Ffos Las delivers a real cracker — pity there was no crowd to savour it
THERE may not have been any spectators, but there were plenty of reasons for the Ffos Las powerbrokers to celebrate on Sunday.
Only those who caught the action on Sky Sports Racing would have seen it, with the coronavirus emergency preventing crowds at sporting events.
And that is a shame. Because in years to come this could prove to be the day when Ffos Las really came of age.
Sure, there have been big days and big names before in its 11-year existence. But on Sunday, on the biggest day in its calendar, it really delivered.
Wherever you looked there was quality. In the trainers, in the jockeys and most certainly in the horses.
There was a Welsh Champion Hurdle packed with star names – both equine and human – a chief supporting race honouring a Welsh racing great that dripped in quality and bundles of untapped potential elsewhere on the card.
Of course, the Carmarthenshire track is no stranger to topclass talent.
Sprinter Sacre, recognised as one of jumping’s all-time greats, made one of his first racecourse appearances here.
The likes of fellow Cheltenham Festival heroes Might Bite and Defi Du Seuil have also appeared in this corner of West Wales.
But for some reason – crowds apart – it all seemed to come together on Sunday.
Take the Welsh Champion Hurdle, a race worth £25,000 to the winner.
Not since the heady days of Night Nurse, Sea Pigeon and Monksfield had the race attracted such a field packed with quality. As such, it needed a performance of high class to win it.
And we got one. Sceau Royal, these days better known as a chaser, relished his return to the smaller obstacles as he moved into contention in the home straight before scooting twoand-three-quarter lengths clear. Ballyandy, like his conqueror a previous winner at the highest level, was best of the rest in second.
Sceau Royal’s trainer Alan King said: “We’ve got all sorts of options now. He doesn’t have to go straight back over fences. The ground is the key to him because he doesn’t want a slog.”
For winning jockey Daryl Jacob it was the end of a pretty special half-hour, as he was still on a high from winning the Norton’s Coin Novices’ Chase on the seriously talented If The Cap Fits.
Just a trio of horses lined up, but with two of them already successful at Grade 1 level and the other a Grade 2 winner, it promised to be a three-runner race that would take a lot of winning.
But it was impossible not to be impressed with If The Cap Fits, who bounded clear under Jacob on the run for home to leave Fiddler on the roof well behind.
“I’m delighted with that,” said winning trainer Harry Fry.
“I was delighted with the way he attacked the fences in the straight.
“Today was very exciting, and I hope it’s onwards and upwards.”
And then there were the horses of the future who made a striking impression.
Estelle Ma Belle from Paul Nicholls’s yard could be a mare to follow after easily taking her contest, while stablemate See lot more business gave notice of his ability when taking the finale.
This was a proper day’s racing. Let’s hope for more of the same in 2021 – with the added bonus of a crowd in place.