It was an anxious few days for Lauren Keen-Hawkins, waiting for her licence to come through, but permission was granted just in time for her to partner Dandy Dan, who stormed up the Cheltenham hill to win the INEOS Grenadier Mixed Open and give his partner, whose debut season this is, a fairy-tale first ride under Rules...
Owned by Phil Andrews, as he had been for all his six victories from Kim Bailey’s yard, Dandy Dan had lost his enthusiasm for racing, so the decision was made to send him for a change of scene to James Bourne near Pontypool, where he has been for the past seven months, and where his varied routine includes exercising on the surrounding mountains. “And he isn’t stabled very much unless the weather is bad,” commented James of the only horse he trains.
Lauren, who did a nine-week course at the British Racing School, is in her fourth season working at the Bailey yard, and she used to ride out Dandy Dan, who she described as “quite cheeky,” in his time there. One of her charges now is the smart chaser, Two For Gold.
She paid tribute to Bailey, his assistant Matt Nicholls, and jockey David Bass, for all their help and advice. Bass had partnered Dandy Dan to all his previous successes but admitted “I did fall off him here as well!”
The INEOS runner-up, the fragile Caryto des Brosses, whose myriad problems have been well documented, lost nothing in defeat, and had there been an award for ride of the meeting it would surely have gone to his rider, Dale Peters, for his achievement in getting Caryto’s stable companion, Law Of Gold, within a neck of the 100-1 winner of the Dominic Chapman Memorial four-miler, Coup de Pinceau. The runner-up’s error-strewn round of jumping would have had many riders calling it a day a long way from home
Coup de Pinceau, who has had five different trainers since his purchase in 2020 by Syd Hosie’s Sherborne Utilities Ltd, is now based with Syd, who pointed out that the ten-year-old needs an extreme trip to bring out the best in him.
It was a first Hunter Chase victory for jockey George Hiscock, a farmer who fits in training four Pointers at home with managing 300 head of dairy cattle. George, a former South Dorset MFH who still acts regularly as Field Master, opened his account between the flags in 2010 on Master Billyboy, trained by Charlotte Tizzard, for whom he used to ride out.
Gina Andrews is no stranger to the Cheltenham winner’s enclosure, and she added to her tally when taking the Join Racing TV Now Intermediate Chase on Latenightfumble, a half-sister to the Aintree Foxhunters’ hero Latenightpass, trained by her husband Tom Ellis and bred by his mother Pippa. The mare looked to be going very easily three out, but in the end had to pull out all the stops to get past the gallant Go Go Geronimo (Tom Chatfeild-Roberts), who had led from halfway and battled on strongly after being headed at the last.
“She’s never stopped surprising me,” admitted Tom of the seven-year-old. “She’s a slow burner but she’s improved with every run, and we’d always planned to come for this race. She’s not had a hard race, so I’d love to go for the John Corbet (at Stratford on May 27).”
Latenightfumble was broken in by Gina’s brother Jack, now a Conditional jockey, and, laughed Tom, “It was the best news of the year when Jack said he was coming to help with the breaking again, because he does such a good job.”
Coincidentally, Latenightfumble’s dam, Latenightdip, was bred by Jane Way, breeder also of Go Go Geronimo!
Trainer Kelly Morgan came very close to Cheltenham triumph when saddling Top Wood to finish runner-up in the 2018 Foxhunters’ Chase, but she broke her course duck when Feuille de Lune romped away with the Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Mares’ Chase in the hands of Alice Stevens. The daughter of useful jumps sire Saddle Maker (Bristol de Mai and Apple’s Jade being his most prolific-winning offspring) is another horse for whom the John Corbet was being considered, but having seen her lose ground by jumping quite markedly to the right on occasion, Kelly was having second thoughts.
Feuille de Lune was unraced for a year after joining Kelly, for whom she is now unbeaten. “She needed an awful lot of work,” explained Kelly’s brother Tommy. “She’s had every wind operation going, but now she just wants to do everything at a million miles an hour.”
Kelly nominated her as the best she has trained, and she has been leased by the Weatherby family to the Snail Partnership, a large group of local enthusiasts new to ownership.
Kelly and Alice teamed up last season when Alice stepped in to ride Red Indian at Bishops Court after Gina Andrews was unavailable. “I didn’t know her at all until then,” said Kelly, but Red Indian duly won, and the trainer-jockey pairing has thrived ever since. “She deserves every success,” enthused Kelly of Alice. “She comes in to ride out every week, and she’s so dedicated and hard-working.”
As well as being in demand by several Point-to-Point yards, the main one being that of Fran Poste, Alice, the National Novice Champion in 2017-18, and currently lying third in this season’s women’s title race, rides out regularly for Henry Daly.
Will Biddick was at his strongest in the opening Visit Cheltenham Open Chase, when Pat Bunter’s Envoye Special, who had made virtually all the running, rallied on the run-in after being headed at the last by Envious Editor. “He’s far from easy,” smiled trainer Chris Barber. “He’s very keen, and we don’t work him much at home.”
To see Envoye Special go past must have been a galling sight for Envious Editor’s rider James King, who has been in the winner’s saddle for most of this campaign. The French-bred was due to have been ridden on this occasion by Martin McIntyre, but the luckless Irishman failed to arrive in time, having been held up in traffic en route.
This being the opening meeting of the new National Hunt season, Messrs Barber and Biddick found themselves on their own at the head of the respective trainers’ and jockeys’ championship tables for 35 minutes!
Will was denied a double when Moratorium, who had led over the last in the KTDA Open Chase, failed to hold off the late challenge of Trio For Rio and Tommie O’Brien, who were landing the prize for the second successive year for owner-trainer Clive Boultbee-Brooks and his wife Charmaine.
Trio For Rio was purchased in 2020 from the dispersal sale of the late Trevor Hemmings. “Some days he wants it, some days he doesn’t,” smiled Clive, explaining the nine-year-old’s in-and-out form this season, while Tommie, an integral part of the Boultbee-Brooks set-up, admitted it had taken some time to work out that the son of Getaway needs to be fresh to show his best.
Win or lose, Trio For Rio enjoys star status in the yard. “He’s everyone’s favourite,” Clive pointed out, “and he’s nicknamed Cutesy at home!”
Clive has enjoyed much success under Rules in addition to his Pointing victories, and he nominated recent highlights as being those of Getaway Luv, scoring in his daughter Emily’s name at Stratford, and a home-bred four-year-old, Bertie B, winning a Bumper first time out at Bangor on Grand National day.
Sarah Dawson dreamed for years of having a winner at Cheltenham, and her wish was realised when Solomon Grey, trained for her by Tor Collins, took the Gloucestershire Royal Hussars Open Chase under Darren Andrews, who was sitting on him for the first time.
The grey’s breeder, Sarah Faulks, had previously sold another home-bred, Bandsman, to Dawson, and when she wanted to sell Solomon Grey, it was to her namesake that she turned. “She wanted him to come to us because she knew we’d looked after Bandsman so well,” said Sarah, a former winning Point-to-Point jockey who rides the grey at home. “He’s easy on the gallops if he knows where he’s got to stop, but I wouldn’t want to ride him on a circular gallop!” she laughed.
Both Darren’s Hunter Chase victories this season (the other was on Salvatore) were due to his willingness to pick up the phone. “Darren rang up for a ride,” explained Sarah, “and we were pleased to support him.” He had been due to partner Solomon Grey at Ludlow in March, but the horse was declared a non-runner due to unsuitable ground.