Happy Diva’s luck turns in second tilt at BetVictor Gold Cup
The big battalions may have won the first four races when Cheltenham managed to get its November meeting on following Thursday’s deluge, but the first big race of the jump season went to a smaller set-up when Kerry Lee’s Happy Diva hung on grimly to win yesterday’s £160,000 BetVictor Gold Cup.
The mare, a 14-1 shot, was one of four horses which jumped the second-last in unison. There, the biggest threat, the 4-1 favourite Slate House, fell, longtime leader Warthog started dropping away and it came down to a duel between Happy Diva and the JP McManus-owned Brelan D’As up the hill.
But every time the runner-up, who looked the more likely winner at the last, pulled out extra and inched closer, the mare found more for Richard Patrick, a 3lb claiming jockey for whom this was a breakthrough victory, and the pair won with a neck to spare, with another eight lengths back to Warthog.
The win made up for 12 months ago when Happy Diva was brought down four out when travelling extremely well in the same race.
“We’ve gone from no luck to all the luck,” said Patrick, 24. “It’s massive for me. I’m coming to the end of my claim and you need to be seen on the big days winning these big races. I couldn’t have had a better run today. I saw there was a strip of fresh ground right down the inside. It’s the 20th time I’ve ridden her, she’s nothing flashy at home but she’s the most willing partner, she always runs her heart out.”
The jockey was brought up near Haverfordwest in Wales and his gang of friends included Sean and James Bowen, Connor Brace, Lorcan Williams
and Daniel Muscutt, all jockeys now, and he graduated from woolly Welsh ponies through pony racing and point-to-pointing.
Much like her father, Richard, who turned out regular big winners from a small string, Lee does well with just two dozen horses. A former member of the Channel 4 Racing team, she has won a Welsh National with Mountainous in 2015 and a Fairyhouse Grade One with Kylemore Lough.
“It’s testament to what a gutsy mare she is,” she said. “She’s so tough and robust. She beat Magic of Light who went on to finish second in the Grand National last season, so the form was there, although she has been the bridesmaid once too often. It’s thrilling to see her win for the Roseff family, long-standing, loyal owners who were with Dad when he started 30 years ago.
“I knew she would come on for her run at Wetherby but I didn’t think she’d come on that much. Richard always had her in the perfect position – but you never get carried away because so much can go wrong. We [Gino Trail] got beaten in the Grand Annual by one of Mr McManus’s horses [Le Prezien] in 2018, so I was glad we were able to change the placings today.”
The Philip Hobbs runner Springtown Lake was the first to pull up but the trainer went home happy in the knowledge he has a smart novice hurdler on his hands after Thyme Hill, the first British horse home in last season’s bumper at the Festival when third, beat Champagne Well by three lengths in the Ballymore Novice Hurdle.
Before the disappointment of Slate House, Colin Tizzard had better luck when Robbie Power delivered West Approach late to win the BetVictor Smartcards Handicap Chase. “It’s easier riding than watching,” he said afterwards, referring to Power’s tactics. “But that was poetry, as cool a ride as you’ll ever see.”