First Hennessy For Tizzard, Irving Bags A Second Fifth and Super Six For Elliott
Great Weekend For Tizzard
An ultra-competitive field assembled at Newbury on Saturday for the 2016 renewal of the prestigious Hennessy Gold Cup. Last year’s 10 length victor Smad Place and a number of other likely sorts were included in the eighteen runner field, but there was only really one horse the betting public were interested in.
Colin Tizzard has been in a rich vein of late and his six year old Native River ticked a lot of the right boxes ahead of this race, being a progressive performer with plenty of potential for improvement. Punted into a clear 7/2f, the weight of money for once proved to be spot on, as the gelding stayed on resolutely under Richard Johnson to hold off the late thrust of Carole’s Destrier.
It generally takes a good one to take this and Native River is likely to be campaigned in all the top staying chases for the remainder of the season. The compilers were certainly impressed, rating him a 14/1 shot for the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Such is the strength of the Tizzard yard at present, that should Native River line up in the Cheltenham showpiece, he will likely only be the third string for the yard.
Tizzard’s, Thistlecrack cemented his place at the head of the Gold Cup betting market with a silky smooth display in the Grade 2 Bet365 Novices’ Chase on Saturday and then of course there is the brilliant Cue Card who also hails from the Dorset operation.
Fighting Display From Irving
The highest class jumps contest of the weekend took place up at Newcastle as a smart field lined up for the tracks Grade 1 Fighting Fifth Hurdle. All the talk pre-race centred around whether Apple’s Jade could rediscover last season’s devastating form, or if Sceau Royal would continue his sparkling start to the current campaign.
As such the 2014 winner of this race, Irving, went a little overlooked in the market. Following a woeful end to last season, it certainly required something of a leap of faith to envisage him repeating his victory of two years ago.
When it comes to bringing these horse back to their peak for the big day however, champion trainer Paul Nicholls has few peers. Apple’s Jade put in an improved display, but Irving pulled out all the stops in the closing stages to cling on by a nose. This win was particularly significant for jockey Harry Cobden as it marked his first at Grade 1 level. It surely won’t be his last.
Sunday Service
Apples Jade may have narrowly missed landing Saturday’s big race for Gordon Elliott, but the County Meath handler made up for it on Sunday, and then some. There were only seven races on Navan’s Sunday card and Elliott won six of them.
Empire Of Dirt grabbed the headlines when running right away with the Troytown Handicap Chase, with Brelade, Death Duty, Bull Ride, Jury Duty and Threeswallowsnick completing the super sextet. Anyone with the foresight to place a bet on the six-timer would have been rewarded with odds of 41276/1.
Elliott’s winning streak saw him pull further clear of Willie Mullins in the race to be Irish Champion trainer. Mullins has plenty of big guns in his armoury for the seasons big prizes though and remains the odds on favourite to hang on to his crown.
