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Opera Mundi - beaten at Wincanton.
By Tom Peacock, PA Sport
Ursis dented Opera Mundi's Cheltenham Festival prospects but opened up some of his own with success in the Bathwick Tyres Bridgwater H.B.L.B. Kingmaker Novices' Chase at Wincanton. The Grade Two race, rescheduled from Warwick last week, had been billed as a springboard for 5-6 favourite Opera Mundi, who tracked Ursis (7-2) from the outset and loomed large turning for home. But Ursis, making his debut for Steve Gollings, had not read the script and doggedly fought off his rival to score by three-quarters of a length. "Much of the credit must go to his owner Phil Martin, who bought him himself at the sales about three weeks ago," said Gollings. "It was no fluke and he needed to win this to get a handicap mark for Cheltenham. He has the Grand Annual and the Jewson Handicap as options."
