Paddy Power Cotswold Chase
Grade 2, Cheltenham 14:25
£100,000 added,
5yo plus,
3m 1f 56y, Class 1  
Saturday 25th January 2020

Trainers Quotes

1 Santini 13/8F
2 Bristol De Mai 9/4
3 Top Ville Ben 8/1
6 ran Distances: 3½l, 29l, shd
Time: 6m 59.15s (slow by 44.15s)

Santini and Bristol De Mai looked the class acts on paper for the Gold Cup trial and they pulled a long way clear of the others, lead by classy handicappers Top Ville Ben and De Rasher Counter.

For most of the race Bristol De Mai looked the happier of the two, jumping exuberantly out in front for Daryl Jacob.

From some way out Nico de Boinville was niggling on Santini, but when Bristol De Mai stumbled on landing over the third last, Santini was left in front.

However, a slightly slow leap at the penultimate obstacle from Santini allowed Bristol De Mai to retake the lead after jumping the last, looking sure to win at the course for the first time.

Nicky Henderson’s lightly-raced eight-year-old dug deep though, with Santini finding plenty to come home three and a half lengths clear.

Henderson said: “It is one step forward, but there is a long way to go. It was 200 per cent better (than Sandown), but to be fair we did cauterize him after that, but I don’t think that had a lot to do with it – ours were just a bit fat.

“He can be a bit like that, but this horse absolutely lives and thrives on work. The more you can get into him, the better he becomes. He has always been the same.

“When you can’t train him he goes the other way again. You have got to fire work at him. The more you do, the better he gets. There is more to come.

“When you consider the race he ran in the RSA last year, you have to say he likes the track. I don’t say he dislikes Sandown, he was sloppy at Sandown. He wasn’t wound up and I hadn’t done a lot with him.

“The last three weeks he has just been doing that the whole way and I genuinely believe he can do that again.”

Trainers Quotes

Henderson went on: “We’ve just got to get a good run-in now as we had a dreadful time last year. Now we have just got to pray everyone is good to us and we get lucky and get a good prep in. I’d be pleased with that today.

“Bristol is a great benchmark and a solid person. We’ve got away from him and he has come back to us. That is not Santini’s best ground, but he copes with it. We are in the ball game anyway.

“Bristol De Mai always jumps well in front on soft ground. Some will say Cheltenham is not his favourite place, but he has done nothing wrong today.

“It was a good race between two good horses.

“He is the most beautiful mover. He is a bit of a Bobs Worth, he is not as flamboyant as a Long Run. He is a workmanlike Bobs Worth. Those horses can win Gold Cups. There are a lot of protagonists and he is one of them.”

Nigel Twiston-Davies said of the gallant runner-up: “We were unlucky at the bottom of the hill. Had he not lost his footing at the bottom of the hill he would have probably won, but he ran a super race.

“We were all over the winner until his lost his footing on landing. It still looked like he was coming back. It gives us a lot of confidence and we are chuffed to bits.

“We’ve got plenty of time to the Gold Cup and it is all systems go for that.”

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Cotswold Chase
£100,000 added, 5yo plus, 3m 1f 56y, Class 1
6 ran
Going: Soft

POS DIST HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1       Santini 8 11-4 Nicky Henderson Nico de Boinville 13/8F
2 3½ Bristol De Mai 9 11-6 Nigel Twiston-Davies Daryl Jacob 9/4
3 29 Top Ville Ben 8 11-4 Philip Kirby Thomas Dowson 8/1
4 shd De Rasher Counter 8 11-4 Emma Lavelle Adam Wedge 12/1
PU    Slate House 8 11-3 Colin Tizzard Robbie Power 4/1
 PU    Mister Whitaker 8 11-6 Mick Channon Jonathan Burke 20/1

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BETBRIGHT CUP CHASE - Past Results
Year Horse Owner Trainer Weight Jockey SP
1980 Raffi Nelson Mrs P Fry Nicky Henderson 7-11-06 Steve Smith Eccles 5/2
1981 Little Owl R Wilson Peter Easterby 7-11-12 Mr Jim Wilson 8/11f
1982 Lesley Ann B Gaule David Elsworth 8-11-12 Colin Brown 5/2
1983 Combs Ditch Jim Tory David Elsworth 7-11-08 Colin Brown 6/1
1984 Everett Kilian Hennessy Fulke Walwyn 9-11-08 Stuart Shilston 15/8f
1985 West Tip Peter Luff Michael Oliver 8-11-06 Richard Dunwoody 5/2
1986 Misty Spirit Mrs E Dixon Donald Lee 7-11-06 Steve Smith Eccles 9/1
1987 Abandoned
1988* Twin Oaks John Moreton David Murray-Smith 8-11-06 Paul Croucher 6/1
1989 Deep Moment Mrs M Curtis Mercy Rimell 7-11-03 Dermot Browne 12/1
1990 Toby Tobias Elizabeth Hitchins Jenny Pitman 8-11-06 Mark Pitman 5/4
1991 Celtic Shot D E H Horton Charlie Brooks 9-11-12 Peter Scudamore 8/11f
1992 Abandoned
1993 Sibton Abbey Geoff Hubbard Ferdy Murphy 8-11-12 Steve Smith Eccles 16/1
1994 Dubacilla Veronica Cole Henry Cole 8-10-12 Dean Gallagher 8/1
1995 Master Oats Paul Matthews Kim Bailey 9-11-06 Norman Williamson 6/4f
1996 Abandoned
1997 One Man John Hales Gordon Richards 9-11-12 Richard Dunwoody 2/5f
1998 See More Business John Keighley/Paul Barber Paul Nicholls 8-11-06 Timmy Murphy 9/4f
1999 Cyfor Malta David Johnson Martin Pipe 6-11-06 A P McCoy 10/11f
2000 Looks Like Trouble Tim Collins Noel Chance 8-11-06 Norman Williamson 100/30
2001 See More Business Paul Barber/Robert Ogden Paul Nicholls 11-11-10 Mick Fitzgerald 9/4
2002 Rince Ri Frank Moriarty Ted Walsh IRE 9-11-10 Ruby Walsh 9/2
2003 Behrajan The Behrajan Partnership Henry Daly 8-11-06 Richard Johnson 9/2
2004 Jair Du Cochet Miriam Montauban Guillaume Macaire FR 7-11-10 Jacques Ricou 11/4
2005 Grey Abbey The Roper Family/Norman Furness Howard Johnson 11-11-10 Graham Lee 100/30
2006** See You Sometime J Meaden Seamus Mullins 11-11-05 Andrew Thornton 18/1
2007 Exotic Dancer Sir Robert Ogden Jonjo O’Neill 7-11-06 A P McCoy 6/1
2008 Knowhere Raymond Mould Nigel Twiston-Davies 10-11-04 Paddy Brennan 16/1
2009 Joe Lively Richard Dimond Colin Tizzard 10-11-06 Joe Tizzard 11/1
2010 Taranis Angela Yeoman Paul Nicholls 9-11-00 Nick Scholfield 16/1
2011 Neptune Collonges John Hales Paul Nicholls 10-11-00 A P McCoy 11/2
2012 Midnight Chase Lady Clarke Neil Mulholland 10-11-06 Dougie Costello 11/2
2013 Cape Tribulation David Abell Malcolm Jefferson 9-11-06 Denis O’Regan 7/1
2014 The Giant Bolster Simon Hunt & Gary Lambton David Bridgwater 9-11-00 Tom Scudamore 6/1
2015 Many Clouds Trevor Hemmings Oliver Sherwood 8-11-10 Leighton Aspell 4/1
2016 Smad Place Trish Andrews Alan King 9-11-06 Richard Johnson 9/2
2017 Many Clouds Trevor Hemmings Oliver Sherwood 10-11-10 Leighton Aspell 8/1
2018 Definitly Red Phil & Julie Martin Brian Ellison 9-11-06 Danny Cook 7/1
2019 Frodon Paul Vogt Paul Nicholls 7-11-06 Bryony Frost 9/4

* Cavvies Clown was first past the post in 1988, but subsequently failed a dope test ** Staged at Wincanton