Cheltenham Saturday
December Gold Cup
THE December Gold Cup was this year run to support the Hunt Family Fund, and victory went to 33/1 outsider Glengouly (Faye Bramley/Sean Bowen), who made all the running to provide Bramley with the biggest win of her burgeoning career.
Champion jockey Bowen was allowed to dictate a stop-start gallop, with the field very well grouped at the top of the hill for the final time.
Turning into the straight, the challengers looked to be queuing up with Vincenzo, Hoe Joly Smoke and Jagwar all looking to swamp the pace-setter, but Bowen isn’t champion by accident and had kept something up his sleeve for the final hill, and kept on well to repel the hordes, beating Vincenzo (Sam Thomas/Dylan Johnston) and Jagwar (Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero/Jonjo O’Neill Jr) by a length and a half and a neck.
Formerly with Willie Mullins, it took time for Glengouly to settle into his new yard, having lost his form last season for the Closutton handler. As a result, he had dropped some way in the weights but had to run from 7lb out of the handicap here; it’s a testament to Bramley’s skills that she has managed to sweeten him up sufficiently to win a race of this nature in little over six months.
The Cheeky Pups syndicate, who own Glengouly, pledged to donate £10,000 of their winnings to the Hunt Family Fund, and close to £500,000 was raised through various channels over the course of the week for the charity set up by John Hunt to raise awareness of violence against women and support causes related to young women.
Bramley said: “I just can’t believe it. I’m gobsmacked. He is a star and I’m speechless. I couldn’t be any happier where he had him and the speed he was going. I know the horse inside, and out, and I could just tell he was loving it.
“I can’t believe I’m here, never mind having a winner. I’ve worked for A.P. (McCoy) for about eight years helping his daughter show jumping, and then with pre-training and things. I got a little bit bored of pre-training and I just wanted to give training a go. He said do what you want, if you want to go and train, go and train.
“Sean is class, what more can I say. I get really nervous watching them, but I wasn’t nervous watching that then as he was loving it. He was pinging the fences.
“He is in the best form I’ve ever had him in and I was confident he would run well, but it was such a big ask. For me to do this is great. We just mapped it out as he is quite hard to train. As he is older, I thought I would train him a little bit harder and he came to life, so we took it from there. I always ask A.P. as he knows the jump calendar like the back of his hand; I always ask him for advice and he always says aim high.”
CARLENRIG (Dan/Harry Skelton) kicked off a double on the Cheltenham card for the Skelton team when battling to a narrow victory in the Grade 2 Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle, a race registered as the Bristol Novices’ Hurdle. A British point winner, Carlenrig was sent off a 4/1 chance having finished a promising second on his rules debut at Chepstow last month.
He was held up on the first circuit as favourite Conman John made the running, but made gradual progress to challenge at the last and, despite hanging right, got up to lead in the dying strides, with They Call Me Hugo (Olly Murphy/Sean Bowen) finishing best of all to grab second from Conman John (Lucinda Russell and Michael Scudamore/Derek Fox) in a very close finish. The margins were a short-head and a neck.
Dan Skelton said: “I am really happy with him. He’s a lovely horse and straightforward. He has a bit of pace, which I think was necessary today as it turned into a tactical affair.
“There will be a run in between, I’m not sure where, and then on to the Festival for the Albert Bartlett. He will make a lovely chaser, and we won’t ask him too hard a question before March.”
Rest of the card
DAN and Harry Skelton completed a double on the card when Nurse Susan repeated her 2023 win in the concluding mares’ handicap hurdle. The eight-year-old looked as good as ever but has never been the easiest to train, with this just her 11th start and fifth win.
The likes of Defi Du Seuil and Sceau Royal have won the JCB Triumph Hurdle Trial, which opened Saturday’s card and the latest winner Minella Study (Adam Nicol/Ryan Mania) also looks a very useful prospect as he maintained his unbeaten record over hurdles with a six-and-a-half-length win over Winston Junior, impressing with how easily he came away from his rivals from the final flight.
Describing the 5/1 winner as “one of the best I’ve sat on” and “the real deal”, Nicol believes that Minella Study will be even better when strengthening up and is clearly excited to have a genuine Triumph Hurdle contender. He could go to Musselburgh for the Scottish Triumph Hurdle before Cheltenham.
The Venetia Williams stable failed to have the expected flurry of winners in November, but is cranking into gear now, and 7/1 chance Zertakt (Charlie Deutsch) showed stamina in abundance to win the Michael Eakins Senior Novices’ Limited Handicap Chase, beating Holokea a neck having been outpaced at the third last. It’s worth noting that previous winners of this race have included Corach Rambler and Haiti Couleurs. The winner is a second-season novice and will be aimed at the National Hunt Chase here in March.
Party Vibes (Henry Daly/Sam Twiston-Davies) landed the Quintessentially Mares’ Handicap Chase at 12/1, with the winning rider carrying the silks of Richard Johnston Racing.
The daughter of Mahler got tapped for toe at one point before staying on resolutely to lead close home from Theonewedreamof. She is building up a consistent record and is likely to go well again in similar circumstances.
Chris Gordon continued his fine run of form when David’s Well justified 6/4 favouritism in the Read Meg Nicholls’ Blog At betmgm.co.uk Handicap Chase, with the six-year-old jumping well in front for Harry Cobden and getting the better of a battle from the last with JPR One.
Around the tracks
At Doncaster’s meeting on Saturday, the featured races were the long-established Pennine Chase, once won by Night Nurse, and the Doncaster Mares’ Hurdle, sponsored by bet365. The former went to 9/2 shot Dockpickedme (Richard Hobson/Charlie Maggs), who gained a third course win by beating Alcedo a length in the three-mile contest.
The listed hurdle saw Lavida Adiva (Ruth Jefferson/Brian Hughes) bounce back to form with a 10/1 win, with warm favourite Kateira only third. The winner has a point-to-point background, but is quite sparely made and is likely to stay over hurdles now.
There was the usual smattering of Irish success on British soil last week, with Willie and Patrick Mullins teaming up to win the bumper at Catterick on Tuesday with 8/11 hotpot Clay Pigeons, while on the same day Mount Ruapehu scored at odds of 3/1 at Newcastle for Mark Fahey and Shane Gray.