Sonic The Hedgehog 3 Coming Soon Handicap Chase
Handicap, Cheltenham 13:50
£100,000 guaranteed,
4yo plus,
3m 2f, Grade 3  
Friday 13th December 2024

BetGoodwin

1 King Turgeon 9/4
2 Our Power 20/1
3 Chianti Classico 2/1F
8 ran Distances: 3l, 1l, 9l
Time: 6m 48.93s (slow by 9.93s)

King Turgeon bagged his second significant victory of the season by rallying impressively in the feature handicap. The David Pipe-trained grey, who already had a notable win over the Grand National fences in the Grand Sefton this season, showed his class once again.

With Jack Tudor at the reins, King Turgeon made most of the running. However, he was headed with three furlongs to go by both Our Power and the favourite, Chianti Classico. It was Kim Bailey’s Festival winner, Chianti Classico, who led into the straight under his new jockey Ciaran Gethings. Yet, Our Power was persistently challenging him, and Tudor brought King Turgeon wide for another effort.

Displaying great stamina and determination, King Turgeon stayed on powerfully up the hill, ultimately winning by a convincing three lengths. Our Power managed to edge top-weight Chianti Classico for second place.

Connections of King Turgeon may not regret missing their initial target, the Becher Chase at Aintree, due to its cancellation from Storm Darragh. Paddy Power and Betfair have adjusted King Turgeon’s odds for the Grand National, cutting him to 33-1 from 50-1.

Trainer David Pipe expressed his delight, stating, “That was fantastic, horse and jockey were very good. He’s put in a career-best there. He’s only six, he’s by Turgeon and they’re slow to come to hand. It’s fantastic for the owners and our yard. The couple of mistakes he made we probably didn’t expect, but it probably helped him a bit. We let the others get on with it, it’s a galloping track and I thought the ground was riding slow enough. He’s battled on, he’s obviously matured again through the summer. He’s improving at a rate of knots. He’s always been a very good jumper and my plan was to win the Grand Sefton at Aintree, which he did, and everything after that was a bonus. We’re going to have to look at different plans again, he’s going to go up in the weights. He could be a Grand National horse one day. It’s great for Pond House, that’s the bottom line. It’s difficult to win here. It’s lovely to have some young horses come through, the hard work is done by the team back at the yard and this is for everyone.”

There was a moment of concern for Chianti Classico after the race when Gethings dismounted and walked back to the weighing room alone. Kim Bailey said, “I haven’t spoken to anybody yet, my travelling head girl is in the stables. He’s lame behind and is not weight-bearing, so we have to wait and see.”

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December Handicap Chase (Grade 3)
£100,000 guaranteed, 4yo plus, 3m 2f, Class 1
8 ran
Going: Good to Soft, Good in places

POS. DIST HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1    King Turgeon 6 10-4 David Pipe Jack Tudor 9/4
2 3 Our Power 9 11-0 Sam Thomas Dylan Johnston 20/1
3 1 Chianti Classico 7 12-0 Kim Bailey Ciaran Gethings 2/1F
4 9 Java Point 9 10-2 Henry Oliver Jonathan Burke 6/1
5 ½ The Newest One 9 10-2 Nigel Twiston-Davies Sam Twiston-Davies 15/2
6 1 Ballygrifincottage 9 10-10 Dan Skelton Harry Skelton 8/1
PU Chambard 12 11-2 Venetia Williams Miss Lucy Turner 25/1
PU Izino d'Airy 6 10-2 Guillaume Fabre Alexandre Seigne 40/1

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