BetBright Cheltenham Festival Fund Adonis Juvenile Hurdle |
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| Grade 2, Kempton Park 14:00 £30,000 added, 4yo only, 2m, Class 1  |
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| Saturday 21st February 2015 | |
1 Beltor 3/1
2 All Yours 9/2
3 Bivouac 6/4F
9 ran Distances: 5l, 9l, 2l
TIME 4m 6.30s (slow by 24.30s)
Robert Stephens' Beltor produced an impressive performance in the Adonis Juvenile Hurdle at Kempton
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Formerly with Sir Mark Prescott on the level, Beltor is now trained by Robert Stephens, who used to be Prescott's pupil assistant, and he was sent off at 3-1 having won on his debut at Ludlow 26 days ago.
Tom O'Brien struggled to get him settled early on but he arrived at the second-last hard on the bridle and w ithout being hard ridden, beat All Yours by six lengths, with a further nine back to the favourite, Bivouac.
BetVictor made him a 12-1 chance for the Triumph Hurdle, with Zarkandar the last horse to complete the Adonis-Triumph double in 2011.
O'Brien said: " He's definitely done that easy and he's a credit to his trainer. I think better ground will help as they'll go faster and that will help him settle."
Stephens added: "He is such a strong traveller that he always saves a bit. It was a fantastic win. His work has always been very good and he has held it all together, the only worry was that he may be a bit keen to take to hurdling.
"I think we have seriously got to consider the Triumph now, but I will have a chat with Tom. I won a Listed race last year but that was my biggest race win.
"I think it is realistic to dream about Cheltenham. Both his wins have been on flat tracks but he is quite a tough sort and at Cheltenham they will go a good gallop and that will suit him."
Owner Alison Mossop said: " He is a lovely horse to have but all the hard work is down to Robert and his team. They do a wonderful job and pay such attention to detail.
"His previous run at Ludlow was his first over hurdles and as I had never seen him run over them, I had no great expectations.
"I leave all the management of the horse with Robert and if he says Cheltenham is next, then that is where we will go."
BetBright Cheltenham Festival Fund Adonis Juvenile Hurdle (Grade 2)
£30,000 added, 4yo only, 2m, Class 1
9 ran
Going: Soft
| Pos | Dist | Horse SP | Jockey /Weight | Trainer | Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Beltor 3/1 | T J O'Brien 11-2 |
Robert Stephens | 4 | |
| 2nd | 5 | All Yours (FR) 9/2 | S Twiston-Davies 11-2 |
P F Nicholls | 4 |
| 3rd | 9 | Bivouac (FR) 6/4f | B J Geraghty 11-5 |
N J Henderson | 4 |
| 4th | 2 | Officer Drivel (IRE) 14/1 | A P McCoy 11-2 |
Jim Best | 4 |
| 5th | 13 | Top of The Glas (IRE) 22/1 | W Hutchinson 10-12 |
B Ellison | 4 |
| 6th | 7 | Russian Bolero (GER) 20/1 | R Johnson 11-2 |
D G Bridgwater | 4 |
| 7th | 3 | Cape Caster (IRE) 20/1 | Adam Wedge 11-2 |
Evan Williams | 4 |
| 8th | 16 | Primogeniture (IRE) 14/1 | Harry Skelton 10-12 |
D Skelton | 4 |
| PU | Jeanpascal (FR) 20/1 | Aidan Coleman 11-5 |
Miss V Williams | 4 |
