Wessex Youth Trust Long Walk Hurdle
Grade 1, Ascot £75,000 added, 4yo plus, 3m 1f 110y, Class 1
Saturday 21st December 2013

1 Reve De Sivola 9/4
2 Salubrious 6/1
3 Tweedledrum 100/1
NR: Celestial Halo (IRE)
5 ran Distances: 10l, 37l, 3¼l
TIME 6m 17.60s (slow by 31.60s)

Muddy marvel Reve De Sivola ground down his rivals in testing conditions as he led from start to finish to win the Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot.

Reve De Sivola
© Racehorse Photos

Trained by Nick Williams and ridden by Richard Johnson, the eight-year-old's stamina came to the fore in the exacting conditions at the Berkshire circuit as he gamely held off Salubrious by 10 lengths.

At Fishers Cross, the 8-11 favourite, looked well beaten when he ditched jockey Tony McCoy at the final flight with a jump reminiscent of the bad one he made last time out at Newbury.

Connections of Salubrious might feel a little hard done by as the six-year-old made a costly gaffe two out when seemingly still full of running.

Johnson said: "He's a very honest horse - he's a very good horse. He's a very, very good hurdler and we know soft ground suits him very well."

Reve De Sivola is unlikely to run in the Cleeve Hurdle at Cheltenham in January, which he won last year, but remains in contention for the Ladbrokes World Hurdle at the Festival in March.

Williams said: "He crashed through a couple of them, but on softer ground like this, he can really let himself down.

"I don't think we'll go for the Cleeve Hurdle again, but we will go for the World Hurdle. Perhaps if we can also find him an easier race in February, that might be the way to go."

Trainer Paul Nicholls said of Salubrious: "The jockey (Daryl Jacob) thought if he hadn't missed the second-last, he would have won. But it's still a decent effort and we know we've got plenty of staying options for him."

Time For Rupert returned a bad scope following his disappointing comeback run in the Long Walk Hurdle.

Time For Rupert
© Racehorse Photos

Having nursed his stable star back to full health after the removal of a growth close to his brain, trainer Paul Webber was initially disappointed with how quickly the nine-year-old faded to finish a well-beaten last of four finishers.

It appears there was a viable excuse, however, and Time For Rupert is set to return to chasing on his next start.

Webber said: "Rupert is absolutely fine. We were disappointed as all the pre-race tests we did came up clear, but we scoped him after the race and there was some mucus there.

"He has obviously picked something up at the last minute, which can happen from time to time.

"It happened with Long Run earlier in the season and it's something us trainers have to battle with. I think it explains why he stopped a bit sooner than he should have done. He was fitter than that.

"Hopefully, you'll see a better performance in either the Argento Chase at Cheltenham (January 25) or the three-mile chase at Doncaster on the same day (Sky Bet Chase).

"After that, we'll see if we can persuade the owners to have a look at the Grand National."

Wessex Youth Trust Long Walk Hurdle (Grade 1)
£75,000 added, 4yo plus, 3m 1f, Class 1
5 ran
Going: Soft (Heavy in places)

Pos	Horse Trainer	Jockey Weight	Starting Price Beaten Distance
1	Reve De Sivola Nick Williams	R Johnson 11st 7lbs	9 - 4 Winner
2	Salubrious P F Nicholls	D A Jacob 11st 7lbs	6 - 1 10 lengths
3	Tweedledrum T Symonds	F De Giles 11st 0lbs	100 - 1 37 lengths
4	Time For Rupert P R Webber	D F O'Regan 11st 7lbs	20 - 1 3 1/4 lengths
NR	Celestial Halo P F Nicholls	Non Runner 11st 7lbs	-

LONG WALK HURDLE ROLL OF HONOUR (1965-2012)
Race run as a handicap prior to 1971
(run at Newbury in 2009, Chepstow in 2005 and Windsor in 2004)

Year Winner Age/Wt Owner Trainer Jockey SP

2012 REVE DE SIVOLA
2011 BIG BUCK’S 8-11-07 The Stewart Family Paul Nicholls AP McCoy 3/103F
2010 BIG BUCK’S 7-11-07 The Stewart Family Paul Nicholls AP McCoy 2/13F
2009 BIG BUCK’S 6-11-07 The Stewart Family Paul Nicholls Ruby Walsh 1/2F
2008 PUNCHESTOWNS 5-11-07 Judy Wilson Nicky Henderson Barry Geraghty 3/1F
2007 LOUGH DERG 7-11-07 W Frewen David Pipe Tom Scudamore 14/1
2006 MIGHTY MAN 6-11-07 Joss Hanbury Henry Daly Richard Johnson 11/8F
2005 MY WAY DE SOLZEN 5-11-07 B Windfield, A Longman, J Wright, C Fenton; Alan King Robert Thornton 12/1
2004 BARACOUDA 9-11-07 J P McManus Francois Doumen FR Tony McCoy 8/13F
2003 BARACOUDA 8-11-07 J P McManus Francois Doumen FR Thierry Doumen 2/7F
2002 DEANO’S BEENO 10-11-07 Axom Martin Pipe Tony McCoy 14/1
2001 BARACOUDA 6-11-07 J P McManus Francois Doumen FR Thierry Doumen 2/5F
2000 BARACOUDA 5-11-07 Roger Barby Francois Doumen FR Thierry Doumen 11/4
1999 ANZUM 8-11-07 Old Foresters P’ship Alan King Richard Johnson 4/1
1998 PRINCEFUL 7-11-07 Robert Hitchins Jenny Pitman Richard Dunwoody 11/4F
1997 PADDY’S RETURN 5-11-07 Paddy O’Donnell Ferdy Murphy Norman Williamson 8/1
1996 OCEAN HAWK 4-11-07 Matt Archer/Jean Broadhurst Nigel Twiston-Davies Carl Llewellyn 7/1
1995 SILVER WEDGE 4-11-07 Shirley & Bill Robins Oliver Sherwood Jamie Osborne 7/1
1994 HEBRIDEAN 7-11-07 Peter Deal David Nicholson Adrian Maguire 100/30
1993 SWEET DUKE 6-11-07 Andy Mavrou Nigel Twiston-Davies Carl Llewellyn 7/2
1992 VAGOG 7-11-07 M A Swift Martin Pipe Martin Foster 15/2
1991 Abandoned due to frost
1990 FLOYD 10-11-07 Mike Walsh David Elsworth Graham Bradley 10/1
1989 ROYAL ATHLETE 6-10-08 Gary Johnson Jenny Pitman Dean Gallagher 33/1
1988 FRENCH GOBLIN 5-11-01 Maurice Pinto Josh Gifford Peter Hobbs 3/1
1987 BLUFF COVE 5-10-08 Dickins Ltd Reg Hollinshead Richard Dunwoody 14/1
1986 OUT OF THE GLOOM 5-10-08 Paul Green Reg Hollinshead Peter Scudamore 4/1
1985 MISTY DALE 7-10-08 David Rose Jenny Pitman Phil Tuck 9/4F
1984 KRISTENSON 7-10-08 Ursula Fantasia Roger Fisher Michael Williams 7/2
1983 CRIMSON EMBERS 8-10-11 Pam Smart Fulke Walwyn Stuart Shilston 14/1
1982 MAYOTTE 7-10-11 B Davies Richard Holder Paul Richards 15/8F
1981 Abandoned due to snow
1980 DERRING ROSE 5-11-11 Peter Savill Fred Winter John Francome 7/1
1979 JOHN CHERRY 8-10-11 Milton Ritzenberg Tom Jones Steve Smith Eccles 6/1
1978 KELSO CHANT 6-11-07 Mrs M Richardson Jumbo Wilkinson Steve Charlton 10/1
1977 JOHN CHERRY 6-10-11 Milton Ritzenberg Tom Jones Steve Smith Eccles 11/8F
1976 Abandoned due to frost
1975 LANZAROTE 7-12-05 Lord Howard de Walden Fred Winter John Francome 4/9F
1974 GO BINGO 5-11-12 Guy Reed Sam Hall David Munro 9/4
1973 SOLONING 8-11-08 Mrs C Thornton Fred Winter Richard Pitman 9/2
1972 HIGHLAND ABBE 6-11-12 Mrs K Hankey Les Kennard Mr R Smith 11/1
1971 ST PATRICK’S BLUE 6-11-12 P Aunger David Tatlow Bill Smith 7/2F
1970 ROUGE AUTUMN 6-10-05 Bryan Jenks Fred Rimell Ken White 9/2F
1969 CANDID CAMERA 6-10-06 R F P Ross Ted Goddard Joe Guest 100/8
1968 Abandoned due to waterlogging
1967 Abandoned due to foot and mouth epidemic
1966 SIR EDWARD 6-10-09 R Heaton Ryan Price Josh Gifford 7/2F
1965 MINUTE GUN 8-10-04 Bill Shand Kydd Bill Shand Kydd Richard Pitman 100/8