Marsh Chase |
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| Grade 1, Aintree 15:30 £250,000 guaranteed, 5yo plus, 2m 3f 200y, Class 1  |
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1 Pic D'Orhy 4/1
2
Fakir D'Oudairies 15/8F
3 Minella Drama 14/1
7 ran Distances: 4¼l, 2¾l, 19l
Time: 5m 2.41s (slow by 10.41s)
📸 Pic D’Orhy wins the Melling Chase!
— Betfair Racing (@BetfairRacing) April 14, 2023
An #AintreeFestival winner for @Betfair ambassador @PFNicholls
The winner was matched at a high of 9 (8/1) on the @BetfairExchange
pic.twitter.com/d6vLAcywGF
Champion trainer Paul Nicholls posted his first winner of this year’s Grand National meeting at Aintree with an assured display from Pic D’Orhy.
Twice a winner at Grade Two level earlier in the season, the eight-year-old was last seen chasing home Thursday’s Aintree Bowl hero Shishkin in the Ascot Chase in February.
Nicholls deliberately sidestepped last month’s Cheltenham Festival to keep his charge fresh for Aintree and was handsomely rewarded as Pic D’Orhy secured his first Grade One success.
Always moving powerfully behind the pacesetting Minella Drama Harry Cobden’s mount moved to the front between the final two obstacles and soon put clear daylight between himself and his rivals.
Fakir D’Oudairies, bidding for a record third victory in the two-and-a-half-mile contest, briefly threatened to throw down a serious challenge approaching the last fence, but Pic D’Orhy showed no signs of stopping and was ultimately good value for the winning margin of four and a quarter lengths.
Marsh Melling Chase
£250,000 guaranteed, 5yo plus, 2m 3f 200y, Class 1
7 ran
Going: Soft
POS. DIST HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1 Pic D'Orhy 8 11-10 Paul Nicholls Harry Cobden 4/1
2 4¼ Fakir D'Oudairies 8 11-10 Joseph O'Brien Mark Walsh 15/8F
3 2¾ Minella Drama 8 11-10 Donald McCain Brian Hughes 14/1
4 19 French Dynamite 8 11-10 M F Morris Darragh O'Keeffe 7/1
5 5½ Fugitif 8 11-10 Richard Hobson Sean Bowen 11/1
6 31 Hitman 7 11-10 Paul Nicholls Lorcan Williams 6/1
PU Millers Bank 9 11-10 Alex Hales Kielan Woods 13/2
Melling Chase - Previous Winners
2022 Fakir D'Oudairies
2021 Fakir D'Oudairies
2020 ABANDONED due to Covid-19
2019 Min
2018 Politologue
2017 Fox Norton
2016 God's Own
2015 Don Cossack
2014 Boston Bob
2013 Sprinter Sacre Caroline Mould Nicky Henderson 07-11-10 Barry Geraghty 1/3F
2012 Finian’s Rainbow Michael Buckley Nicky Henderson 09-11-10 Barry Geraghty 13/8F
2011 Master Minded Clive Smith Paul Nicholls 08-11-10 Ruby Walsh 11/2
