The Ladbroke Hurdle |
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| Grade 3, Ascot 15:30 £150,000 added, 4yo plus, 2m, Class 1  |
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| Saturday 20th December 2014 | |
1 Bayan 14/1
2 Pine Creek 10/1
3 Activial 7/1
4 Shelford 5/1J
NR: Baradari (IRE)
18 ran Distances: nk, 1¾l, 1l
TIME 3m 48.60s (slow by 7.60s)
Bayan bags Ladbroke but huge ban for Condon
Bayan dug deep to take The Ladbroke at Ascot for trainer Gordon Elliott and rider Davy Condon.
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Shelford and the long-absent Balgarry set what looked a healthy gallop up front, tracked within range by Activial, who came to join issue with two to jump but made a hash of it.
Galway Hurdle runner-up Bayan arrived on the scene at the last and was pushed all the way up the run-in by Pine Creek, who could never quite get there and found the line coming a neck too soon. Activial was third, with the gallant Shelford fourth.
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Elliott was at Fairyhouse, where he said of the 14-1 winner: "This has been the plan and he had not run over hurdles since Galway. It was great, I'm delighted - he was very tough."
It was an emotional success for Condon, who has been plagued by injuries and was having just his third ride back since a heavy fall at Cork in August.
The jockey suffered three fractured vertebrae in the spill and initially feared he may never ride again after suffering a rare condition called spinal concussion, which briefly left him unable to move from the neck down.
Riding his second winner of the Ascot race after Cause Of Causes for Elliott in 2012, he said: "I'm a bit emotional at the moment, it's great to be back - I didn't think I'd make it back. It was my toughest injuury so far and I was in a lot of pain.
"I was lucky I had a good group of people around me. Gordon Elliott has been so loyal to me leaving me on the horse. Even though I'm not 100 per cent fit I rushed to get back and I'm delighted he won.
"He was just idling in front and was there a bit soon, but he stays well and I knew I had to press on early because he has real stamina. He was tough and responded to every call."
There was to be quite a sting in the tail for Condon, however, as the stewards took a dim view of his use of the whip from the second-last. They ruled he had used his stick above the permitted level and suspended him for 15 days, together with a fine of £3,150.
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At The Races presenter Gary O'Brien is part of the winning Core Syndicate.
He said: "It's not too often I'm lost for words in this job, but my heart nearly stopped in that last furlong. When he made a mistake at the second-last, I thought the game was up, but he is such a gutsy horse and you never know when you are beaten when he is on a going day.
"It was a long, long last furlong, but an unbelievable result."
Fellow owner Michael Canning said: "He has been knocking on the door - you always think 'today is the day', but he deserves that. He was second at Galway and third in the Coral Cup - the horse really deserves to win a big one like that. We are just over the moon.
"The last 100 yards felt like 100 miles. He was off the bit four furlongs out and missed the second-last, and you thought your chance had gone. It is unbelievable."
He added of Condon: "He won on the horse at Listowel last year and had a terrible injury at Cork. We didn't think he would be back for this race. He made a real big effort to get back and fortunately his injury wasn't as bad as first feared.
"He had a couple of rides last Sunday and this was just his third ride back. It is the stuff of fairytales."
John Ferguson said of runner-up Pine Creek: "I'm thrilled with him. He's run really well. I was delighted with his run in the Greatwood Hurdle after being off for 10 months. I thought he would progress and he has.
"He will probably end up getting two and a half miles and we will look at targets for the Cheltenham Festival."
The Ladbroke Hurdle
£150,000 added, 4yo plus, 2m, Class 1
18 ran
Going: Good to Soft
| Pos | Dist | Horse / Jockey | Weight | Trainer | Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Bayan (IRE) 14/1 D J Condon |
11-5 | G Elliott | 5 | |
| 2nd | nk | Pine Creek 10/1 S Twiston-Davies |
10-9 | J P Ferguson | 6 |
| 3rd | 1¾ | Activial (FR) 7/1 N D Fehily |
10-10 | H Fry | 4 |
| 4th | 1 | Shelford (IRE) 5/1j Harry Skelton |
10-7 | D Skelton | 5 |
| 5th | 4 | Garde La Victoire (FR) 14/1 T J O'Brien |
11-12 | P J Hobbs | 5 |
| 6th | 1½ | Hello George (IRE) 12/1 James Best |
10-2 | P J Hobbs | 5 |
| 7th | 3½ | Clondaw Warrior (IRE) 5/1j D J Casey |
10-0 | W P Mullins | 7 |
| 8th | 1 | Cool Macavity (IRE) 20/1 B J Geraghty |
10-6 | N J Henderson | 6 |
| 9th | 2¼ | Jebril (FR) 50/1 Tom Cannon |
10-3 | C Gordon | 4 |
| 10th | 2 | Pyromaniac (IRE) 20/1 S A Shortall (5) |
10-7 | A J Martin | 4 |
| 11th | 1¼ | Balgarry (FR) 8/1 T Scudamore |
10-7 | D Pipe | 7 |
| 12th | 12 | Minellaforleisure (IRE) 40/1 Conor Shoemark (3) |
10-0 | A M Hales | 6 |
| 13th | 26 | Ballyglasheen (IRE) 33/1 Adam Wedge |
11-2 | Evan Williams | 4 |
| 14th | 7 | Sea Beat 16/1 R C Colgan |
10-0 | A L T Moore | 4 |
| 15th | 2 | Swing Bowler 25/1 Kieron Edgar (5) |
11-2 | D Pipe | 7 |
| PU | Goodwood Mirage (IRE) 20/1 A P McCoy |
11-1 | Jonjo O'Neill | 4 | |
| PU | Foxcub (IRE) 33/1 Felix De Giles |
10-12 | T Symonds | 6 | |
| PU | Gassin Golf 14/1 D A Jacob |
10-5 | R Lee | 5 | |
| NR | Baradari (IRE) | 10-6 | Miss V Williams | 4 |
THE LADBROKE HURDLE ROLL OF HONOUR (1987-2012)
Run at Sandown in 2005 (January 7, 2006) and in 2004 (January 8, 2005); run at Leopardstown in January up to & including 2000
Year Winner Age/Wt Owner Trainer Jockey SP
2012 CAUSE OF CAUSES 4-10-03 JP McManus, Gordon Elliot,t DJ Condon 25/1
2011 RAYA STAR 5-10-01 Simon Munir A King W Hutchinson 12/1
2010 Abandoned due to frost
2009 Abandoned due to snow
2008 SENTRY DUTY 6-11-09 Peter Spiller Nicky Henderson Barry Geraghty 12/1
2007 JACK THE GIANT 5-11-00 Hanbury Syndicate Nicky Henderson Mick Fitzgerald 9/4F
2006 ACAMBO 5-11-09 David Johnson David Pipe Timmy Murphy 7/1
2005 DESERT AIR 7-10-09 Belinda Harvey Martin Pipe Tom Scudamore 25/1
2004 TAMARINBLEU 5-10-11 Arthur White Partnership Martin Pipe Tony McCoy 14/1
2003 THESIS 5-11-02 1961 Partnership Venetia Williams Brian Crowley 33/1
2002 CHAUVINIST 7-10-00 Bunny & Nick Roberts Nicky Henderson Norman Williamson 15/2
2001 MARBLE ARCH 5-10-11 Martin & Mary Wilson Rory SweetHughie Morrison Norman Williamson 7/1
2000 MANTLES PRINCE 6-9-12 R J McSharry Pat Hughes IRE Fran Berry 12/1
1999 ARCHIVE FOOTAGE 7-11-08 Michael Smurfit Dermot Weld IRE David Evans 25/1
1998 GRAPHIC EQUALISER 6-10-00 BRASK Syndicate Arthur Moore IRE Conor O’Dwyer 5/1F
1997 MASTER TRIBE 7-10-04 Jebel Ali Racing Stables Jenny Pitman Norman Williamson 18/1
1996 DANCE BEAT 5-9-12 Mrs E Queally Jessica Harrington IRE Anthony Powell 12/1
1995 ANUSHA 5-10-02 G A Hoggard Michael Hourigan IRE Shane Broderick 25/1
1994 ATONE 7-10-08 Robert Sinclair Bunny Cox IRE Kevin O’Brien 10/1
1993 GLENCLOUD 5-10-13 D Tierney Noel Meade IRE Gerry O’Neill 20/1
1992 HOW’S THE BOSS 6-10-02 Edward Farrell John Brassill IRE Jason Titley 20/1
1991 THE ILLIAD 10-10-13 Elizabeth Furlong Andy Geraghty IRE Pat McWilliams 7/1
1990 REDUNDANT PAL 7-11-05 P S O’Neill Paddy Mullins IRE Conor O’Dwyer 20/1
1989 REDUNDANT PAL 6-10-00 P S O’Neill Paddy Mullins IRE P Kavanagh 16/1
1988 ROARK 6-11-01 P Leeper Arthur Moore IRE Tom Taaffe 5/1
1987 BARNBROOK AGAIN 6-11-08 Mel Davies David Elsworth Colin Brown 5/2F
