Beach rocks Troytown to give Elliott Grand ideas

MALA BEACH provided Gordon Elliott with his fourth straight victory in the Ladbrokes Troytown Chase at Navan. The Cullentra handler had won the last three renewals of the prestigious handicap and appeared intent on adding to his tally, saddling five runners in a 21-strong field. Mala Beach, runner-up on his seasonal reappearance at Galway last month, was a 12-1 shot in the hands of Davy Russell and moved smoothly into contention from the home turn. Bonny Kate was in front jumping the second fence from the finish, but Mala Beach soon took over and galloped all the way to the line to score by two-and-three-quarter lengths. Dont Tell No One finished off strongly to fill the runner-up spot ahead of Bonny Kate and Poormans Hill in third and fourth place respectively. Acapella Bourgeois was a heavily-backed 7-4 favourite on his first start for Willie Mullins, but the topweight fell with over a circuit still to run. ‘It’s a fabulous race to win,’ said Russell. ‘I was lucky to win in the past and it’s great to win it again.’ Elliott added: ‘In fairness to that horse he’s been threatening to win a big race for a long time. ‘It hasn’t been easy, it has been a long road. ‘He was running in a Bobbyjo Chase a couple of years ago and fell at the secondlast, so he deserved to win that today. ‘If it ever came up soft in Aintree he could be an English National horse.’ When asked about a tilt at the Lexus Chase at Leopardstown, Elliott added: ‘It would have to be soft and I’d have to talk to Chris (Jones, owner).’

JOSEPHINE GORDON became the second female rider to reach 100 winners in Britain in a calendar year, following in the estimable footprints of Hayley Turner, when Thunderbolt Rocks struck at Wolverhampton on Saturday evening.