Summerville in Tolworth triumph
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SUMMERVILLE BOY caused a minor shock to win the 32Red Tolworth Novices’ Hurdle at Sandown.
Tom George’s six-year-old relished the strong gallop set by Mont Des Avaloirs, while Kalashnikov appeared in trouble from an early stage but was still in there fighting approaching the last. ★
Despite a poor jump by Summerville Boy (8-1), Noel Fehily, (right) was able to gather his mount up and keep him going for a four-length win.
Kalashnikov stuck on gamely for second while the four-year-old Mont Des Avaloirs was third, hampered by a bad leap at the second last. ★ The disappointment of the race was Western Ryder, who beat the winner last time out at Cheltenham.
A delighted Fehily said: “At Cheltenham it was a false-run race and he was very free. It was an even gallop today and that suited him. He’s a very nice horse.
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“I was hoping no one would notice I lost an iron at the last, he got into the bottom of it but luckily he won really well.
“I think he’ll get further but he’s a big baby. Tom has been minding him and the reason he’s been running in good races is to keep him as a novice for next year if he didn’t win.”
George added: “It’s extraordinary how he hadn’t won a novice hurdle but he’s a very strong-travelling horse and he’d been running in small fields when they’ve gone slow and he’s pulled too hard.
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“Noel said he’d beat them all if they went a proper gallop. “Roger has been a big supporter and we’ve got plenty for him, so it’s nice to have a good one.” We Have A Dream, owned by Simon Munir and Isaac Souede, was cut to 7-1 from 8-1 by Paddy Power in a market headed by stablemate Apple’s Shakira after he edged a duel with Sussex Ranger to win the Grade One Finale Juvenile Hurdle. ★
We Have A Dream found Sussex Ranger a difficult opponent to shake off as he scored by a length and a half. Henderson said: “What I wasn’t expecting was to see two horses quicken up from the second last to the last. They haven’t even gone as fast as we thought they might do and it turned into a sprint.
“He has made all the last two times and today he has done it nicely from the last. He quickened up really well.”
He said Apple’s Shakira will run at Cheltenham on trials day.