THYME IS TICKING FOR O’BRIEN
TOM O’BRIEN, for so long understudy to Richard Johnson, went down a storm on his opening night as Thyme Hill denied Roksana for the Ryanair Stayers’ Hurdle.
Four-time champion jockey Johnson’s shock retirement last Saturday saw O’brien move up the pecking order to No.1 rider for Minehead trainer Philip Hobbs. And the 34-year-old celebrated his first winner in the new role as Thyme Hill, forced to miss Cheltenham by a pulled muscle, got up in the shadow of the post to lift the
Grade 1 three-miler by a neck.
“Although I’ve won Grade 1s, big handicaps and the best part of 1,000 winners, I haven’t got my leg across many Thyme Hills,” admitted O’brien. “I’ve been in the same position for so long, so it is new and it’s a different calibre of horse to get on. I’ll never fill Richard’s boots. All I can is pull up my own. “
Hobbs said: “It would have been great, in a way, if Richard had ridden him, but Tom is over the moon and that’s fantastic.”
Thyme Hill could embark on a novice chasing career next term, revealed Hobbs.
“It will certainly be discussed,” he said. “He schooled very well over fences at the end of last season, when we were considering what we were going to do.”
Roksana’s trainer Dan Skelton had earlier saddled My Drogo to an impressive nine-and-a-half-length margin in the Grade 1 Betway Mersey Novices’ Hurdle.
Cheltenham’s Arkle Trophy hero Shishkin defended his unbeaten record with a 1-8 score in the toplevel Maghull Novices’ Chase.