Weekend Review: Somersby's day at Ascot

Weekend Preview/Review / Timeform / 23 January 2012 / Leave a Comment

Somersby: In the process of pegging back Finian's Rainbow.

"The Venetia Williams-trained Somersby finally gained the the victory that his record deserved when beating Finian’s Rainbow and Al Ferof..."

Timeform look back at a weekend featuring a success for Somersby in the VC Chase alongside a number of other impressive performances at Ascot, whilst Donald McCain was amongst the winners at Haydock...

The Henrietta Knight-trained Somersby finally gained the the victory that his record deserved when beating Finian's Rainbow and Al Ferof in the VC Chase at Ascot, going one better than when second to Master Minded in the race last year.

First time cheekpieces seemingly sharpened up the eight year-old, as he was not found lacking for pace and battled on dourly to see off Finian's Rainbow who, after travelling like the best horse in the race, failed to put things to bed.

Al Ferof put up the best performance by a novice chaser this season (Timeform rating of 161) in finishing third, which is a considerable achievement given the standard of novice around this season. He did appear as though he would be better for the run, not taking the eye beforehand and looking a little flat at stages throughout the race. He remains a strong contender for the Arkle, for which he can currently be backed at [7.4].

Finian's Rainbow is likely to take part in the Champion Chase, and is trading at [8.0], whilst Somersby could either run in that Race ([23.0]) or the Ryanair ([8.8]) with the latter seeming the more likely at present.

Smad Place, trained by Alan King, made his reappearance a winning one, landing a Grade 2 handicap hurdle. The five year-old finished tenth in last season's Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham, and was yet another of last year's novices' to come out and progress this term, with the step up in distance clearly helping. The National Spirit at Fontwell is his likely next target and he also holds an entry in the World Hurdle at Cheltenham ([46.0]), although that will be a completely different task.

Alan King also saw Balder Succes enter the winners enclosure at Ascot, the promising four year-old taking his tally to three wins from three starts. He only faced two rivals here, and did not have to run up to his previous form, so a run in something more competitive will allow him to show just how good he could be.

Violin Davis was given a particularly good ride by Ruby Walsh to win the Grade 2 mares' hurdle, a race run at a crawl resulting in a somewhat suspect outcome. The winner will likely appreciate the drop in trip for the David Nicholson at the Festival, and is currently available at [21.0], but of much more interest for that race would be runner-up Kentford Grey Lady, who was held-up and taken wide, finding herself in a poor position and therefore unable to make up the ground. Her price of [17.5] looks generous, although she does have Quevega to beat.

The opening race on Ascot's card saw Triolo d'Alene score on his British debut for Nicky Henderson, promising much more to come, whilst Tatenen defied a 6 lb higher mark than 12 months ago to win the penultimate contest.

Donald McCain had a day to remember at Haydock, with four of his runners proving successful and bringing up his 100 for the season in the process. Cinders and Ashes got things off to an excellent start, cementing his position towards the fore of the Supreme Novices market, before Our Mick, Reindeer Dippin and Real Milan also got in on the act.

Celestial Halo, trained by Paul Nicholls, continued his fantastic season by winning Haydock's Champion Hurdle trial, following victories in the Elite Hurdle at Wincanton and a brilliant weight-carrying performance at Newbury last month. Typically coming under pressure a fair way from home, Celestial Halo responded well to see off Desert Cry and Marsh Warbler; he is another that could next head to the National Spirit at Fontwell.

Haydock's feature event, the Peter Marsh Chase, went to recent Rowland Meyrick winner According to Pete, who saw off the attentions of Pearlysteps and Consigliere in the closing stages. The Grand National has been nominated by connections as a possible target, for which he is trading at [85.0], but this does not strike as one of the stronger renewals of the Peter Marsh, with plenty of exposed runners, and he may not be up to the standard required for the National.

Racing in Ireland took place at Naas on Saturday, and was the venue for the continued resurgence of 2009 Baring Bingham winner Mikael d'Haguenet. The eight year-old has now won his last three races, and must now be considered for Cheltenham, where he could line up in either the World Hurdle or the Champion Hurdle.

Fairyhouse was the focus of racing's attention on Sunday, where Blazing Tempo put herself into the mix for the Ryanair by defeating antepost favourite Noble Prince. The mare produced a performance good enough to finish in the frame in all four renewals of that race since it was upgraded to Grade 1 status, and she has clearly improved since finishing fifth in last season's Jewson.

Noble Prince did not do much wrong in finishing second, having not travelled as well as the winner. The current disparity in price (Blazing Tempo is available at [30.0] whilst Noble Prince is as [8.8]) probably owes much to the fact that Noble Prince has run well on his two visits to the Prestbury Park venue, and he remains very much unexposed at around two and a half miles.

Finally, Champagne Fever propelled himself to the head of the Champion Bumper market ([11.0]) after an authoritative display in the concluding event at Fairyhouse. He is not the finished article, displaying a high head carriage, but after just two starts that is somewhat forgivable, particularly considering that he made all of the running.