Lucinda’s fifty-grand punt looks set to be an absolute bargain
Ahoy Senor is the horse everyone has been raving about since smashing a Grade Two field at Newbury last weekend by 31 lengths.
But being unfashionable at the sales led to him becoming Scotland’s most-promising young star in years.
Lucinda Russell’s leading light is among the favourites for the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham next spring on the back of his runaway success in Berkshire.
And the Milnathort trainer reveals a £50k punt on an unfancied English point-to-pointer – just minutes after £570,000 recordbreaker Jonbon went through the ring at Yorton sales – has paid off handsomely.
She said: “All the hype had been about Jonbon because he’s Douvan’s brother, so all eyes were on him.
“I remember thinking this might help us because when you’ve a high-profile top lot like that, usually afterwards everyone turns away to talk about it.
“That means the next lot tends to slip through. I don’t know if the stats back that up, but I’ve always felt that’s what happens!
“If you’re interested in one after the main event, you’ve got a chance. Everyone’s heart had been racing watching the bidding for Jonbon go up and up to over half-a-million.
“But mine didn’t start until Ahoy Senor came in because we didn’t know who else would want to bid for him.
“The top-winning pointers are usually £200,000 minimum – so that’s well out of our price range.
“But Ahoy Senor’s background made it possible for us to get him. I’ve friends who watch British point-to-points a lot, so they’d told me all about him and how impressive he was.
“He had a few negatives. People wondered if the form was solid and he didn’t win first time out, either, which seems to put folk off.
“He’s also by Dylan Thomas, who a lot of people don’t seem to like as a sire. So quite a few boxes were ticked on the wrong side!
“But we’d heard really good things from good judges, and when I saw him, I said: ‘We have to buy this horse’.
“We didn’t even really need to look at him walk because he was so good-looking.”
Bruce and Carron Wymer’s star – who burst on to the scene with a 66/1 success over hurdles at the Grand National meeting – now heads to either Warwick or Lingfield in January for a prep race before flying the flag for Scotland at Cheltenham.
“I did feel he was a bit forgotten over the summer, maybe because of the price he won at in April,” said Russell. “But he’s a good horse, and has been showing that.”