Defi Du Seuil stakes claim to Altior’s two-mile crown
With Altior, winner of the Champion Chase for the past two seasons, due to relinquish his crown by stepping up in trip, starting at Ascot on Saturday, Defi Du Seuil became the first horse to put in a bid for the impending vacancy when he won the Shloer Chase here yesterday.
At this meeting last year, JP Mcmanus’s six-year-old ballooned a few fences on his chasing debut, but his jumping was soon ironed out and he went on to beat Lostintranslation and add the JLT Chase to the Triumph Hurdle in his Festival collection.
While the runner-up has gone up in trip and looks a Gold Cup contender, the decision to drop back to two miles with Defi Du Seuil was taken because, without Altior, the division seemed weaker.
It looked a good decision when he produced a smart turn of foot in the conditions to skip past Politologue from the last and win by a length and a quarter, and he will now head for a more acid two-mile test, the Tingle Creek at Sandown, next month.
“We had a long discussion about trip,” said Philip Hobbs, after his third winner of the meeting. “I think we came to the right conclusion. We’ll take it on a race-by-race basis and see how we get on next time.
“Part of the reason we came here was that the two-mile division looks a bit weaker, apart from Willie Mullins’s Chacun Pour Soi. He’s got plenty of pace and the soft ground also brings his stamina into play.”
The Unibet Greatwood Hurdle went to Alan King’s 16-1 shot Harambe, who is part-owned by Charlotte Burke, the stable’s secretary. “I’m a bit speechless,” she said. “It’s been the plan to come here from the end of last season.”
There was a French one-two in the rescheduled Glenfarclas Cross Country when Diesel D’allier beat older stable companion Urgent De Gregaine by 4½ lengths. Both are trained by Emmanuel Clayeux, the man who bred last season’s Gold Cup winner, Al Boum Photo.
“I wasn’t sure how Diesel D’allier would adapt, but he jumped fluently and was off a low weight [getting a 22lb from the runner-up],” said Clayeux, who was in a playful mood.
“They will both come back in December. Urgent De Gregaine will come back in March and then he will be retired – hopefully on a winner. I’d like a statue of him here!”