Bet Victor Supporting Greatwood Gold Cup
Grade 3 Handicap, Newbury 13:50
£40,000 added,
5yo plus,
2m 3f 187y, Class 1  
Saturday 6th March 2021

SureWIn

1 Umbrigado 13/2
2 Killer Clown 4/1F
3 The Big Bite 11/1
14 ran Distances: 1l, 1¼l, 1¼l
Time: 4m 50.60s (slow by 0.60s)

A win for Umbrigado seemed unlikely jumping the last as The Big Bite had finally mastered Barton Knoll after a duel down the home straight.

However the leader cocked his jaw when Johnny Burke tried to straighten him up after he went to the left on landing and it allowed the winner and runner-up Killer Clown to sweep by as they met the running rail close home.

The David Pipe-trained winner had a length advantage at the line with The Big Bite having to settle for third.

Umbrigado holds entries in two races at the Festival and was cut from 14-1 into 10-1 for the Paddy Power Plate with MansionBet.

However, Pipe is mindful that the Festival is sooner than ideal, and said: “We entered him in the Grand Annual and the old Mildmay of Flete at Cheltenham but weren’t sure, and today’s race was a good payday in its own right.

“Coming into today I wasn’t certain about the ground, but David gave him a great ride. He’s a strong traveller, but doesn’t always find as much as you think he will in a finish. What we had today was a bit of luck with the leader hanging, and we were in the right place to cash in.

“Regarding Cheltenham we will go by the owners and see what they want to do. They would love to have a runner with a good chance, but whether it’s the two-and-a-half-miler on Thursday or the Grand Annual on Wednesday it could come a bit quick.”

Noonan deserved this big-race success and his mount will now be brim-full of confidence following three wins since going chasing.

He said: “I planned to settle him halfway back and give him a bit of room. He’d idled a bit when taking the lead at Wetherby, but today he battled well on ground that was the best he’d run on. 

“Even at the last I was confident I wasn’t out of it, and he powered to the line. He hasn’t had an overly-hard race, and he’s adaptable in the way he can be ridden.”

Greatwood Gold Cup (Grade 3 Handicap)
£40,000 added, 5yo plus, 2m 3f 187y, Class 1
14 ran
Going: Good

POS. DIST HORSE AGE WGT TRAINER JOCKEY SP
1     Umbrigado 7 11-3 David Pipe David Noonan 13/2
2 1 Killer Clown 7 10-11 Emma Lavelle Adam Wedge 4/1F
3 1¼ The Big Bite 8 11-5 Henry Oliver Jonathan Burke 11/1
4 1¼ Senior Citizen 8 10-7 Alan King A P Heskin 7/1
5 5½ Barton Knoll 9 10-9 John Mackie Richie McLernon 28/1
6 4½ Another Crick 8 10-6 Noel Williams Paddy Brennan 8/1
7 9 Born Survivor 10 10-11 Dan Skelton Bridget Andrews 14/1
8 2¼ Capeland 9 11-12 Paul Nicholls Daryl Jacob 40/1
9 ¾ Grand Sancy 7 11-8 Paul Nicholls Bryony Frost 6/1
10 1½ Gala Ball 11 11-3 Philip Hobbs Tom O'Brien 25/1
11 6½ Pistol Whipped 7 10-12 Nicky Henderson Nico de Boinville 7/1
12 48 Windsor Avenue 9 11-5 Brian Ellison Theo Gillard 16/1
13 5½ Gold Present 11 11-4 Nicky Henderson Sean Bowen 80/1
FELL The Russian Doyen 8 10-5 Jeremy Scott Nick Scholfield 16/1

Odds catcher