Oddschecker Sefton Novices' Hurdle |
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| Grade 1, Aintree 16:40 £100,000 guaranteed, 4yo plus, 3m 149y, Class 1  |
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1 Julius Des Pictons 14/1
2
Minella Rescue 50/1
3 Crest Of Fortune 25/1
13 ran NR: Jet Blue, Jupiter Des Mottes, Laganhill
Distances: 2l, ½l, nse Time: 6m 11.86s (slow by 16.86s)
It looks like how far for Mister Meggit...
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) April 4, 2025
But it's the gallant Julius Des Pictons who springs a surprise in the @oddschecker Sefton Novices' Hurdle! @jamiesnowden pic.twitter.com/Dsq2yYIU5c
It was a day of firsts and fast finishes as Julius Des Pictons galloped into the spotlight to hand Jamie Snowden a landmark first Grade One success in a dramatic renewal, where fortune favoured the finisher.
For much of the contest it looked like the script had already been written. Mister Meggit, so smooth, so settled under Jonjo O’Neill Jr, cruised into the straight like a horse with gears to spare. Califet En Vol had made the running, but the big screens caught O’Neill Jr stealing glances left and right—checking for threats as he glided past two out. It all looked academic.
But Aintree had other ideas.
With the race there for the taking, Mister Meggit got the last all wrong—a crunching error at the final flight that turned promise into panic, and suddenly the pack were swarming.
And there, looming large on the outside, came Julius Des Pictons.
Ridden with cool assurance by Gavin Sheehan, he’d been held up, biding time, conserving energy. But once the door opened, he didn’t need asking twice. The 14-1 shot quickened past the labouring leader, stayed on relentlessly, and brought the house down for a trainer who’s long knocked on the top-level door but never quite barged through—until now.
“That last fifty yards felt like five furlongs,” joked Snowden afterwards, barely able to contain the emotion. “He’s bred to stay, and stay he did—but that was a long, long run-in when you’re watching with everything on the line.”
Behind him, it was Minella Rescue, a 50-1 outsider from Gary Hanmer’s yard, who stayed on into second with a storming late rattle, while Crest Of Fortune rounded out the places for Anthony Honeyball. Mister Meggit, brave but spent, could do no better than fourth.
For Snowden, this was more than a win—it was vindication for patience and planning. “He’s always looked a chaser in the making,” he said. “We brought him over from France, gave him time, didn’t push him early—and now he’s doing this on a big stage. He’ll jump a fence, that’s for sure, but today is for savouring.”
A landmark moment. A willing horse. A measured ride. And a training career with a new page turned—one that now reads: Grade One-winning trainer.
Sefton Novices' Hurdle (Grade 1)
£100,000 guaranteed, 4yo plus, 3m 149y, Class 1
13 ran
Going: Good, Good to Soft in places
POS. DIST HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1 Julius Des Pictons 6 11-8 Jamie Snowden Gavin Sheehan 14/1
2 2 Minella Rescue 7 11-8 Gary Hanmer Sean Bowen 50/1
3 ½ Crest Of Fortune 5 11-8 Anthony Honeyball Sam Twiston-Davies 25/1
4 nse Mister Meggit 7 11-8 2 Jonjo & A J O'Neill Jonjo O'Neill Jr 7/2
5 4 Familiar Dreams 6 11-1 Gordon Elliott Danny Gilligan 6/1
6 3¼ Califet En Vol 6 11-8 Nicky Henderson Nico de Boinville 3/1F
7 12 Argento Boy 6 11-8 W P Mullins Paul Townend 17/2
8 3 Western Knight 6 11-8 Joe Tizzard Brendan Powell 25/1
PU King Of Answers 6 11-8 Lucinda Russell Craig Nichol 40/1
PU
Battle Born Lad 6 11-8 Mark Walford Jamie Hamilton 13/2
PU Jacob's Ladder 6 11-8 Gordon Elliott Sam Ewing 15/2
PU Holloway Queen 5 11-1 Nicky Henderson James Bowen 22/1
PU Moon Rocket 5 11-8 Kim Bailey & Mat Nicholls Tom Bellamy 16/1
NR 6 Jet Blue 6 11-8 D Cottin NON-RUNNER
NR 8 Jupiter Des Mottes 6 11-8 Lucinda Russell NON RUNNER
NR 10 Laganhill 7 11-8 Henry Daly NON RUNNER
