JOHNSON THE OPEN CHAMP
PHILIP HOBBS and stable jockey Richard Johnson left Cheltenham last night after turning the Open Meeting i nto a virtual closed shop.
Success with Garde La Victoire in the Greatwood Hurdle and Dunraven Storm in the Arkle Trophy Chase Trial took Hobbs’s tally of wins to six in 19 races over the three days.
Johnson’s haul hit seven when winning the concluding Listed Bumper on Steve Gollings-trained Definitly Red. His feat — Johnson (below) was only eligible to ride in 17 races — matched that of AP McCoy, who won seven times at the 2001 meeting.
Hobbs, who sent out Balthazar King, Champagne West and Bold Henry to win on Friday, then saddled the triumphant Golden Doye n on Saturday. He couldn’t quite match the achievement of Martin Pipe — he produced seven Open Meeting winners in 2001, 2002 and 2004 — but Hobbs’s reward is to lead a trainers’ championship most expect to be a fight between Paul Nicholls, Nicky Henderson and Jonjo O’Neill.
Hobbs said: ‘Before the meeting I said I would settle for two winners and Richard said three. Six is phenomenal.
‘I could not have imagined it in my wildest dreams. It was borderline whether we ran today’s two winners because we thought it might be too soft for them. We’ll enjoy it.’ The Arkle Chase could prove the ultimate aim for 7-2 winner Dunraven Storm, who held off Vibrato Valtat on whom Sam Twiston-Davies seemed to overdo the waiting tactics. Hobbs, whose understated d e meanour means his successes rarely achieve the attention they deserve, brushed off any notion Garde La Victoire may be a Champion Hurdle outsider by saying the winner was 20lb below the required standard.
Action more pertinent to that race took place at Punchestown, where Hurricane Fly proved there is l i fe i n his 10-year- old legs with a third consecutive win in the Morgiana Hurdle, beating Jezki by two-and-a-half lengths.
Alan King’s Uxizandre, under an exquisite front- running Barry Geraghty ride, landed Cheltenham’s Shloer Chase. Hills make him 16-1 for the Queen Mother Champion Chase but attention in that division surrounds two stars trying to overcome problems.
We should find out tomorrow if champion Sire De Grugy has suffered a hairline pelvic fracture, while Nicky Henderson said 2013 winner Sprinter Sacre, sidelined last term by a fibrillating heart, will have a racecourse gallop before being given the go-ahead to run in the Tingle Creek Chase at Sandown on December 6.
Henderson said: ‘Heart-wise everything is fine.’