Sheehan times late surge to perfection
Fugitif gets up on line to pip Il Ridoto at Cheltenham
SATURDAYS are proving all right for jockey Gavin Sheehan, whose timing in the prestigious December Gold Cup at Cheltenham was perfect to continue his run of big-race victories.
Sheehan, who won the Coral Gold Cup on Datsalrightgino two weeks ago, produced a marvellous ride on Fugitif to get up on the line and break the heart of Il Ridoto, the Paul Nicholls chaser who had made virtually all the running in yesterday’s showpiece.
But if this day was all right for Corkman Sheehan, who is performing at the top of his game, it was unforgettable for Richard Hobson.
Here, in the most dramatic circumstances, was a much-needed change of luck for the trainer.
Hobson had never had a winner at Cheltenham before – there had been 11 second-placed finishes down the years and it would have left him shattered had that number gone to 12 following the tightest of photofinishes.
He had been left wondering whether Sheehan had got things wrong, sitting so far off the unforgiving pace set by Il Ridoto, her rider Bryony Frost and Venetia Williams’s representative Frero Banbu.
As is so often the case at Cheltenham, however, things often change on that lung-burning climb up the final hill, when fences must be jumped under intense pressure.
Sheehan conjured a magnificent charge to pilfer the prize by a few pixels in a photo finish.
‘It gave me confidence that they were going a gallop,’ said Sheehan. ‘But, at the same time, from a long way out I thought we’ve got to change at some stage, but I was just biding my time to chase and then hoping to finish stronger up the hill.
‘That’s what I wanted and it was just a matter of whether they were going to stop.
‘That’s just a brilliant result for Richard Hobson and his team. They’ve had a lot of seconds here and that’ll mean the world.’
Thunder Rock, the favourite for the race, never found a jumping rhythm and was beaten halfway round the final circuit, while another of the fancied runners, the Emmet Mullins-trained So Scottish, came down when still travelling well four from home.
Of Fugitif, Sheehan said: ‘He’s a brilliant horse to ride. We got one fence wrong, that was it. Other than that, he was brilliant.
‘It’s just such a great feeling, coming down the hill and travelling like he did but at the same time thinking that the race was over.
‘I thought in my head the race was over and we’d just be picking up the pieces. To be fair, I didn’t know how I was going to win on him. I just let the race unfold.’
An Bradan Feasa was a decisive winner of the JCB Triumph Trial for trainer Jack Jones.
Successful on his hurdling debut at Ballinrobe in September for Joseph O’Brien, the three-year-old subsequently moved across the Irish Sea to join Newmarket-based Jones in the autumn.
An Bradan Feasa made a promising debut for his new connections when second to leading Triumph Hurdle contender Burdett Road at Cheltenham last month, and he was a 5-4 shot to go one better four weeks on in the hands of Tom Bellamy.
Another Irish export in the winner’s enclosure yesterday was Shanagh Bob, who produced a determined performance to maintain his unbeaten record in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle.
Bought for £200,000 after winning a Ballinrobe Irish point-to-point 12 months ago, the five-year-old began to repay that hefty price tag when making a successful debut under rules at Plumpton recently before Nicky Henderson’s charge justified 15-8 favouritism when stepping up in trip and class for this three-mile Grade Two.
I didn’t know how I was going to win on him... I just let the race unfold