Sandown Saturday

Betfair Imperial Cup

THE Imperial Cup turned into a real thriller with Olly Murphy’s Go Dante (Sean Bowen) getting the better of 2023 County Hurdle winner Faivoir (Dan/Harry Skelton) by a nose after a ding-dong tussle from the final hurdle.

The winner travelled well throughout but a slicker jump at the last from Faivoir left him with a deficit of two lengths to make up, and he managed to claw that rival back in the final stride of a thrilling contest.

The pair pulled four and three-quater lengths clear of recent Huntingdon winner Jipcot (Ben Pauling/Kielan Woods) in third, and the form looks rock-solid with the promising Making Headway filling the final placing.

“It gives me an awful lot of satisfaction,” said Olly Murphy of this win. “A lot of work has gone into this horse. He broke his pelvis in a Challow Hurdle and we gave him a load of time off, then he had a schooling accident and damaged a lung, which kept him out for another few months. He’s massively given me headaches.

“I have a stable jockey that everyone’s in awe of, which is another string to my bow. We’re not there yet but I don’t want it to plateau – it’s got to keep going.”

The winner now heads to Aintree with the County Hurdle coming too soon according to Murphy, who joked that he was lucky not to have taken a lift to the races with Harry Skelton, his best friend and close neighbour in Warwickshire.

EBF Novices’

Ben Pauling has been in excellent form since the turn of the year and his horses dominated the finish of the valuable EBF Final, with his pair Champagne Twist (Ben Jones) and Pic Roc (Kielan Woods) dominating the contest from flagfall, with the former overhauling longtime leader Pic Roc on the run-in to score by a length and a half, with Emailandy (Paul Nicholls/Bryony Frost) a creditable third under top weight of 12 stone.

The winner, who was following up an all-the-way win at Doncaster, was a well-backed 11/2 shot.

“It was a brilliant result,” Pauling said. “I couldn’t really split them. Kielan wanted to ride one and Ben wanted to ride the other, so it worked quite well. These owners are a group of my great mates.”

Redemption for Skeltons

The Imperial Cup may have provided heartbreak for the Skelton brothers and their best-laid plans, but compensation came swiftly as Honky Tonk Highway landed the listed bumper by a length and a half from Rula Bula (Jonjo O’Neill/Jonjo Jr). Despite this being her racecourse debut under NH rules, the daughter of Milan attracted strong support when the market opened, and was sent off the 3/1 favourite in a field of 11.

Winner of a point-to-point at Tattersalls Park in October for Colin Bowe where she beat Diva Luna, Honky Tony Highway was purchased for £165,000 at Tatts Cheltenham the following month by Ryan Mahon, acting for Dan Skelton.

The form of her point win got a major boost when Diva Luna won the Listed Alan Swinbank Memorial Bumper at Market Rasen last month for Ben Pauling, and both mares look useful recruits to the British jumps scene.

Wolverhampton Saturday

THE Listed Lady Wulfruna Stakes at Wolverhampton on Saturday went to the well-backed 15/8 favourite Nine Tenths (William Haggas/William Buick), who built on a good second in similar grade at Lingfield last month to score in the seven-furlong contest.

Tracking the pace set by Doctor Khan Junior, the daughter of Kodiac looked a little ungainly under pressure but found enough to get to the front a furlong out and was always holding the challenge of runner-up Misty Grey (David O’Meara/Danny Tudhope), who was a length and a quarter adrift at the post.

Shouldvebeenaring (Richard Hannon/Sean Levey) rather compromised his chance with a slow start but stayed on to be beaten a total of two lengths in third.

The winner, sporting the all-bronze colours of St Albans Bloodstock, was having her fourth run of the all-weather season, and Haggas told reporters that he would give the four-year-old a lengthy break now, with the intention of bringing her back to target Group 3 prizes, with the Oak Tree Stakes at Glorious Goodwood in early August nominated as her most likely aim.