RANDOX HEALTH COUNTY HANDICAP HURDLE (GRADE 3)

A RACE that generally offers up one of the trickiest puzzles of the season is quickly becoming one in which a policy of looking no further than the yard of Dan Skelton will pay dividends – on Friday, the trainer made it three County Hurdle wins in four years, this time with Ch’tibello.

There was a time when this gelding, who carries the colours of the four man Can’t Say No Partnership, mixed it with the elite of two-mile hurdling.

Indeed this time last year he contested the Champion Hurdle, but a long term plan to switch from the demands of championship hurdling to handicap company paid the ultimate dividend on the biggest stage of all.

Ch’tibello (12/1) had gone almost two and a half years without win when he lined up under the trainer’s brother, Harry, but supporters of the eight-year-old need not have feared as he was more than equal to the task at hand in a typically frantic conclusion.

RUN TO THE LAST

When Eclair De Beaufeu struck for home on the long run to the last there was hope of an Irish-trained winner. However, he was being reeled in all the time by the chasing pack, and he had just lost his advantage when he parted company with Jack Kennedy at the final flight.

At this point Ch’tibello had taken over in front and he scampered up the run in to finish a length and a half ahead of We Have A Dream, with Countister a further head away.

Whiskey Sour, who went off the 5/1 favourite to improve on last year’s third, had to settle for fourth.

“When Harry was going out I said to him that I’m not going to tell you what to do and he just said to me don’t worry we’ll do it,” remarked the winning trainer.

“I was confident about his chances and I have to say he’s a great horse to come and win this after running well in those races that he couldn’t win.