STAGE FRIGHT!
Nicholls’ ace survives late scare to reward syndicate
FAVOURITE backers breathed a sigh of relief as Stage Star overcame a late blunder to thrill a large group of owners in the Paddy Power Gold Cup.
Paul Nicholls’ chaser was in control of the £160,000 highlight when his momentum was dramatically halted by a finalfence mistake.
His bold jump was met with a steep landing, which all but ground the 4-1 market leader to a walk under Harry Cobden.
Yet the frontrunner dug into his reserves to win by four lengths from Notlongtillmay, with the winner’s stablemate Il Ridoto in third.
Many of Stage Star’s 2,500-strong syndicate, run at a low cost through the Owners Group, cheered the amazing recovery from the track.
“He is a serious horse,” said Cobden, landing his first race title after eight attempts and completing a double on the day.
“We met the final fence all wrong and to go from nearly 30mph to walking out the back of it, it shows the true courage he has.
“It was a big ask for him to get going again up a hill – a massive performance.”
Stage Star was just the third horse in the past 20 years to win from a handicap mark higher than 150 – and he defied pre-race fitness doubts.
All seven previous scorers had the advantage of a recent run, but a 219-day absence was no bother to the classy seven-year-old. “I thought it was all over,” admitted Nicholls about the final-fence drama.
“It was the only mistake he made. He has picked up, galloped all the way to the line and it just shows what a good horse he is. He has to be fresh, from the moment he came in from his summer break we targeted this race.” Stage Star, 5-1 with William Hill to enhance his course record in the Ryanair Chase in March, is one of around 80 horses running in the same colours, with syndicate members paying around £50 per share.
“It’s like winning the lottery coming back in here,” said Owners Group spokesman Ryan Bliss. “We are very lucky. How easy would he have won if he skipped over the last?”
Nine of the contingent had the full on-course owner’s experience, including Birmingham pensioner and lifelong racing fan John Cross.
“It was totally amazing,” he said. “I thought “oh no” when he made the mistake, but our cheers got him back up!”
Hascoeur Clermont (12-1) was one of three Irish-trained horses to strike on the seven-race programme.
The bold-jumping grey stayed on best to hold off a big field in the Wienerberger Amateur Jockeys’ Handicap Chase.
But Billy Coonan, rider of fifthplaced Read To Return, was handed a 20-day ban at the conclusion of a stewards’ enquiry.
They found he failed to take all reasonable measures to obtain the best finishing position on the race favourite.