Betfair Exchange Trophy Handicap Hurdle |
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| Grade 3, Ascot 15:35 £150,000 added, 4yo plus, 1m 7f 152y, Class 1  |
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| Saturday 21st December 2019 | |
1 Not So Sleepy 9/2J
2
Monsieur Lecoq 6/1
3
Sir Valentine 14/1
13 ran NR: French Crusader, Harambe, Remiluc
Distances: 9l, 4½l, 1l; Time: 3m 50.75s (slow by 9.75s)
Wow! Not So Sleepy bolts up to win the £150,000 @BetfairExchange Trophy for @JohnnyBurke2 and Hughie Morrison at @Ascot pic.twitter.com/tZ8FMbSkJU
— At The Races (@AtTheRaces) December 21, 2019
Successful over the course and distance four weeks earlier, Hughie Morrison’s Not So Sleepy made the most of his light weight to romp home in the hands of Jonathan Burke.
The only serious worry his supporters had was when he almost tried to run out at a flight halfway through the race, an obstacle at which Zanza and Quoi De Neuf both came down.
In an eventful renewal, Richard Johnson made a remarkable recovery to stay on Crooks Peak, who made a bad mistake at the second flight.
But it was all about Not So Sleepy (9-2 joint-favourite), who galloped on strongly to score by nine lengths from Monsieur Lecoq. Sir Valentine was four and a half lengths back in third place.
Morrison landed the equivalent of the Grade Three event in 2001 with Marble Arch, who went on to finish runner-up to Hors La Loi III in the Champion Hurdle the following spring.
The East Ilsley trainer was quick to remark that might be same route followed by Not So Sleepy.
He said: “He was rather amazing. It took my breath away. I thought he was going well round the bend.
“Jonathan has done a bit of schooling on him, Henrietta Knight has done a bit of schooling with him, though I didn’t think he jumped as well early on because of the ground.
“But he jumped fantastically at Henrietta’s last week, really proper, quick hurdling.
“Maybe it wasn’t a very good race, but he certainly won it well. He won the Dee Stakes in bottomless ground in 2015 and I suspect this was deeper, and he ran a big race on firm ground at Newmarket, poor boy – and how I possibly could have run him on that, is really rather embarrassing.
“He is a home-bred and he has given us quite a lot of white hairs at home – he doesn’t want to do anything other than gallop.
“We won this race 18 years ago, not so easily, and ran again at Newbury and the horse disappointed, and then came second in a Champion Hurdle. You can only but dream that has to be the ultimate objective.”
He added: “He didn’t have a lot of weight, but he won with a stone in hand and he’s eight, so there is not a lot of point in messing around with novice handicap hurdles at Cheltenham any more, but he could run at Newbury of course.”
Betfair Exchange Trophy
£150,000 added, 4yo plus, 1m 7f 152y, Class 1
13 ran
Going: Heavy
1 Not So Sleepy 7 10-3 Hughie Morrison Jonathan Burke 9/2JF
2 9 Monsieur Lecoq 5 11-12 Mrs Jane Williams Lizzie Kelly 6/1
3 4½ Sir Valentine 6 10-6 Nigel Twiston-Davies Sam Twiston-Davies 14/1
4 1 Turnpike Trip 5 11-8 C Byrnes Kevin Brouder 6/1
5 nse Whoshotthesheriff 5 10-12 Philip Kirby Sean Quinlan 12/1
6 8 Umbrigado 5 11-4 David Pipe Tom Scudamore 9/2JF
7 10 Scaramanga 4 11-6 Paul Nicholls Bryan Carver 20/1
8 nk Countister 7 10-13 Nicky Henderson Barry Geraghty 10/1
9 4½ Mohaayed 7 11-7 Dan Skelton Harry Skelton 25/1
10 18 Tamaroc Du Mathan 4 10-11 Paul Nicholls Harry Cobden 7/1
11 61 Crooks Peak 6 10-9 Philip Hobbs Richard Johnson 16/1
BD Quoi De Neuf 5 10-9 Evan Williams Adam Wedge 8/1
F Zanza 5 11-0 Philip Hobbs Sean Houlihan 33/1
NR 5 1522U/ Remiluc 10 11-6 Chris Gordon NON RUNNER
NR 6 112-71 Harambe 6 11-5 Alan King NON RUNNER
NR 8 /121-2 French Crusader 6 11-1 Nicky Henderson NON RUNNER
BETFAIR EXCHANGE TROPHY ROLL OF HONOUR (1987-2018)
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
