RACING FOR FUN’S 50-1 SHOT
And the Oscar for the best outsider goes to…
THE soundtrack as odds-on favourite Paisley Park faded out of contention in the Paddy Power Stayers’ Hurdle was the ‘Sound of Silence’ among the packed Cheltenham grandstands but don’t expect the seven- strong Racing For Fun syndicate to care.
They had just hit the jackpot with Rebecca Curtis-trained 501 shot Lisnagar Oscar – the winner paid £85.70 on the Tote – in what felt like Throwback Thursday.
In the days before multi-millionaires from the worlds of industry, commerce and finance changed the face of jump racing ownership, ordinary men and woman from all corners of Britain and Ireland won big races at the Cheltenham.
They are collector’s items now and one that will be treasured by Andrew Spencer, one of the seven celebrating owners of the gelding who gave jockey Adam Wedge his first Festival winner.
Doncaster-based Spencer, who repairs train gearboxes for a living and will be back at work on Monday, paid £6,000 for his share. It bought it a racing dream
Spencer said: ‘This is beyond belief. For the likes of me to be able to participate in something like this is out of this world. I ain’t got loads of money. I’ve just been lucky. We are from all walks of life. We will have a few drinks tonight.’
For Curtis, the win of Lisnagar Oscar was also a surprise. Like most of the crowd at Cheltenham she had expected Paisley Park to defend his Stayers’ Hurdle crown, hoping her runner ‘might finish in the first five’.
A useful novice hurdler last season when he won a big race at Haydock and was fifth to Minella Indo in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle, Lisnagar Oscar had unsuccessfully flirted with novice chasing at the start of the season.
Curtis said: ‘I am speechless really. Last season, he had good form but we tried chasing and it all went wrong. Whether that put him off racing a bit I don’t know but he sprang back to form six weeks ago.’
From 2012 when Teaforthree won the National Hunt Chase, Curtis won a race a year for four Festivals. But her fortunes have dwindled and she had to wait Festival win No 5.
Not so long ago Curtis was training over 50 horses. She now has just over 20 and she hopes Lisnagar Oscar’s victory will reignite the fortunes of her West Wales stable.
Curtis said: ‘This is just what I needed. I hope I have proved I can do the job a bit and we can build things back.’
It was popular mare Apple’s Jade who set a searching pace until she was headed on the home turn and headed into retirement.
Lisnagar Oscar was always well-placed in the chasing pack by Wedge and sealed his win with a good jump at the least for a bookmaker pleasing result which saw 20-1 shot Ronald Pump finish two lengths second with 33-1 chance Bacardys in third.
Back in seventh was Paisley Park. He lost shoes – not helpful in tacky ground – but the stamina laded stayer with a turn of foot who had beaten Lisnagar Oscar four and a half lengths at the track in January looked leaden-legged when jockey Aidan Coleman asked him to quicken.
Trainer Emma Lavelle said: ‘ He just seemed to be going through the motions.’
Trainer Willie Mullins felt his stable had ‘not had the rub of the green’ on the opening two days of the meeting when his hopes would have been far higher than merely winning the Champion Bumper with Ferny Hollow.
Things did not look any brighter when Melon just missed out in the Marsh Novices’ Chase but things picked up after that.
Concertista was the most decisive winner of the meeting so far when a 12-length winner the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle 12 months after being a short-head second in the same race. While Paul Townend-trained Min – runner-up to Altior in both the 2016 Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and 2018 Champion Chase - held off Saint Calvados by a neck in the Ryanair Chase.
Back in third was Rachael Blackmore-ridden favourite A Plus Tard while Bryony Frost said her 2019 winner Frodon was ‘flat out all the way.’
‘He did well to hang on to fourth,’ she added.
Owner Andrew Brooks just missed out with Saint Calvados but was successful with wellbacked Gavin Sheehan-ridden Simply The Betts in the Brown Advisory & Merriebelle Plate Chase, a first winner for trainer