Turners Novices’ Chase (Grade 1)

DAN and Harry Skelton picked up from where they left off on Thursday when combining to take the Turners Novices’ Chase with Grey Dawning (5/2), who got the better of old rival Ginny’s Destiny to provide the first leg of a brilliant double for the pair.

There was just three quarters of a length between these two horses in a novice chase here in December and they dominated this Grade 1, the Irish challenge failing to materialise, with Facile Vega most notably jumping poorly and failing to land any sort of blow.

Ginny’s Destiny led Djelo and Grey Dawning down the hill, but when the former faded, this turned into a real set-to up the home straight.

Harry Skelton and Grey Dawning got to the front at the last but the runner-up was game and made them fight all the way to the line.

“To win a Grade 1 novice here is just great, you know, it gives us all the future to look forward to,” Skelton said. “We won a Grade 1 novice with Protektorat and others, but I feel like this horse is at least as good, potentially better, and that’s not taking away from the one’s we’ve had before, but time moves forward. He’s a grey horse, maybe he could pick up a good following.”

The winner won the Grade 2 Hampton at Warwick very impressively and after that was touted as a Brown Advisory contender, but for his trainer to make a late switch to this shorter distance of an extended two miles and three furlongs.

Reflecting on that, Skelton said: “I just thought it was a good novice chase that he and Ginny’s Destiny were in here in December, they’d been first and second. I just thought we’re not short of speed and Fact To File did look very good in Ireland and maybe it was the sensible route.

“He jumps good, Harry was great on him and that was exactly how we wanted the race to go. I think it speaks volumes of how good the horse is that there didn’t need to be a Plan B.”

Reflecting on the runner-up, Paul Nicholls said: “It was a fantastic run. He has run his heart out. If he had landed upsides Grey Dawning after the second last, who knows what would have happened. He is a good horse and I think he will get three miles in time. If he is okay, we could look at going to Aintree with him.”

Zanahiyr fared best of the Irish in fourth, while Facile Vega, the 5/2 joint-favourite, came home in seventh.