StanJames.com Champion Hurdle Trial |
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| £75,000 added, Haydock 4yo plus, 2m, Class 1  |
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| Saturday 17th January 2015 | |
1 The New One 1/6F
2 Bertimont 8/1
3 Strongpoint 16/1
7 ran Distances: 2¼l, 7l, 5l
TIME 4m 1.30s (slow by 16.30s)
It was very laboured, and there was one horrible jump, but The New One just about lands the money at Haydock. One tough race for him.
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The New One made hard work of justifying 1-6 favouritism as he wore down Bertimont to win by 2¼ lengths.
Back on Merseyside to confirm his position as the best hurdler in Britain, he jumped right at several obstacles and did not impress generally.
Harry Skelton sensed his opportunity at the third-last aboard Bertimont as he jumped to the front when The New One made a minor error that gave him three lengths to make up, but Sam Twiston-Davies did not panic and though the response was not immediate, his partner ground it out after the last to win by two and a quarter lengths.
Trainer Nigel Twiston-Davies said: "It wasn't ideal, but we'll put that down to the ground. It's the worst ground he's come across and that was the stiffest test he's had this year.
"It won't do him any harm, though, and we've now got seven and a bit weeks to get him ready (for the Champion Hurdle). He'll have a steady time of things for a bit and then we'll build him back up for the big race."
The New One was unsurprisingly eased by some bookmakers to around 3-1 about winning the main event in March.
Sam Twiston-Davies said: "It's quite weird. It's not often you ride a winner and everyone looks so disappointed.
"It was very heavy ground. I was in trouble from the bottom of the straight and it felt like it was going to be very hard work. I was trying to save whatever run I had for after the last, but I didn't imagine it would be as hard a work as that.
"I think he jumped to the right because of the ground. He's pulled it out of the bag, having made a few notable mistakes.
"We'll give it a go in the Champion and he'll be 100 times better than today. Everything went wrong and he still won."
Stanjames.com Champion Hurdle Trial
£75,000 added, 4yo plus, 2m, Class 1
7 ran
Going: Heavy, Soft in Places
| Dist | Horse | Jockey /Weight | Trainer | Age | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | The New One (IRE) 1/6f | S Twiston-Davies 11-12 |
N A Twiston-Davies | 7 | |
| 2nd | 2¼ | Bertimont (FR) 8/1 | Harry Skelton 11-4 |
D Skelton | 5 |
| 3rd | 7 | Strongpoint (IRE) 16/1 | P Buchanan 11-4 |
S R B Crawford | 11 |
| 4th | 5 | Swaledale Lad (IRE) 100/1 | Harry Challoner 11-4 |
R Ford | 8 |
| 5th | 3½ | Desert Cry (IRE) 11/1 | J M Maguire 11-4 |
D McCain Jnr | 9 |
| 6th | 4 | Trucking Along (IRE) 66/1 | T J O'Brien 11-4 |
S R B Crawford | 9 |
| PU | Got The Nac (IRE) 33/1 | W Hutchinson 11-4 |
O Sherwood | 6 |
