JCB Triumph Hurdle Trial
Juvenile Hurdle, Cheltenham 12:15 £20,000 added, 3yo only, 2m 1f, Class 2
Saturday 13th December 2014

1 Hargam 8/11F
2 Karezak 9/2
3 Stars Over The Sea 4/1
NR: Marracudja (FR)
7 ran Distances: 1¼l, 29l, 1¾l
TIME 4m 7.50s (slow by 13.00s)

Connections of Hargam are hoping the French import can develop into a serious candidate for the JCB Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham

Hargam
© Racehorse Photos

Nicky Henderson's grey seized the day in what looked an informative renewal of the JCB Triumph Hurdle Trial at Cheltenham.

Stars Over The Sea made most of the running but he wilted tamely heading towards the final flight, where Karezak lost a degree of momentum with a mistake, though he battled hard up the run-in.

Hargam crept slowly into the race and knuckled down for a rare old tussle with the runner-up, who was giving away 3lb, and while the w idth of the track separated them, Tony McCoy's mount got the job done to vindicate 8-11 favouritism by a length and a quarter.

Henderson said: "I wasn't even sure if we were in front, they were that wide apart. AP said it rode like a good race. He certainly thinks better ground will suit. They went a really good pace and it's pretty testing ground.

"March is the objective and we'll work back from there. There's a race here in January (Trials Day) but if it's heavy ground he'd miss that. I have a couple more juveniles to come out but he's up there with the best of them."

Alan King said of the runner-up: "He might have been a bit unlucky, but he's hung right across the track, which isn't ideal."

JCB Triumph Hurdle Trial (Juvenile Hurdle)
£20,000 added, 3yo only, 2m 1f, Class 2
7 ran
Going: Good to Soft

Pos	Dist	Horse / Jockey	Weight	Trainer
1st		Hargam (FR) 8/11f A P McCoy	11-0	N J Henderson
2nd	1¼	Karezak (IRE) 9/2 W Hutchinson	11-3	A King
3rd	29	Stars Over The Sea (USA) 4/1 T Scudamore	11-7	D Pipe
4th	1¾	Boss Des Mottes (FR) 40/1 Harry Skelton	11-0	D Skelton
5th	2¼	Mr Gallivanter (IRE) 11/1 D C Costello	11-3	J J Quinn
6th	1½	Beatabout The Bush (IRE) 100/1 Paul Moloney	11-0	Henry Oliver
7th	75	Dolce N Karama (IRE) 40/1 L P Dempsey	11-0	J P Shanahan
NR		Marracudja (FR)	11-0	P F Nicholls