A super weekend!
Jacob and Flanagan take top prizes
IT WAS a sensational weekend for Wexford as Daryl Jacob and Seán Flanagan took the major prizes in England and Ireland with two cool and calculated rides that showcased their ability.
Jacob took the first Grade 1 of the British season when he and Bristol De Mai retained the £200k Betfair Chase at Haydock on Saturday, putting first and second in this year’s Cheltenham Gold Cup, Native River and Might Bite, firmly in their place.
Jacob had his mount in contention at the front all through, jumping fluently, and he pulled clear at the end to win by four lengths from Gold Cup champion, Native River (5/2), with a returning Thistlecrack (11/1) in third and a disappointing Might Bite (1/1f) trailing in last of the five.
Bristol De Mai loves Haydock and this was his fourth big win at the track. He won this at 11/10f on heavy ground last year and the good going this time was considered a major disadvantage, which explains why he was allowed to go off at a generous 13/2.
Davidstown man, Jacob, was ecstatic when being led back in and continually embraced the horse. He and Bristol De Mai are now the only ones in contention for the £1m bonus for winning the season’s Big Three – the Betfair at Haydock, The King George at Kempton at Christmas, and the Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival.
Last Wednesday Jacob had a single ride at two separate meetings; he had a winner at Warwick on My Mate Mark (1/1) for Ben Pauling, and then went on to Chepstow where he had a third.
Tom O’Brien from Adamstown also had a winner on the Haydock card, his 43rd of the season, scoring on Red Infantry (7/2) for Ian Williams in a £27k handicap chase. On Monday he won on Mister Malarky (4/1) at Plumpton for Colin Tizzard.
On Sunday at Navan, Flanagan scored in the €100k Troytown Chase, Tout Est Permis giving Noel Meade his first win in the race of the year on his local track since 1997. Gordon Elliott had an incredible eleven runners and had none in the top five, though the big money still went to Michael O’Leary’s Gigginstown.
Flanagan’s mount travelled well thoughout and pulled comfortably clear at the end, giving him compensation for being unseated at the first in the previous race. He is having a good season, being fourth in the table with 30 winners, and has a lot of good horses to come as the meat of the season approaches.
It had been a low-profile week prior to this, with local connections finally getting on the board in the closing handicap chase at Gowran on Saturday when Colin Bowe’s Lacken Bridge (14/1) prevailed under Ricky Doyle, with Pat Cloke’s Bellgrove (6/1) three lengths back in third under J.J. Slevin.
Liz Doyle’s Last Goodbye (11/2) made a good return after 212 days’ absence to finish second in the €20k Talbot Hotel Carlow chase, behind Drumconnor Lad. Doyle’s horse might be worth watching next time out after being highly tried at both Cheltenham and Punchestown last spring.
Pat Dobbs from Enniscorthy lost no time in swinging back into action out in the Arab Emirates and won at Meydan on Thursday for Doug Watson on Cosmo Charlie, a well-backed 5/4 favourite, having won on Arch Gold at Jebal Ali the previous week.