Tangle Teezer Top Novices' Hurdle (Grade 2) 2m 110y
- (4yo+, 2m 110y, Class 1, 12 runners)
- Winner £28,475 2nd £10,685 3rd £5,350 4th £2,665 5th £1,340 6th £670
- Going: Good, Good to Soft in places
- Surface: Turf
Weighed In:
- Winning time: 4m 4.50s
- Off time: 14:00:59
Full Result
| Pos | Dist | Horse | Trainer | Age | Weight | Jockey | SP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | 4 Darlan | N J Henderson | 5 | 11-4 | A P McCoy | 7/4f | |
| SP 7/4f Held up mid-division, headway on inner from 4 out, challenged 2 out, led last, ridden and kept on strongly final 150 yards, eased near finish £17500-£10000 £7000-£4000(x2) £1375-£500(x3) £700-£400(x6) £1300-£800 | |||||||
| 2nd | 3¾ | 3 Captain Conan (FR) | N J Henderson | 5 | 11-4 | B J Geraghty | 9/1 |
| SP 9/1 Tracked leaders, led 3 out, pressed next, headed last, ridden run-in, kept on and no impression on winner final 125 yards opened 11/1 touched 8/1 | |||||||
| 3rd | 7 | 7 Prospect Wells (FR) | P F Nicholls | 7 | 11-4 t | R Walsh | 4/1 |
| SP 4/1 Held up mid-division, headway to chase leaders before 3 out, ridden after last, one pace and no impression on leading pair £1800-£400 £2400-£600 | |||||||
| 4th | 5 | 6 Oscara Dara (IRE) | N J Henderson | 7 | 11-4 | David Bass | 10/1 |
| SP 10/1 Held up towards rear, headway before 3 out, ridden and kept on same pace from after 2 out, went 4th final 100 yards, no impression opened 9/1 | |||||||
| 5th | 1 | 12 Vulcanite (IRE) | C E Longsdon | 5 | 11-4 t1 | P J Brennan | 13/2 |
| SP 13/2 Held up towards rear, headway 3 out and not fluent, one pace from 2 out, not fluent last, lost 4th place final 100 yards opened 15/2 £4000-£500 £2100-£300 | |||||||
| 6th | 15 | 1 Absolutlyfantastic | H De Bromhead | 5 | 11-4 | A E Lynch | 28/1 |
| SP 28/1 Led to 2nd, regained lead before 5th, headed 3 out, weakened next opened 33/1 | |||||||
| 7th | 1¼ | 10 Theatre Guide (IRE) | C L Tizzard | 5 | 11-4 | J Tizzard | 12/1 |
| SP 12/1 Held up towards rear, effort and weakened before 2 out opened 14/1 | |||||||
| 8th | 6 | 8 Right Step | A P Jarvis | 5 | 11-4 | T J O'Brien | 16/1 |
| SP 16/1 Towards rear, pushed along and weakened before 3 out | |||||||
| 9th | 18 | 9 Seventh Sky (GER) | C J Mann | 5 | 11-4 | N Fehily | 100/1 |
| SP 100/1 Held up in rear and keen, tracked leaders before 4th, weakened after 4 out | |||||||
| 10th | 29 | 2 Agent Archie (USA) | D McCain Jnr | 5 | 11-4 | J M Maguire | 12/1 |
| SP 12/1 Tracked leader, led from 2nd, headed before 5th, weakened before 3 out | |||||||
| 11th | 1½ | 11 Toughness Danon | B G Powell | 6 | 11-4 | S Twiston-Davies | 100/1 |
| SP 100/1 Held up towards rear and keen, weakened before 3 out | |||||||
| 12th | 13 | 5 North Cape (USA) | A J Lidderdale | 6 | 11-4 | W Kennedy | 100/1 |
| SP 100/1 Tracked leaders, ridden before 3 out, soon lost place | |||||||
Betting Breakdown
Tote Win £2.60 Tote Place £1.30 £2.80 £1.80 Straight Forecast £18.17 Exacta £17.90 Trifecta £42.30 Swingers 1&2 £3.60, 2&3 £6.20, 1&3 £2.50
Jackpot £76,491.55 carried forward to Aintree, 14th Apr
Placepot £33.30, Pool: £454402.7, 9946.44 winning tickets
Quadpot £22.10, Pool: £18309.83, 610.59 winning tickets
Analysis
This was run at a slow early gallop and the field was still pretty bunched as they turned for home at the business end but did provide a boost for the Supreme Novices' Hurdle form from Cheltenham. Absolutlyfantastic was the early leader at a married man's pace with Agent Archie also racing prominently and the order changed very little as the field crawled along into the back straight. Eventual winner DARLAN was in mid-division on the inner with AP McCoy sensibly positioning him within striking range of the leaders. The pace did start to lift somewhat four out and that was where Darlan was less than fluent and McCoy just had to give his mount a swift nudge to get him back on an even keel. Agent Archie cried enough between the back and home straights and started to back-peddle. He did Darlan no favours as he retreated but McCoy switched around him to go in pursuit of Absolutelyfantastic and stablemate Captain Conan once straightening up. The latter was still going strongly three out but Darlan was upsides at the next obstacle and was always holding the runner-up from that point. Nicky Henderson reported afterwards that Darlan remains a big, weakish type who will jump a fence at some stage. Connections will also sit down and mull a tilt at the Champion Hurdle next season for which he is around the 16-1 mark. The strapping runner-up was clear of the remainder and his debut over fences is eagerly anticipated. Prospect Wells is consistent but has had a busy year and is probably just below this level anyway against the big guns while Vulcanite could never really land a blow. He was a bit untidy at the last and was then collared close home for fourth by another Henderson inmate Oscara Dara. Absolutlyfantastic was beating a hasty retreat when he was awkward two out as Right Step and debutant Toughness Danon could not live with this company currently.