Paddy Power Dipper Novices' Chase
Grade 2, Wincanton 14:05
£24,000 added 5yo+
2m 4f 35y, Class 1  
Saturday 9th January 2021

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1 Messire Des Obeaux 9/4
2 Protektorat 1/2F
3 Lieutenant Rocco 10/1
3 ran Distances: 4¾l, 2l
Time: 5m 13.89s (slow by 16.89s)

Winner of the Grade One Challow Novices’ Hurdle at Newbury on New Year’s Eve of 2016, Alan King’s Messire Des Obeaux went on to be placed at both the Cheltenham Festival and Aintree the following spring, before injury kept him off the track for almost three years.

His return from a 1,034-day hiatus at Huntingdon last February was not devoid of promise, but it nevertheless looked as though his best days may perhaps be behind him.

However, following a heart-warming success on his chasing debut at Wincanton last month, the nine-year-old returned to Somerset for a Grade Two contest saved from the abandoned fixture at Cheltenham on New Year’s Day – and proved up to the task in the hands of Daryl Jacob.

Settled at the rear of the three-runner field for much of the two-and-a-half-mile journey, Messire Des Obeaux could be spotted travelling best rounding the home turn, and it was just a question of what he would find when push came to shove.

In the end he showed he had plenty in the locker, with a flying leap at the final fence sealing a near five-length verdict over Dan Skelton’s 1-2 favourite Protektorat.

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Paddy Power Dipper Novices' Chase (Grade 2)
£24,000 added 5yo+ 2m 4f 35y, Class 1
3 ran
Going: Soft, Good to Soft in places

POS. DIST HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1     Messire Des Obeaux 9 11-0 Alan King Daryl Jacob 9/4
2 4¾ Protektorat 6 11-3 Dan Skelton Harry Skelton 1/2F
3 2 Lieutenant Rocco 6 11-0 Nick Mitchell Tom Cannon 10/1

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