Newbury Racecourse

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Diamond Harry Sparkles in Thrilling Hennessy
27/11/10

1 Diamond Harry 6/1
2 Burton Port 15/2
3 Denman 4/1F
4 The Tother One 28/1

Diamond Harry landed a terrific renewal of the Hennessy Gold Cup in front of a packed grandstand as Denman lost nothing in defeat in hanging on for third in the big Newbury handicap.

Diamond Harry
© racing-images.co.uk

Daryl Jacob had the Nick Williams-trained winner (6-1) prominent from the off and he was cruising up the straight as Denman battled to stay with him in concession of a mammoth 26lb.

There was a huge roar from the crowd as Denman jumped the fourth-last the better of the pair, but Diamond Harry was soon hard back on the bridle and after seeing off the gallant top-weight he resisted the challenge of Burton Port by a length and a quarter.

An emotional Jacob said: "I sat on him during the week and I said to Nick I'll never ride a horse like this again.

Denman
© racing-images.co.uk

"I saw Denman upsides me, but I knew with the weight difference I always had him. But Denman ran a magnificent race and all credit to his team.

"These races come around once in a lifetime. I couldn't have asked for a better ride - he jumped, travelled and did everything I wanted him to do. It's a dream to ride a horse like this.

"When he came back in this year I said to Nick he looked fabulous. The Gold Cup is a long way off, he was getting a lot of weight and was entitled to win on his hurdles form, but we can dream can't we?"

Williams added: "That was fantastic and we're thrilled. It's outstanding, it's one of the big handicaps of the season. We knew he would love the track and thought he had as good a chance as any.

"Coming into the straight I could see that Daryl hadn't moved and he looked confident all the way through the race. I would have been astounded if anything had got past him from three out.

"He's not an obvious Cheltenham horse but we are going to have to look at the Gold Cup. We were going to run in the Lexus at Leopardstown over Christmas and that's not out of the equation yet, otherwise he will probably run at the Cheltenham meeting in January."

Position	Horse Trainer	Jockey Weight	Starting Price Beaten Distance
1	Diamond Harry Nick Williams	D Jacob 10st 0lbs	6 - 1 Winner
2	Burton Port N J Henderson	B J Geraghty 10st 0lbs	15 - 2 1 1/4 length
3	Denman P F Nicholls	S Thomas 11st 12lbs	4 - 1 14 lengths
4	The Tother One P F Nicholls	Mr R Mahon 10st 0lbs	28 - 1 1/2 length
5	Niche Market P F Nicholls	Ian Popham 10st 0lbs	40 - 1 3/4 length
6	Carruthers M Bradstock	Matthew Batchelor 10st 0lbs	14 - 1 3 1/4 lengths
7	Taranis P F Nicholls	Nick Scholfield 10st 4lbs	14 - 1 4 1/2 lengths
8	Weird Al Ian Williams	P J Brennan 10st 0lbs	6 - 1 18 lengths
9	Hills Of Aran W K Goldsworthy	J E Moore 10st 0lbs	100 - 1 13 lengths
10	Silver By Nature Miss Lucinda V Russell	P Buchanan 10st 0lbs	25 - 1 distance
BroughtDown	Neptune Collonges P F Nicholls	A P McCoy 10st 8lbs	14 - 1
Fell	Madison Du Berlais D Pipe	T Scudamore 10st 1lbs	16 - 1
PulledUp	Barbers Shop N J Henderson	A Tinkler 10st 0lbs	40 - 1
PulledUp	Dream Alliance P J Hobbs	Giles Hawkins 10st 0lbs	66 - 1
Fell	Big Fella Thanks Ferdy Murphy	G Lee 10st 0lbs	14 - 1
Fell	Hey Big Spender C L Tizzard	A Coleman 10st 0lbs	25 - 1
PulledUp	Pandorama N Meade	P Carberry 10st 0lbs	8 - 1
PulledUp	Razor Royale N A Twiston-Davies	S Twiston-Davies 10st 0lbs	40 - 1
NonRunner	China Rock M F Morris	Non Runner 10st 4lbs	-