A good week for the O'Neill family continued as Wellington Arch galloped to a straightforward success at Uttoxeter.
Wellington Arch had finished second in last year's renewal of the JenningsBet 200 Shops Nationwide Handicap Hurdle but had little difficulty in going one better at Uttoxeter.
The 100/30 favourite arrived on the back of a solid second to Tutti Quanti at Newbury over two miles and relished stepping back up in trip on less testing ground, winning by a cosy enough length and a quarter.
The field were tightly bunched approaching the home straight but soon thinned out as the tempo lifted. The well backed A Perfect Day did his best to lower the favourite's colours but was ultimately no match for the progressive seven-year-old who followed up last year's run in the Midlands by winning at Aintree.
It put the cap on a good week for trainers Jonjo and AJ O'Neill and jockey Jonjo O'Neill Jr. The trainers sent out two winners at the Cheltenham Festival in Johnnywho and Wilful with the latter ridden by O'Neill Jr who spoke to ITV Racing after the race.
"He's improved a bit, it was a good run at Newbury. Unfortunately he didn't get into Cheltenham [for the BetMGM Cup] but hopefully he will go back to Aintree.
"The ground was plenty soft enough for him. It's softer than I thought, proper soft."
Reflecting on Cheltenham, he added: "To get two Festival winners in the one week...we've been waiting six years for one...so it was amazing to get two.
"It was great for Richie [McLernon], a massive part of the team and he's like a big brother to me so I was delighted for him, and to get one on the board myself made it extra special. They [the horses] were quiet before Christmas so hopefully we can make them count now until the end of the season."
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It looked a question of 'how far?' for 5/4 favourite A Pai De Nom as Harry Skelton weaved through the field in the JenningsBet Handicap Hurdle but it soon transpired that the jockey had less underneath him than it appeared.
A Pai De Nom had pulled clear along with Doughmore Boy (16/1) but a tired jump by the jolly at the last suggested that he might be coming to the end of his tether and the progressive six-year-old couldn't reel in the eventual winner.
The winning distances were a length and seven lengths, with the places filled by Santos Blue and Nab Wood.
Doughmore Bay, trained by Emma Lavelle and ridden by Ben Jones, was winning for just the second time in his career - four times a runner-up - with the first coming on his Rules debut in 2023 when beating Ikarak who placed in the Pertemps at Cheltenham last week.
Doughmore Bay may well have had the Pertemps on his agenda but he failed to qualify on his preceding run when sixth in a qualifier at Haydock, won by Champagne Chic.
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Discover Sporting Life Plus BenefitsSkelton and brother Dan, trainer, went one better when combining with Kykorock (4/1) in the JenningsBet Novices' Handicap Chase.
Sporting a tongue tie for the first time, in addition to his regular hood, Kykorock drew clear with As The Fella Says in the two and a half mile contest and the pair enjoyed a good duel to the line with Kykorock emerging on top by three parts of a length.
Mombasa finished 24 lengths adrift in third.
A double looked to be on the cards for the brothers when 10/11 favourite Kadastral loomed large at the second last but a rather clumsy leap at that flight halted his momentum as Dig Deep (9/2) kicked from the front and found plenty to score from Seaniecon as Kadastral weakened into fourth.
The winner was completing a double for Jones and was trained by Ben Pauling who was landing the race for the second year in succession having saddled the progressive The Jukebox Kid to take the spoils 12 months ago.
Skelton [Dan] did complete his double when Jasmin Du Cotte (12/1) made the most of Kelijoe's unseat to win the JenningsBet Handicap Chase under Charlie Todd.
The treble was completed when Sassipants (9/2) and Harry Skelton denied Pauling's Vrheligonne in the mares' bumper.
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