Third Time Lucki had little trouble in landing short odds in the Watch Off The Fence On attheraces.com Lightning Novices’ Chase at Doncaster, but his Arkle participation is not set in stone.
In winning for the second time at Grade Two level this season Dan Skelton’s seven-year-old picked up a minor overreach.
While his trainer does not think the injury is anything too serious at this stage, it did make him stop short of committing the talented chaser to the Sporting Life-sponsored Arkle, for which he is now as low as 6/1.
Only three went to post, but the Skeltons will have been delighted one of them was confirmed front-runner For Pleasure, who as usual set a scorching pace.
But that was still not fast enough for Third Time Lucki, as Harry Skelton had to take a pull four fences from home.
The result was in little doubt when For Pleasure took a crashing fall at the last, as he was under pressure while Third Time Lucki was still to be asked any sort of question. He ended up finishing in a hack canter, 30 lengths clear of the only other finisher, Do Your Job.
It was a return to winning ways for Third Time Lucki, who was third to Edwardstone in the Henry VIII Novices’ Chase last time out.
“He’s just very talented, but we slipped into a few mistakes last year,” said Skelton.
“Sandown last time out was always going to be a bit apprehensive for a horse like him that wants decent ground, you are only going to be 50-50 to get it.
“If you turn up at Sandown with all guns blazing and it’s soft, heavy in places you end up thinking ‘why didn’t we go to Cheltenham three weeks ago when the ground was nice’.
“You have to take the opportunities when they are there. It wasn’t an afterthought, but it wasn’t Plan A. We knew going there we were stretching the band a bit.
“We gave him a break, freshened him up and this was the perfect track, perfect trip in a fast-run race and that is what he craves.”
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While it did seem the perfect prep at first glance, Skelton went on to reveal the setback.
“He just had a little bit of an overreach which I need to keep an eye on. It’s nothing bad, just a little one, but we’ll just see how that is,” he said.
“I don’t know if it will keep him out of Cheltenham, it’s nothing bad.
“If he goes to Cheltenham, great. If he has to miss Cheltenham because of the overreach and wait for Aintree than that is fine as well. He’s just magic and we’re delighted to have him.”
Owner Mike Newbould, for whom Third Time Lucki was a first winner at Cheltenham in October, was delighted with what he saw.
“He was thoroughly impressive. You can ask what we’ve beaten, but For Pleasure isn’t a bad horse – it was a shame he fell, but he was beaten when he did,” said Newbould.
“Harry still had a double handful and he was very impressive.
“We couldn’t have picked a better race. The ground is good, it was a small field and a guaranteed front-runner. Everything was spot on for him.”
Rest of Doncaster
Mahler Mission was yet another Irish-trained winner of a big race in Britain when staying on dourly to claim the Albert Bartlett River Don Novices’ Hurdle at Doncaster.
Just 24 hours on from the feature race having gone across the Irish Sea from Town Moor on Friday, and on the same day as Gordon Elliott’s Pied Piper dazzled at Cheltenham, British-based trainers look set to face yet another stiff task come the festivals in the spring.
Mahler Mission (11/2) had actually already won in the UK, at Sedgefield last time out, and trainer John McConnell is no stranger to raids from his County Meath base.
It was a good battle up the straight with Ann Duffield’s The Real Whacker, but experience told close home and Mahler Mission won by two lengths.
“He just gallops and gallops and is improving all the time,” said McConnell.
“He’s not even six until June so he’s still a baby. I bought him because I thought he was eyecatching in a point-to-point and I’ve been proven right.
“He goes on all ground. He looks slow, but I don’t think he’s as slow as people think!
“I put him in the Albert Bartlett this week so I thought I’d better run him to see where he was. He might not be good enough to win it, but he deserves to run in it.”
Paddy Power cut the winner to 33/1 from 66s for the Cheltenham race.
Imperial Cup runner-up Miss Heritage returned to her best form to run out an impressive winner of the Sky Bet Yorkshire Rose Mares’ Hurdle.
Trained by Lucy Wadham, who also looks after another smart mare in Martello Sky, she had been running consistently well in handicaps this season without success.
Ridden regularly by Bryony Frost, she was required by her boss Paul Nicholls on this occasion for the hot favourite Miranda.
Instead, Sean Quinlan came in for the ride, having also picked up a spare winning mount on Lady Buttons two years ago, and in truth he probably never at any stage thought he was not going to win.
While Frost took the bull by the horns on Miranda early in the straight, she was not going anywhere near as well as Miss Heritage in her bid for back-to-back wins and had no answer as Quinlan breezed on by to win by 15 lengths.
“She so deserves it as she’s so consistent and has been running really well in handicaps, but she’s been anchored by her weight,” said Wadham.
“We do have form with Miranda, we’ve beaten her before, but on her Imperial Cup form you’d have to give her a chance.
“That was on very different ground, but she does have form on good ground in her younger days. We just thought with only five runners in a big race it was worth a go – we weren’t expecting her to quite do that!
“I think this will be her last season, there’s not much more she can do.”
Hard To Forgot ended up running out a convincing winner of the Sky Bet Extra Places Every Day Handicap Chase – but nearly all the runners still had a chance turning into the straight.
Then Cillian Leonard’s stirrup leather snapped and he was unseated on the flat and the race soon changed complexion.
Henry Oliver’s Hard To Forget and Tide Times pulled clear, but Hard To Forget ended up winning by six and a half lengths from the staying-on Speak Of The Devil.
“There was a lot going on and I was having to dodge horses left right and centre,” said winning jockey James Davies.
“My lad had probably dropped to a realistic mark and he was entitled to go close.”