L’Eau Du Sud on last season’s return. Jonbon will now bid for a third win in the Tingle Creek at Sandown before being asked to step up in trip again in the second half of the season.

The opening race at Cheltenham’s November Meeting went to the 12/1 shot Norman Fletcher (Nigel & Willy Twiston-Davies/Jamie Brace) who found plenty from the home turn to beat the gambled-on Keno Black (Neil Mulholland/Bradley Harris) after the latter had led, travelling well, out wide in the back straight.

The winner is a consistent sort and, although he’s proven difficult to win with in the past, he may get a quick opportunity to follow up as he will be unpenalised for his engagement at Plumpton on Monday.

THE Grade 2 Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle (registered as the Hyde Novices’ Hurdle) saw a gutsy success from Lock Stock (Stuart Edmunds/Charlie Hammond), with the 4/1 shot digging deep to fend off a number of challenges in the straight, the last of which came from Hitintheheadlines (Dan Skelton/Tristan Durrell) but who came up short by a length at the line.

Favourite Ferocimo (Nigel & Willy/Sam Twiston-Davies) was a further half length back in third in a race where most of the field held a chance running to the penultimate hurdle.

Low sun saw the omission of two hurdles per circuit and the extra emphasis on stamina may have suited the winner, although the good going was also a positive for him, as Edmunds said: “I think the ground has played into his hands more than some of the others potentially. (Charlie) gave him a couple of taps and that was it.

Asked about the omission of hurdles, he added: “It was the same for everybody. I think it makes it more of a stamina test if they take the hurdles out as they don’t get a chance to fill their lungs.”

THE listed novices’ chase is now registered as the Doctor Fothergill Novices’ Chase in memory of Fothergill “Fogo” Rowlands, who was instrumental in the forming of the National Hunt Chase and therefore the origins of the Cheltenham Festival itself.

The race was sponsored this year by Paddy Power and victory went to D Art D Art (Tom Cooper/Daniel King), with the son of Jeu St Eloi hanging on by a neck from the fast-finishing Intosomethinggood (Nigel & Willy/Sam Twiston-Davies).

The field was well bunched on the final bend where Kingston Narcissus briefly lost his footing.

Cooper was effusive in his praise of the winning rider, saying: “He jumps, and stays, and I can’t say any more about the pilot, he is just top drawer. He is just absolutely class - he will go all the way. His style is great as he is quiet, and he doesn’t move… He is going to be snapped up.”

The winner had a bad accident at home last August when getting loose and running into a wall, and Cooper described staff at Fethard Equine Hospital as having to “bring him back to life.” On this evidence, there is plenty of life left in the seven-year-old, who was gaining a second win from three starts over fences.

Veterans’ Chase

Local author Jilly Cooper was remembered in the title of the veterans’ chase, a year after her death, while the horses returned to the theme from the current hit TV series Rivals, based on her racy novel of the same name.

Victory went to the classy Thunder Rock (Olly Murphy/Sean Bowen), winning at Cheltenham for the first time at his fifth attempt. The 10-year-old was rated 156 at his peak but, after a spell in hunter chases last season, he had dropped in the ratings and ran off a lenient 134 here.

His spell in the amateur ranks looks to have revived him as he raced with enthusiasm and jumped better than is often the case before quickening smartly from the final fence to pull six and a half lengths clear of Mahon’s Glory (Dylan Cunha/Lee Edwards), while Triple Trade (Joe Tizzard/Harry Cobden) was unlucky not to finish second after slipping on the final bend.

Max McNeill, who owns Thunder Rock with his family in partnership with Ian Dale, said: “He was good at Perth, but that was fantastic. Olly did say that he has never had him better.

“He had a heart fibrillation after he pulled up behind Lucky Place in the Grade 2 hurdle at Ascot, and he wasn’t the same afterwards. It was Olly’s idea to go hunter chasing, because I thought we should retire him (and) it gave him a new lease of life.”

The winning trainer and jockey doubled their tally on the card when 7/2 chance Lexington Wood landed the closing handicap hurdle, a Class 3 affair in which he beat Wheremyrosemarygoes (Faye Barmley/Harry Cobden) by a neck.