Identity Thief Snatches StanJames.com Fighting Fifth Hurdle

Fighting Fifth Hurdle
Grade 1, Newcastle 14:05 £113,000 added, 4yo plus, 2m 98y, Class 1
Saturday 28th November 2015

1 Identity Thief 6/1
2 Top Notch 9/2
3 Wicklow Brave 2/1J
7 ran Distances: nk, 10l, 16l
TIME 3m 57.80s (slow by 16.80s)

Identity Thief snatches Fighting Fifth to enter Champion Hurdle picture

Identity Thief
© Caroline Norris

Supplemented into the race on Monday, Henry de Bromhead's five-year-old survived a bad blunder at the final flight to get the better of Nicky Henderson's Top Notch.

The pair set a strong gallop in the holding ground, with Ruby Walsh, visiting the track for the first time since 1997, content to sit behind on Wicklow Brave.

Daryl Jacob kicked Top Notch into a clear lead turning into the straight, with the two Irish raiders tracking him some three lengths adrift.

It was soon apparent Bryan Cooper was travelling better on Identity Thief than Walsh was, and he cruised into the lead approaching the last.

He met it all wrong, though, and Top Notch went two lengths clear again only for Identity Thief to battle back and win by a neck at 6-1.

"Bryan gave him a super ride," said De Bromhead.

"He wasn't in any rush going down the back and, bar the last flight, he was foot perfect.

"I thought he was beat but he's tough.

"That's a proper Champion Hurdle trial so we can dream about that in March but as for where he'll go before then I'd need to talk to Michael and Eddie O'Leary (owners).

"I think last year everything just happened too quickly which was why he tailed off.

"That was my first runner at Newcastle but I'll be back."

Walsh felt the tacky ground accounted for Wicklow Brave, while Nick Scholfield blamed scrappy jumping for Irving's poor display in his attempt to retain the title.

The winner was given quotes of around 20-1 for the big race in March.

Stanjames.com Fighting Fifth Hurdle
£113,000 added, 4yo plus, 2m 98y, Class 1
7 ran
Going: Soft

Pos	D	Horse SP	Jockey Weight	Trainer	Age
1st		Identity Thief (IRE) 6/1	B J Cooper 11-7	H de Bromhead	5
2nd	nk	Top Notch (FR) 9/2	D A Jacob 11-7	N J Henderson	4
3rd	10	Wicklow Brave 2/1j	R Walsh 11-7	W P Mullins	6
4th	16	Purple Bay (IRE) 14/1	D Bass 11-7	J P Ferguson	6
5th	6	Intense Tango 50/1	Henry Brooke 11-0	K R Burke	4
6th	8	Irving 2/1j	Nick Scholfield 11-7	P F Nicholls	7
7th	15	Beltor 22/1	T J O'Brien 11-7	Robert Stephens	4

The Fighting Fifth Hurdle was first run in 1969, and the inaugural running was won by Mugatpura. Its title refers to the "Fighting Fifth", the nickname of the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers. In the year prior to the race's launch, the regiment (formerly known as the 5th Regiment of Foot) was amalgamated with three others to form the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers.

There were two triple winners of the Fighting Fifth Hurdle during the 1970s: Comedy of Errors and Bird's Nest. The latter also finished first in 1980 but after a stewards' inquiry he was relegated to second place behind Sea Pigeon.

The Fighting Fifth Hurdle was formerly classed at Grade 2 level, and for a brief spell in the 1990s it was run as a limited handicap. Its past sponsors have included Bellway Homes, Newcastle Building Society and Pertemps. It was promoted to Grade 1 status in 2004, and it is now the first top-grade hurdle race of the British National Hunt season.

The online sportbook StanJames.com took over the sponsorship of the Fighting Fifth in 2010. The Fighting Fifth is the first leg in the Road to Cheltenham, a Stan James sponsored series of races which includes the International Hurdle at Cheltenham and the Champion Hurdle Trial at Haydock, and culminates in the Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival.


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