Codd bags his tenth Festival winner,
IT WAS business as usual for Jamie Codd on the first day of Cheltenham on Tuesday as he recorded his tenth Festival win, a remarkable tally for any rider and really exceptional for an amateur.
He scored in the £125,000 Grade 2 National Hunt Challenge Cup for the second year in a row on Gordon Elliott’s Ravenhill, at an unusually generous 12/1 for a Codd winner.
British-based Davidstown rider, Daryl Jacob, also got among the winners and had a couple of placings.
However, some of his bigger guns failed to fire in a busy week for him. Quite a few of the Wexford riders performed with distinction on the biggest stage of all.
It was a typical Codd ride, hunting along for the first two-thirds of the marathon three miles six furlongs trip and then looming up coming down the hill to the third last.
He took over from long-time leader, Lord Du Mesnil and Sam Waley-Cohen, at the last and kept on well up the hill to win by two and a quarter lengths.
Elliott was full of praise for his rider afterwards: ‘I was worried about him staying, so we said we’d hunt away. Jamie gave him a great ride. He’s a star and I’m very lucky to have him riding for me.’ Ravenhill will be heading to the Irish Grand National next.
It was a record third win in this prestigious race for Jamie for which he picked up £74,000 for his connections. He won it last year on Le Breuil after an epic battle with Barry O’Neill on Paul Nolan’s Discorama, and he won it on one of his favourite horses, Cause of Causes, in 2015.
Jamie commented: ‘To win here means a lot. It’s Cheltenham and it’s the Olympics of our sport – if you don’t enjoy riding winners around here there’s something wrong with you. I’m privileged to ride for some brilliant people.’
Barry O’Neill was the last finisher of 14 runners in an attritional race, well back in sixth place on Kim Bailey’s Newtide.
Jamie was in the money in most of his rides. He was third of 14 on 33/1 outsider Out Sam in the Cross Country Chase, and he was third of 23 in the Championship bumper on Queens Brook (6/1), both for Elliott on Wednesday.
The only real disappointment was his eleventh of 23 on Le Breuil in his bid for a fifth win in the Kim Muir Chase on Thursday.
To add salt to the wounds, Jamie was suspended for eight days for two incidents when he took action to prevent Flying Angel from getting up on his inside.
Daryl Jacob from Davidstown was one of the busier jockeys at the Festival with eleven rides, and he was happy to get on the board on Thursday with a clearcut twelve-length success on Concertista (9/2) in the £90,000, 22-runner Grade 2 Novice Hurdle, trained by Willie Mullins.
This was compensation for being second in the same race last year and it was his first Festival win in the mixed green colours of retained owners, Simon Munir and Isaac Souede.
He started well on Tuesday with a close-up second in the £110,000 Ultima Handicap Chase on Kildisart (10/1), trained by Ben Pauling, going down by just a neck to Brendan Powell on The
Conditional (15/2), and he was third of 22 on Gordon Elliott’s Saint D’oroux (14/1) on Wednesday in the Fred Winter Handicap Hurdle when he led to the last obstacle.
He will have been a little disappointed by regular mounts in the big races, Bristol De Mai, ninth in the Gold Cup, Sceau Royal who trailed in last in the Queen Mother Champion Chase, and L’Ami Serge who was pulled up in the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle.
However, it is a good year any time you get a winner at the Festival, and Daryl is one of the most respected riders in the British weighroom.
Trainer Colm Murphy’s return to Cheltenham in the 24-runner Pertemps Hurdle final on Thursday with joint favourite Relegate (11/2) ended with a fifth place finish, nine lengths behind Barry Geraghty on Elliott’s Sire Du Berlais (10/1).
Paul Townend’s ride was not without its critics as he kept Relegate away out the back for much of the race; he came with a good late run but had far too much to do. Arkle would not have won from that position.
Seán O’Keeffe, the young claimer from Harveystown, Taghmon, had three rides for Gordon Elliott at the Festival and advertised his ability and looked for a few moments like he was going to have his first winner.
He was on Éclair De Beaufeu (13/2) in the competitive 18-runner £110,000 Johnny Henderson Grand Annual Chase on Friday evening.
Coming to the last he had moved into second and was mounting a challenge to his stablemate and well-backed favourite, Chosen Mate (7/2 from 15/2); Davy Russell’s mount was not fluent but he had enough in hand to repel the Taghmon man up the hill by less than two lengths.
Seán picked up a very tidy £23,000 purse for his connections.
Later he finished a respectable fifth of 23 in the concluding Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ handicap hurdle on The Bosses Oscar (11/1), less than four lengths behind the winner, Indefatigable.
On Wednesday he was eighth of 22 on Gealach (33/1) in the £80,000 Boodles Juvenile Handicap hurdle, just a nose behind Jonathan Moore on
Gavin Cromwell’s Theatre of War and just five lengths behind the winner, Aramax (15/2), under Mark Walsh for JP McManus.
This experience will definitely stand to Seán in the future, and his performance will have been noted by keen observers.
J.J. Slevin had three rides for Joseph O’Brien on Friday and made a good show to get two thirds and a sixth in very big fields.
He was third of 24 on Embittered (14/1) for Gigginstown in the £100,000 County Hurdle won by Barry Geraghty on Saint Roi, just pipped by a head for second by Aramon for Mullins and Townend.
He was also third of 18 in the £110,000 Johnny Henderson Grand Annual on Us and Them (10/1), and sixth of 18 on Sempo (12/1) in the Grade 1 Albert Bartlett. Slevin picked up over £20,000 in prize money for his day’s work.
It was good to see Seán Flanagan back in the saddle at the Festival after his injury, but he got little chance to shine on two outsiders, having been second on his return at Naas on the Sunday when he came second on Beacon Edge (7/4f).