CHELTENHAM’S Open meeting starts on Friday 16th november 2012, with a thrilling contest between Britain’s two leading hopes for the RSA Chase, Fingal Bay and Dynaste / Venerdì 16 novembre 2012 inizia il Meeting di Cheltenham

BY LEE MOTTERSHEAD

Fingal Bay Newbury 31/12/2011
Fingal Bay: 11-8 favourite to win the opening race at Cheltenham

PICTURE: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

RSA stars set for Open meeting curtain raiser

 BY LEE MOTTERSHEAD6:15PM 15 NOV 2012

CHELTENHAM’S Open meeting starts on Friday with a thrilling contest between Britain’s two leading hopes for the RSA Chase, Fingal Bay and Dynaste. 

The Steel Plate And Sections Novices’ Chase boasts an extremely rich past but its latest running looks more than up to scratch with the big two being joined by a former Cheltenham Festival winner over hurdles in Carlito Brigante, a highly-regarded Paul Nicholls import from France named Unioniste, and a far-from-useless resident of Jackdaws Castle, Thehillofuisneach.It is, however, Fingal Bay and Dynaste on which most of the pre-race attention will focus given that they already trade no bigger than 10-1 and 14-1 respectively for the novices’ Gold Cup.

Of the pair, only Fingal Bay has jumped a fence in public with the Grade 1-winning hurdler having got off to a fine start at Chepstow in October.

“He seems in very good form,” said trainer Philip Hobbs. “He jumped really well first time out at Chepstow and we were very happy with that but it obviously doesn’t help that we’re giving weight to a horse like Dynaste.”

Fingal Bay does indeed concede 5lb to Dynaste, who tried unsuccessfully to beat Big Buck’s on three occasions last term but nonetheless revealed himself to be a high-class performer.

Trainer David Pipe, who won the race 12 months ago with Grands Crus, said: “He was obviously a very good hurdler and we hope he’ll be as good a chaser, if not better. He’s schooled well at home. It’s a hot race with Fingal Bay and Unioniste but two and a half miles is a good starting point, although he’ll eventually get three miles.”

As most definitely will Unioniste, in whom John Hales invested some of his own John Smith’s Grand National winnings prior to the four-year-old’s solid victory at Aintree, where Carlito Brigante – a winner over fences at Cheltenham last month – was 30 lengths back in fourth.

Nicholls said: “A lot of the fences were bypassed at Aintree, which was a shame as he jumps really well. He also stays well and he’ll want to go over further in time but this is an ideal race for him now. He’s already beaten Carlito Brigante but Fingal Bay and Dynaste are tough opponents.”

 

Cheltenham, FRI 16 NOV 2012 

GOING: GOOD TO SOFT (Good in places on Chase and Hurdle courses; Soft in places on Cross-Country course) (GoingStick: Chase/Hurdle 6.9, Cross-Country 6.6). (Cloudy)
1:15 STEEL PLATE AND SECTIONS NOVICES´ CHASE (CLASS 2) (4yo+) Winner £12,512 5 runners2m4f110y Good To Soft CH4
NO. FORM HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER RTF% JOCKEY OR TS RPR
1 13214 Carlito Brigante 20 tp  6 11-10 Gordon Elliott73 Davy Russell 140 118 145
2 1112-1 Fingal Bay 34  6 11-7 Philip Hobbs56 Richard Johnson — 78 152
3 1428- Dynaste 246 6 11-2 David Pipe44 Tom Scudamore — — —
4 116P-4 Thehillofuisneach 24 8 11-2 Jonjo O´Neill39 A P McCoy 136 — 110
5 165-11 Unioniste 20  4 11-2 Paul Nicholls74 R Walsh — 130 142
1:50 PADDYPOWER.COM HANDICAP CHASE (CLASS 2) (4yo+ 0-145) Winner £28,152 14 runners 2mGood To Soft CH4
NO. FORM HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER RTF% JOCKEY OR TS RPR
1 21721- Astracad 205  6 11-12 Nigel Twiston-Davies36 Sam Twiston-Davies 145 136 152
2 36134- Oh Crick 209  9 11-11 Alan King55 Mr Joshua Newman7 144 149 154
3 1105-4 Kid Cassidy 19  6 11-11 Nicky Henderson45 A P McCoy 144 141 153
4 31349- Consigliere 247 p  9 11-9 David Pipe44 Tom Bellamy7 142 130 157
5 F437-P Takeroc 19 t  9 11-6 Chris Gordon Tom Cannon3 139 152 152
6 P0FP-P Free World 40 t  8 11-1 A L T Moore60 Davy Russell 134 94 150
7 F-1767 Rio Gael 75  6 10-13 Peter Bowen50 Tom O’Brien 132 131 150
8 33P-12 Silver Roque 19 t  6 10-8 Fergal O´Brien71 Paddy Brennan 127 133 153
9 0012P5 Wetak 13 t 5 10-7 F-M Cottin100 Tom Scudamore 126 — 147
10 11312- Arctic Ben 211  8 10-6 Henry Daly Richard Johnson 125 140 152
11 1/2922 Shooters Wood 17 t  8 10-5 Paul Nicholls74 R Walsh 124 119 147
12 98-0F0 Salute Him 19  9 10-1 A J Martin62 Maurice Linehan7 120 54 144
13 15/38- Fiftyonefiftyone 384  8 10-0 Oliver Sherwood33 Sam Jones 118 115 155
14 259161 Lucy´s Legend 26 tp  6 10-0 Paul Henderson33 James Best5 115 124 148
2:25 OPUS ENERGY NOVICES´ HURDLE (REGISTERED AS THE SHARP NOVICES´ HURDLE) (GRADE 2) (CLASS 1) (4yo+) Winner £14,238 8 runners 2m110y Good To Soft CH4
NO. FORM HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER RTF% JOCKEY OR TS RPR
1 1214-1 Court Minstrel 28  5 11-7 Evan Williams56 Paul Moloney — 102 134
2 246-1 Dodging Bullets 27  4 11-7 Paul Nicholls74 R Walsh 150 129 157
3 24-113 Magic Spear 58  6 11-7 C A Murphy67 Robbie Power 127 115 136
4 11081 Run With The Wind 33F  6 11-7 Michael Hourigan38 Timmy Murphy 135 128 145
5 44221U Ted Dolly 53  8 11-7 Edward U Hales Robert Thornton 128 112 126
6 23-1 Duke Of Navan 21  4 11-4 Nicky Richards44 Davy Russell — 12 120
7 1 Tominator 18  5 11-4 Jonjo O´Neill39 A P McCoy — 70 130
8 131- River Maigue 209  5 11-0 Nicky Henderson45 Barry Geraghty — — —
3:00 GLENFARCLAS CROSS COUNTRY CHASE (CLASS 2) (5yo+) Winner £15,640 16 runners 3m7fGood To Soft CH4
NO. FORM HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER RTF% JOCKEY OR TS RPR
1 0-476P Another Jewel 22 10 11-8 Denis Paul Murphy Davy Russell 135 49 141
2 P0O1-1 Balthazar King 27  8 11-8 Philip Hobbs56 Richard Johnson 146 141 155
3 6547-3 Hello Bud 163 t  14 11-8 Nigel Twiston-Davies36 Sam Twiston-Davies 125 138 140
4 034P-8 Nikola 20 p 11 11-8 Nigel Twiston-Davies36 David England 115 114 136
5 344-04 Sizing Australia 18  10 11-8 Henry De Bromhead20 A E Lynch 144 — 150
6 81-646 Uncle Junior 34  11 11-8 W P Mullins Mr P W Mullins 152 — 152
7 11U-7 Bahrain Storm 21F b 9 11-5 Noel Quinlan Jack Quinlan 139 114 147
8 19U0-P Double Dizzy 12 t 11 11-5 Bob Buckler33 Andrew Glassonbury 138 127 137
9 P/160- Midnight Haze 216 10 11-5 Kim Bailey75 Nick Scholfield 134 134 149
10 36157 Noble Commander 105 b 9 11-5 Garvan Donnelly Robbie Power 104 108 117
11 U1-05O Outlaw Pete 12 8 11-5 J Halley100 Mr Josh Halley 122 113 144
12 P45-23 Vincitore 16 p 6 11-2 Charlie Longsdon50 Miss C V Hart 124 110 139
13 1/1131 Orphee Des Blins 34 10 11-1 G Wroblewski Jan Faltejsek 147 — 156
14 1-2332 Try Catch Me 49 7 10-13 Alison Batchelor Mark Quinlan 102 105 122
15 00-068 Deutschland 12F t 9 10-10 W P Mullins Emmet Mullins 142 — 148
16 26O3-F Wedger Pardy 183 b 11 10-10 Kim Bailey75 Miss J Coward 131 142 150
3:35 IRISH TIMES CONDITIONAL JOCKEYS´ HANDICAP HURDLE (CLASS 3) (4yo+ 0-125) Winner £7,507 24 runners 2m5f Good To Soft RUK
NO. FORM HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER RTF% JOCKEY OR TS RPR
1 631101 Akbabend 4 7xt 6 12-5 Chris Gordon Tom Cannon3 132 83 118
2 2141U- Waterunder 272 t  5 11-12 David Pipe44 Kieron Edgar8 125 — 123
3 20/8-3 Titan De Sarti 28 5 11-10 Nicky Henderson45 Jeremiah McGrath3 123 94 127
4 12208- Kings Lodge 223 6 11-9 Nicky Henderson45 Gary Derwin8 122 98 133
5 7-1146 High Storm 28 b1 5 11-9 Dr Richard Newland100 Christopher Ward6 122 116 125
6 65P-P6 Pure Faith 19 8 11-9 Peter Bowen50 Donal Devereux3 122 — 125
7 2399U Turner Brown 18 p 8 11-9 Michael O´Hare Eddie O’Connell 122 72 133
8 747293 Slew Charm 13 10 11-9 Sarah Dawson Peter Carberry 122 105 134
9 11151- Top Wood 216 5 11-9 David Pipe44 Tom Bellamy8 122 112 135
10 13418 Adelar 21 7 11-9 Venetia Williams56 Harry Challoner3 122 127 132
11 62525 Total Excitement 36 10 11-7 Thomas Cooper Mark Enright 120 91 131
12 4000- Riptide 55F p 6 11-7 Michael Scudamore67 Adam Wedge 120 98 130
13 F226- Reggie Perrin 36F v 4 11-7 Pat Phelan100 Joshua Moore 120 104 116
14 44116 Coffee 42  5 11-7 Jonjo O´Neill39 Maurice Linehan6 120 114 130
15 1-3581 Cinevator 17 p 5 11-7 Caroline Keevil James Best 120 121 128
16 0/44-6 Nafaath 14F b 6 11-6 Neil King25 Trevor Whelan3 119 50 121
17 7-3323 Angles Hill 17 5 11-5 Richard Woollacott Micheal Nolan 118 115 125
18 1F6-27 Ambrose Princess 27 7 11-5 Fergal O´Brien71 Brendan Powell 118 113 129
19 1/34-6 Buck Magic 192  6 11-5 Neil Mulholland29 Michael Byrne 118 126 133
20 1/4F6- Saint Roque 208 6 11-5 Paul Nicholls74 Harry Derham6 118 104 134
21 100-8P Air Chief 61 tp 7 11-5 E McNamara100 R J Jones3 118 — 130
22 25-83U Crafty Roberto 21 4 11-3 Alex Hales75 Killian Moore3 116 104 125
23 232-P2 Valley Lad 5 6 11-2 David Evans50 Richard Evans3 115 75 132
24 24616- Teak 69F 5 11-0 Ian Williams38 Robert McCarth3 113 106 1
4:05 BATES HATS AMATEUR RIDERS´ HANDICAP CHASE (CLASS 3) (4yo+ 0-140) Winner £11,992 15 runners 3m110y Good To Soft RUK
NO. FORM HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER RTF% JOCKEY OR TS RPR
1 132/11 There´s No Panic 21 7 11-12 Paul Nicholls74 Mr S Clements3 137 110 143
2 200P-P Swing Bill 160  11 11-9 David Pipe44 Mr M Ennis5 134 147 149
3 F3R14/ Triggerman 573 p  10 11-7 Philip Hobbs56 Mr T Cheesman7 132 — —
4 2P6244 Jamsie Hall 27 tp  9 11-5 Gordon Elliott73 Mr J J Codd 130 138 150
5 1F3PP- Strongbows Legend 247 p 7 11-4 Charlie Longsdon50 Miss C V Hart7 129 133 147
6 P6226- Categorical 10F  9 11-2 Keith Reveley64 Mr Colm McCormack3 127 106 143
7 P34-2 Aimigayle 181  9 11-1 Suzy Smith67 Mr S Waley-Cohen 126 132 146
8 32F9-7 Pentiffic 21 9 10-13 Venetia Williams56 Mr W Biddick 124 120 148
9 F2-552 Bescot Springs 27 v  7 10-12 Lucinda Russell59 Mr G Watters7 123 71 146
10 305-11 Hunters Lodge 28  6 10-11 Nigel Twiston-Davies36 Mr R Hatch7 122 132 150
11 7545- Alderluck 255 b 9 10-11 David Pipe44 Mr M Heard7 122 95 144
12 P-5042 Jewel Of The West 28 8 10-9 D T Hughes43 Ms N Carberry 120 115 149
13 6913F Sizing Santiago 20 p 6 10-8 Peter Bowen50 Mr C Motherway 119 126 146
14 535FP- Etxalar 209 9 10-3 Lucinda Russell59 Miss C Walton3 114 105 148
15 2-3PF9 Battlecry 37  11 10-1 Nigel Twiston-Davies36 Mr J Sherwood7 112 78 147
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