Village Vic triumphed at the Caspian Caviar Gold Cup at Cheltenham on Sunday, winning by four and a half lengths over stablemate Champagne West. Trainer Phillip Hobbs celebrated the 1-2 and his first win in this race since 2004.
Richard Johnson rode Village Vic to victory, and he hasn’t been made to wait for a win. This was his 156th of the season, a feat which should see him crowded Champion jockey.
After the race, Hobbs told of how delighted he was to finally land this win. “I thought Richard was going too quick but it was just right and he kept going very well,” he said. “I could hardly have predicted they would be first and second. Village Vic looked to be very good and then had an injury but he has come back well.”
Sam Twiston-Davies apologised after being unseated from Hawkhurst after the last hurdle at Southwell. Twiston-Davies was riding the 8/15 favourite for Paul Nicholls in the Flames of Newark Novices Hurdle on Sunday, and he looked all set for the victory until he was thrown from the saddle when the novice jinked slightly.
That allowed Weststreet to cruise home and win, and later Twiston-Davies tweeted out an apology. It said, “Apologises to all with Hawkhurst today, I can only say sorry. An error on my part, I’ll be working hard to make sure it never happens again.”
£32 was matched on the winner at 999/1 in-running on Betfair. There was a stewards inquiry afterwards, but they found no wrong doing.
Former Champion jockey Ryan Moore claimed a big double over the weekend, as he landed two wins in Hong Kong. He came out on to pin the Hong Kong Vase with Highland Reel, trained by Aidan O’Brien, and then took first in the Hong Kong Mile with Japanese trained Maurice.
