Newbury Saturday

DATSALRIGHTGINO came from last to first under Gavin Sheehan to win the Coral Gold Cup for Jamie Snowden, and saw his emotional rider reveal the enormity of the occasion to a big TV audience.

Snowden is a growing force on the training circuit, and can now add this historic prize to the Paddy Power Gold Cup he won with Ga Law last term, while Cheltenham Festival success came via You Wear It Well in March. It was the latter that Sheehan was due to ride in the cancelled Fighting Fifth at Newcastle, so that he appeared as a last-minute substitute for Tom Cannon on Datsalrightgino.

The gelding, a 16/1 chance, had stamina to prove, and Sheehan cut every corner on him as he attempted to conserve his energy for a late challenge. Cloudy Glen and Ahoy Senor made the early running ahead of the strong-travelling Shakem Up’arry, with the first-named jumping best of the leaders, and looking a danger to all before he weakened from the second-last fence, where Mahler Mission (John McConnell/Ben Harvey) loomed up travelling best, but he had no sooner arrived at the head of affairs than Sheehan conjured a strong late run out of Datsalrightgino, and the pair took the last in unison.

It was Datsalrightgino who came away from the fence with momentum, however, and he forged away to beat Mahler Mission by three and three-quarter lengths, with Monbeg Genius and Eldorado Allen staying on strongly to fill the places.

“He’s not short of speed,” said Snowden. “We’ve been mainly campaigning over two miles as a novice chaser and Gavin said ‘I can’t wait to go up to three’. That was the first time up at three miles and how right was Gavin.

“It is really special, the Coral Gold Cup is a home match and it is what training in Lambourn is all about. It’s the jumping centre of England in my mind and it’s a great place to train. You come here as a young lad thinking about it and here we are, it’s great. We’ll enjoy today and think about the future tomorrow.”

THE Gerry Feilden Hurdle – now run as the “Bet In Race With Coral” Intermediate Handicap Hurdle, has thrown up a few Cheltenham Festival winners over the years and produced a grandstand finish this time round, with Hansard (Gary Moore/Niall Houlihan) overhauling long-time leader Bad (Ben Pauling/Ben Jones) on the run-in, with the pair chased hard by Brentford Hope (Harry Derham/Paul O’Brien). The winner, a 15/2 shot was bouncing back to form and scored by three-quarters of a length and a length and a quarter.

This win will have been a fillip for Gary Moore, who has endured a quiet autumn, and has also seen son Jamie join his brother Josh on the sidelines after a bad fall at Lingfield. Josh was forced to retire earlier this year as the result of a bad fall at Aintree in April 2022, but Jamie is hoping to return to the saddle after the latest in a line of mishaps.

In his absence, Niall Houlihan is taking up the slack, and the 3lb claimer was seen to good effect as he coaxed Hansard to the front after the last having kept the son of The Gurkha under wraps for as long as possible.

Under Control, the hot ante-post favourite, travelled well but emptied quickly and failed to beat a rival, and was clearly not 100% on the day, a comment which also applies to Jet Powered, who ran a stinker in an earlier handicap hurdle having been well supported. That might be a concern going forward for the Seven Barrows stable.

Newbury Friday

HERMES Allen (Paul Nicholls/Harry Cobden) won the Grade 1 Challow Hurdle at Newbury last term, and the six-year-old looked a smashing chasing prospect as he jumped with aplomb to win the Grade 2 John Francome Novices’ Chase at Newbury last Friday.

Despite not racing since having wind surgery in the close season, Hermes Allen was made a strong 13/8 favourite for his chasing bow, and he made the smoothest of transitions to the larger obstacles in winning by six and a half lengths from the front-running Nickle Back under a confident ride.

The runner-up made a bold show of things in front, as he had when winning at Warwick and Stratford, but a mistake at the third-last fence knocked some of the stuffing out of him, and handed the advantage to the eventual winner.

Hermes Allen could head to Cheltenham next weekend, with Nicholls keen to keep him, Knappers Hill and Stay Away Fay apart.

Thrilled

“Harry was thrilled with him,” said the trainer. “He said he was very clever jumping, especially late on, and that’s just what you want from a novice chaser first time. We missed a month’s work with him and I’ve been chasing my tail to get him ready, to be honest. Luckily we were able to gallop him here on the gallops morning, he’s schooled well and we’ve just about got away with it.

“He will improve fitness-wise, but he’s just got natural ability. His form in the first half of last season was very good, then he lost his way a bit, but he was struggling with his breathing all season and I think that caught up with him in the spring. He’s the finished article now.”

DASHEL Drasher (Jeremy Scott/Rex Dingle) wears his heart on his sleeve, and the popular 10-year-old had to dig deep into his reserves of courage to get the better of a battle of the veterans in the Grade 2 Long Distance Hurdle, withholding a late charge from Paisley Park (Emma Lavelle/Tom Bellamy) to score by a head, with Flight Deck third for Deborah Cole and Chris Ward.

Flight Deck had led into the straight, but made a race-ending error at the last, and while that briefly left 2/1 chance Dashel Drasher in control, the winner tends to look vulnerable when the jumping has finished, and he was clearly in need of the line when Paisley Park loomed up on the run-in.

To his credit, Dashel Drasher found the courage to fight back and maintain his narrow advantage to the line when his body language screamed that the petrol gauge was firmly on empty. The first two could clash in the Long Walk at Ascot in a fortnight, and Paisley Park would have a 7lb pull in that Grade 1 contest.

“I was worried to death when I saw Paisley Park there, because wasn’t he coming,” Scott explained to ITV viewers after the contest.

“It’s lovely to see the old boys going head-to-head and I thought Paisley Park ran a brilliant race there. A bit further and he might have done us. It was a great race to watch.

“He was beaten so many times last year, and you just think it must take its toll, but he did fight today. It’s his kind of trademark and you are always terrified he might lose the trademark, but he keeps fighting, doesn’t he?”

JERIKO Du Reponet has been something of a talking horse this autumn, with the J.P. McManus-owned gelding backed for the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle before being seen in public under rules, but the Irish point-to-point winner went some way to justifying that lofty reputation when taking a novice hurdle at Newbury last Friday with something to spare. Nicky Henderson’s four-year-old started at 4/11 for the Coral Get Closer To The Action “National Hunt” Maiden Hurdle, a race the Seven Barrows handler often targets with his better novices, with Buveur D’Air and Jonbon among half a dozen winners for the yard in recent years.

Jeriko Du Reponet tracked the leaders and was able to move alongside with ease running to the last before winning by a hard-held three and a quarter lengths from King William Rufus.

He was initally slashed to 4/1 for the Supreme Novices on the back of his easy win, but while he’s clearly an exciting prospect, that looks an overreaction at this point.