Thirteen-time champion trainer Paul Nicholls celebrated a winner on his first visit to Huntingdon in 19 years after Pic D’Orhy secured his most valuable victory over fences to date with a front running success in the Fitzdares Peterborough Chase.
The Ditcheat handler was rewarded for making a rare visit to the course from his Somerset base after the Johnny de la Hey-owned seven year-old led his merry rivals a merry dance in the Grade Two feature.
Having often threatened to secure a smart pot over fences the gelded son of Turgeon finally went through with his effort on his first season outside of the novice chase ranks with a bold display of jumping under Harry Cobden to give Nicholls his second win in the race.
Putting many of his rivals under pressure with his jumping it was left to last year’s winner First Flow and the 85/40 Favourite Millers Bank to throw down the final gauntlet to the 9/4 chance turning for home the final time.
Despite making a mistake at the second last it failed to halt Pic D’Orhy’s momentum and although Millers Bank stage a late rally from final fence it was not quite enough with two lengths separating the pair at the line to secure his third Grade Two success.
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Paddy Power reacted by clipping the winner into 25/1 from 40/1 for the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day, a market currently topped by Pic D'Orhy's stablemate Bravemansgame. Sky Bet go 33/1 from 66s for the same Christmas contest.
Nicholls, who the race in 2004 with Le Roi Miguel, said: “The last time I came here was to watch Valley Henry. I remember pulling up in the car park with Mr Barber just as Johnny Wilkinson scored the drop goal that won England the rugby union world cup.
"It is great to come here and we thought he had a good chance as he won very well at Newton Abbot. Flat tracks like this and Kempton suit him very well.
“He is a lot stronger horse so we are pleased with him. Harry said if he had done that at the second last before his rear would have taken his front end away but he has learnt how to sort that.
“He is very quick over fences that is the thing. He is good now and is really assured. He is only really beginning to reach full maturity as he is so big. He loves doing that (bowling along in front). It was job done today as this is the race we had in mind.”
Looking ahead to the future a tilt at the Coral Silviniaco Conti Chase at Kempton Park on January 14 is likely to be next on the agenda for Pic D’Orhy according to Nicholls.
He said: “The race I think would really suit him is the Silviniaco Conti Chase at Kempton Park in January. I think the Ascot Chase might be an issue as the ground might be too testing. Aintree would suit him as well but that is a long way down the line."
As for winning rider Harry Cobden, who was winning the race for the first time, he admitted Pic D’Orhy did everything right.
He said: “He loved that good ground as when it gets a bit soft it catches his wind out. I wanted to go a nice even gallop as I thought if I hacked around there was a couple in there with a bit more toe than us. I loved it. He jumped well and did everything right.
“He is five or six pounds short of being a Grade One horse. He is a good Grade Two horse that we can pot hunt with.”
Back to three miles for runner-up
A step up to three miles beckons for the runner-up Millers Bank according to his trainer Alex Hales.
He said: “I thought he ran incredibly well but for the first time definitively I’m looking at stepping him up in trip. The one thing there it looked like we needed further as we were flat out the whole way.
“I don’t quite know where we go now so we will have to have a think. Everything though is planned back from the two and a half mile Grade One or three mile one Grade One there."
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