GRAND STEEPLE-CHASE

DE PARIS (GRADE 1)

THE Grand Steeple-Chase de Paris meeting at Auteuil last weekend lived up to its billing, delivering great stories aplenty, though sadly one of the few things missing was a Willie Mullins-trained winner, Bapaume faring the best of his eight runners by finishing second.

The Grand Steep itself was an absolute thriller, though the race could have done without the three-horse pile-up at the innocuous first fence, where the fall of Bipolaire brought down both his stablemate, Roi Mage, and the defending champion, So French, and left Mullins’ representative, Djakadam, with a nasty hind leg cut that may have contributed to his finishing last.

Thankfully, the more fearsome obstacles did not cause further casualties among the principal players during the rest of the three-and-three-quarter-mile trip, which saw the 2017 runner-up, Perfect Impulse, share pace-setting duties with the 2015 winner, Milord Thomas.

A mistake four out did for Milord Thomas, who weakened into fourth, and Perfect Impulse kicked clear, with only the youngster, On The Go, able to answer her acceleration. The pair jumped the last two fences together, then Perfect Impulse pulled out a little bit extra to hold a half-length lead with 100 yards to run, only for On The Go to respond oh so bravely to James Reveley’s urgings and collar the mare in the very last stride.

It has been an odd season for 29-year-old Yorkshire-born Reveley, who after more than 10 years based in Britain emigrated to France in 2016 and promptly became champion jockey. A run of injuries have seen him slip down the pecking order at the yard of champion trainer Guillaume Macaire, lose the ride aboard So French and, before Sunday, win just nine races since the turn of the year.

It was not through choice that he ended up partnering On The Go, who had won just one of his five career chases (the small matter of the Grade 1 Prix Maurice Gillois last November) before Sunday.

“He’s achieved something really big today as he came to chasing relatively late,” Reveley said.

“He was beaten running to the last and had to give absolutely everything to get up on the line.”

By the 2008 German Derby winner, Kamsin, On The Go’s grandam, Aubane, just happens to also be Perfect Impulse’s dam so the photo finish was something of a family reunion!