Late tumble hands race to Fusil
FUSIL Raffles claimed victory in a dramatic renewal of the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby on Saturday afternoon.
All the attention ahead of the Grade Two contest was on defending champion Cyrname, who was a fine winner last year before his season tailed off and he underwent wind surgery over the summer.
Sent off an 85-40 chance, Cyrname took up his usual prominent position through the early stages and was still in front until Harry Skelton decided to kick on aboard 2-1 favourite Shan Blue at the turn for home.
The second-season chaser quickly built up a healthy lead only to get the third-last all wrong and crash out.
That gave the rest of the field a second bite of the cherry and it was Fusil Raffles and Daryl Jacob who seized the advantage, jumping the penultimate fence in the lead.
He then cleared the last in fine style to secure a four-and-a-halflength success over Kitty’s Light, with Clondaw Castle back in third, while Cyrname was pulled up before the last and Nicholls reported his charge to have suffered breathing issues again.
Dan Skelton was philosophical after Shan Blue fell with the race seemingly at his mercy.
“The horse is all right, Harry’s all right. Good jumpers, when they have a fall, they have a bad fall. It wasn’t very nice but he’s kay, he’d have hacked up,” he said.
Jacob, meanwhile, was delighted with Fusil Raffles’ victory, but said he thought he was booked for second at best when Shan Blue went for home.
He said: “Shan Blue quickened after the turn from home and I thought he’d gone unless he didn’t stay, so at that stage I rode to finish second. Harry’s horse fell three out and I can tell you it was a long way to the winning line.”
■ Frodon and Bryony Frost held off Galvin in a thrilling finish to the Ladbrokes Champion Chase at Down Royal in Ireland.
The first Grade One chase of the new National Hunt season was good enough to grace any of the spring festivals, with all five runners having tasted success at the Cheltenham Festival in the past.
Frost and Frodon adopted their usual front-running role and put in some prodigious leaps, but Rachael Blackmore was keen not to let Paul Nicholls’ charge get too far ahead on Minella Indo.
Galvin joined Frodon jumping the last two and the pair produced a real thriller, but it was Frodon who won by three-quarters of a length.
Frost, riding in her first race as a professional in Ireland, said: “What more can you say about him? That was tough. The uncertainty of where we were going out there and he was having a good look around, but his determination is infectious.”