Doom Bar Maghull Novices' Chase |
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| Grade 1, Aintree 15:00 £100,000 added, 5yo plus, 1m 7f 176y, Class 1  |
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| Saturday 6th April 2019 | |
1 Ornua 3/1J
2 Us And Them 3/1J
3 Destrier 7/1
7 ran Distances: 1¾l, 1¼l, 20l
Time: 3m 50.90s (slow by 1.90s)
Ornua wins for trainer Henry De Bromhead and jockey Davy Russell
Ornua scores for Davy Russell in the Doom Bar Maghull Novices' Chase at @AintreeRaces pic.twitter.com/uMLpFrQsns
— ITV Racing (@itvracing) April 6, 2019
John Phelan won a six-figure sum on an accumulator bet, and invested some of the money in buying Ornua, who won today's G1 Doom Bar Maghull Novices' Chase.
The Henry De Bromhead-trained eight-year-old bounded clear turning for home and would not surrender the lead, passing the post 1¾l clear of runner-up Us And Them, his 3/1 jf at the off. The winner was ridden by Davy Russell, who rode Tiger Roll to victory in the Randox Health Grand National.
Phelan, who owns Ornua with Syed Momin, said: "I won the Scoop6 and thought easy come, easy go. I won about £130,000 but then I bought Ornua to a low budget. Henry picked him out and it's just fantastic. You don't expect to have a G1 winner on a low budget. I am speechless, really."
De Bromhead said: "I'm thrilled for John, who has long been a great supporter . It was brilliant for the horse and Davy gave him a great ride.
"He got him jumping great and it is lovely to get a G1 winner here. He's a horse that has become very good over fences. At Roscommon he beat Cadmium [the easy winner of yesterday's Randox Health Topham Chase] and his form is good. He was unlucky at Cheltenham [when falling in the G1 Arkle Chase], but this track seems to suit. He was perhaps caught out by the hill at Sandown.
"He hasn't been too busy this winter so we'll take a look at the two-mile novice at Punchestown."
Russell, who had not ridden Ornua since he was a novice hurdler, was delighted and said: "Ornua is quite quick, so I knew that I would able to lead but whether we were going too fast was the question. Henry and the lads do a great job - he is quite a handful but he is trained by a master - and it's great to be riding these horses for these people.
"I tried to save as much as I could but he is quite exuberant in his way of running, so it is quite hard to know if you are going too quick or not. To be fair, the horse is very game and gutsy. He galloped to the last good and well and then on to the line. He is a good horse.
"These are championship races and this is where you want to ride winners. I am just delighted to have ridden one for Henry here."
Doom Bar Maghull Novices' Chase
£100,000 added, 5yo plus, 1m 7f 176y, Class 1
7 ran
Going: Good, Good to Soft in places
| Pos | Dist | Horse SP | Jockey Weight | Trainer | Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Ornua (IRE) 3/1j | D N Russell 11-4 |
H De Bromhead | 8 | |
| 2nd | 1¾ | Us And Them (IRE) 3/1j | J J Slevin 11-4 |
Joseph P O'Brien | 6 |
| 3rd | 1¼ | Destrier (FR) 7/1 | Harry Skelton 11-4 |
D Skelton | 6 |
| 4th | 20 | Clondaw Castle (IRE) 13/2 | C Gethings 11-4 |
T R George | 7 |
| 5th | nk | Knocknanuss (IRE) 8/1 | J E Moore 11-4 |
G L Moore | 9 |
| 6th | 1 | Lalor (GER) 7/2 | R Johnson 11-4 |
Kayley Woollacott | 7 |
| 7th | 25 | Caid Du Lin (FR) 20/1 | Sam Twiston-Davies 11-4 |
Dr R D P Newland | 7 |
