Weekend Review / Timeform / 13 October 2009 / Leave a comment

Flat season curtain falls at Ascot, Royal Rock on a roll and Fahey fires out another winner - Timeform reflect on an eventful weekend of racing...

"Royal Rock has clearly had his training problems this year, seeing the racecourse only on four occasions but the son of Sakhee remains a very talented performer and looks set for further success... "

Saturday saw the National Hunt season step up a gear and it was no surprise to see Paul Nicholls amongst the winners. The Ditcheat trainer secured a double at Chepstow and unleashed a most impressive novice chaser in the form of Gullible Gordon. The Anshan gelding produced a scintillating round of jumping from the front and came home in blissful isolation, earning quotes for the Royal Sun Alliance Chase in the process.

The most valuable prize on the card, however, went to Nick Williams and his progressive hurdler James de Vassy. Daryl Jacob's mount stayed on strongly to beat the quirky Classic Swain by four lengths in the manner of a hurdler to follow.

Ascot staged their last Flat meeting of 2009 and it looked a competitive end of season card. Big fields were the order of the day as trainers went in search of some of the season's few remaining valuable prizes. The Chris Wall-trained Royal Rock was the winner of the Group 3 Willmott Dixon Bengough Memorial Stakes by a head from Triple Aspect.

Royal Rock has clearly had his training problems this year, seeing the racecourse only on four occasions but the son of Sakhee remains a very talented performer on his day and, with few miles on the clock, looks set for further success in 2010. Other Group races on the card included the Cornwallis Stakes which was won by the progressive Our Jonathan and the Autumn Stakes which saw Morana confirm promise shown when twice a runner-up in maidens to record a first career success.

Richard Fahey has had a most remarkable season and the Malton-based yard continue to relentlessly fire out winners up and down the country. Kaldoun Kingdom produced a career-best effort to follow up his Ayr Silver Cup success with victory in a valuable handicap at York on Saturday, the first leg of a Fahey treble.

Tags: Ascot races, Chepstow races, Gullible Gordon, Horseracing betting, James de Vassy, Kaldoun Kingdom, Paul Nicholls, Richard Fahey, Timeform weekend review