Weekend Review / Timeform / 02 November 2009 / Leave a comment

Timeform reflect on a weekend of excitement at Wetherby and more...

"There was controversy in the listed Mares Hurdle as Barry Geraghty took the wrong course on joint-favourite My Petra, which landed him a 12-day suspension. "

On Saturday, Wetherby staged a competitive card which featured a thrilling renewal of the Grade 2 Charlie Hall Chase.

The veteran Ollie Magern looked destined for a third success in the three-mile-one-furlong event (won in 2005 and 2007, and also runner-up in 2008) when rallying to lead at the final fence, but was overhauled late on by both the Evan Williams-trained Deep Purple and Tamarinbleu.

There was controversy in the listed Mares Hurdle as Barry Geraghty took the wrong course on joint-favourite My Petra, which landed him a 12-day suspension. Pettifour was unable to retain his title in the Grade 2 West Yorkshire Hurdle. He had to settle for second behind the Philip Hobbs-trained Fair Along, who returned to his best with an 18-length success.

Over at Ascot, there was a shock result in the feature event, the listed United House Gold Cup Chase, as 33/1-shot The Last Derby recorded a five-length victory, while Master Medic extended his winning sequence to four when landing the listed Byrne Group Handicap Chase.

With the Flat season drawing to a close, Newmarket hosted three listed events. The first of those was the Ben Marshall Stakes, in which the Tom Dascombe-trained Prince of Dance maintained his unbeaten record when battling to victory over Shaweel. There was another close finish to the Montrose Stakes for juvenile fillies, with the well-bred Timepiece landing the spoils from Nurture, while the progressive Laaheb landed a fourth victory from six starts in the James Seymour Stakes.

The main action on Sunday occurred in France, where Saint-Cloud showcased the Group 1 Criterium International for juveniles. Aidan O'Brien landed his third Group 1 success in the two-year-old division this season when sending out apparent second string Jan Vermeer to land an impressive success in this one-mile event. That led bookmakers to introduce the son of Montjeu as second favourite behind stablemate St Nicholas Abbey for the 2010 Derby.

Tags: horseracing betting, Newmarket races, Saint Cloud, Timeform Weekend Review, Wetherby