Hennessy Gold Cup |
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| Grade 3 Handicap, Newbury £175,000 added, 4yo plus, 3m 2f 110y, Class 1 |
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| Saturday 30th November 2013 | |
1 Triolo D'Alene 20/1
2 Rocky Creek 8/1
3 Theatre Guide 33/1
4 Highland Lodge 6
/1
5 Merry King 12/1
21 ran Distances: 2¾l, 1¾l, 9l
Triolo D'Alene gave champion trainer Nicky Henderson a third win in the Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury with a hard-fought triumph over Rocky Creek.
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The six-year-old, winner of last season's Topham Chase at Aintree, gave jockey Barry Geraghty back-to-back victories in the race after the success of the Henderson-trained Bobs Worth 12 months ago.
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Rocky Creek fought hard in the closing stages, but it was Triolo D'Alene (20-1) who prevailed by two and three-quarter lengths. Theatre Guide was another length and three-quarters away in third, with Highland Lodge fourth.
Imperial Commander and Highland Lodge set the pace in a highly competitive renewal of this prestigious staying handicap chase, which saw the winner's stablemate, Hadrian's Approach, and Opening Batsman exit at the fifth fence. Katenko, who joined the leading pair, fell at the 14th and when Imperial Commander weakened rapidly it was Highland Lodge who went on.
Cloudy Too briefly seized the initiative and was soon challenged by Rocky Creek, who looked as though he might give the Stewart and Johnson families an emotional success. He jumped the last in unison with Triolo D'Alene, who proved the stronger on the run-in.
Henderson said: "He's a lovely horse with a lovely attitude, but Barry has been begging me all year to save him for the Grand National. We've mucked that up completely, but the Hennessy is very special."
Geraghty said: "He was great. I had a brilliant ride off him in the Topham and he was brilliant today. He has a great attitude. On that ground and on a stiff track, he finds it so easy."
Hennessy Gold Cup Chase (Grade 3 Handicap)
£175,000 added, 4yo plus, 3m 2f 110y, Class 1
21 ran
Going: Good, Good to Soft in places
| Horse Trainer |
Jockey Weight |
SP Distance |
|
| 1 |
Triolo D'Alene N J Henderson |
B J Geraghty 11st 1lbs |
20 - 1 Winner |
| 2 |
Rocky Creek P F Nicholls |
D A Jacob 11st 5lbs |
8 - 1 2 3/4 lengths |
| 3 |
Theatre Guide C L Tizzard |
J Tizzard 10st 13lbs |
33 - 1 1 3/4 length |
| 4 |
Highland Lodge Miss E C Lavelle |
L Aspell 10st 11lbs |
6 - 1 9 lengths |
| 5 |
Merry King Jonjo O'Neill |
R P McLernon 10st 8lbs |
12 - 1 4 1/2 lengths |
| 6 |
Houblon Des Obeaux Miss V Williams |
L Treadwell 11st 8lbs |
25 - 1 Short Head |
| 7 |
Our Father D Pipe |
C O'Farrell 11st 1lbs |
11 - 2 1 3/4 length |
| 8 |
Lord Windermere J H Culloty |
D C Costello 11st 8lbs |
7 - 1 2 1/2 lengths |
| 9 |
Terminal W P Mullins |
T Scudamore 10st 12lbs |
33 - 1 Neck |
| 10 |
Same Difference N A Twiston-Davies |
Sam Twiston-Davies 11st 1lbs |
33 - 1 1/2 length |
| 11 |
Invictus A King |
R Thornton 10st 13lbs |
8 - 1 3 3/4 lengths |
| 12 |
Cloudy Too Mrs S J Smith |
R Johnson 11st 4lbs |
20 - 1 1 1/4 length |
| 13 |
Prince De Beauchene W P Mullins |
R Walsh 11st 9lbs |
16 - 1 2 1/4 lengths |
| 14 |
Loch Ba M R Channon |
D Elsworth 10st 1lbs |
16 - 1 8 lengths |
| 15 |
Whodoyouthink O McKiernan |
P F Mangan 10st 0lbs |
100 - 1 36 lengths |
| 16 |
Cape Tribulation J M Jefferson |
Jack Doyle 11st 12lbs |
50 - 1 7 lengths |
| Fell |
Katenko Miss V Williams |
Aidan Coleman 11st 11lbs |
20 - 1 |
| PU |
Imperial Commander N A Twiston-Davies |
P J Brennan 11st 7lbs |
20 - 1 |
| PU |
Super Duty D McCain Jnr |
J M Maguire 11st 2lbs |
14 - 1 |
| Fell |
Opening Batsman H Fry |
N Fehily 11st 0lbs |
25 - 1 |
| UR |
Hadrian's Approach N J Henderson |
Nico de Boinville 11st 0lbs |
12 - 1 |
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Carrying the colours of the Our Friends In The North syndicate, the 12-year-old fulfilled every National Hunt owner's dream when winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March 2010.
That race had been billed as a clash between Denman and Kauto Star, but Imperial Commander justified plenty of confidence in the Nigel Twiston-Davies stable when taking top honours in the hands of Paddy Brennan.
Twiston-Davies said: "He has run so many great races for us, and we'll always have that to remember him by."
Imperial Commander was restricted to just six more races, with his only other success after the Gold Cup coming in the Betfair Chase at Haydock in November 2010.
The proud owners decided to draw stumps as they did not want Imperial Commander to race on as a 13-year-old.
He ran a total of 22 times, winning eight races and amassing over £700,000 in prize-money.
Imperial Commander travelled well from the front for a long way in the Hennessy, but quickly grew tired once the field straightened for home.
Brennan: "He gave me a great spin, and it was only coming back into the home straight that he was telling me that the game was up.
"He'll get the best possible treatment and I'd like to thank Nigel, all the owners and the horse for all they have done for my career."
