Wedge sticks at it to claim glory in the Welsh National
JOCKEY Adam Wedge survived two crunching falls and then performed a balancing act to win the Coral Welsh National at Chepstow after the girth — the principal support holding the saddle in place — snapped on his mount Secret Reprieve.
The 5-2 favourite, trained by Evan Williams, comfortably beat The Two Amigos by three lengths but overcoming the opposition was the least of Wedge’s worries.
After his girth snapped, only the elastic over-girth held things in place.
The 31-year-old, who had taken thumping falls on Clyne and Esprit Du Large earlier on in the day, said: ‘I knew my saddle had slipped from the second last but I wasn’t aware my girth had come undone.
‘It was only being held in place by the over-girth, which thank God we have. Thankfully everything stayed in place.
‘Fair play to the horse — he stayed on a true straight line and has helped me. It’s a hard. old game at times but winners like this keep us going.
‘I was sore afterwards but I was holding on to ride in the big race. Straight after the fall on Esprit Du Large, I was questioning my riding but I felt okay, even though I fell on the next one, too!’
Williams added: ‘The biggest worry was when Adam was squashed on the floor and we didn’t think we’d get him for the race. Unbelievably, they patched him up and then his girth broke. It has been a mad old day.
Trainer Paul Nicholls had to settle for third with Yala Enki but enjoyed a magnificent afternoon with seven winners across three meetings.
The most significant came at Kempton where McFabulous won the Dornan Engineering Relkeel Hurdle, while Master Tommytucker landed the Ladbrokes Silviniaco Conti Chase despite a heart-stopping blunder at the last after favourite Imperial Aura had unseated David Bass at the second fence.
Both were ridden by Harry Cobden and neither looks certain to go to the Cheltenham Festival, with Nicholls saying both looked more suited to the flat at Aintree.
The two-mile four-furlong Aintree Hurdle would be the race for McFabulous, who was third to Thyme Hill and Paisley Park in the Long Distance Hurdle at Newbury in November.
Nicholls said: ‘He will have an entry in the Stayers’ Hurdle at Cheltenham but I think I’ll keep him fresh for Aintree.
‘He wasn’t beaten by far at Newbury but I’m not convinced I want to give him another hard race against those horses at this stage of his career when he’ll be a super chaser.’
Elsewhere at Kempton yesterday, Boreham Bill caused a huge 66-1 shock to win the Listed Ladbrokes Lanzarote handicap. Trained by Emma Lavelle and ridden by claimer Ben Jones, the nine-year-old travelled powerfully on the outside to win by two-and-aquarter lengths from Misty Whisky.